16th century (1501–2100) (906 AH – 1009 AH)

1500 - 1509

Persia

* 1501:

Ismail I Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...

establishes the

Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

dynasty, and the Twelve-Imam Shi'ism becomes the state religion. * 1507: The

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kn ...

under Alfonso d'Albuquerque establishes

trading outposts Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

Golden Horde

* 1502: The

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragmen ...

collapses into a number of smaller

khanates A khaganate or khanate was a polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. That political territory was typically found on the Eurasian Steppe and could be equivalent in status to tribal chiefdom, principality, kingdom or empire. Mongol ...

Ak Koyunlu

* 1508: Ak Koyunlu is absorbed by the

Safavids Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

1510 - 1519

Malaysia

* 1511: D'Albuquerque conquers Malacca.

Kazakh Khanate

* 1511: Burunduk Khan is deposed by the people and exiled to Samarkand, where he dies. His cousin Qasim bin Janibek Khan succeeds him as the fourth ruler of the Kazakh Khanate. * 1515: The Kazakhs under Qasim bin Janibek Khan conquer all of modern-day

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

after a decisive victory in battle over Qasim's cousin Muhammad Shaybani, ruler of the

Uzbek Khanate The Uzbek Khanate ( uz, Oʻzbek xonligi or ''Oʻzbek ulusi / Ўзбек хонлиги or Ўзбек Улуси''), also known as the Abulkhair Khanate was a Shaybanid state preceding the Khanate of Bukhara. During the few years it existed, the ...

. The Kazakhs rule all of modern-day

from this point on.

Ottoman Empire

* 1514: Sultan

Selim I Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite las ...

defeats Safavids at the

Battle of Chaldiran The Battle of Chaldiran ( fa, جنگ چالدران; tr, Çaldıran Savaşı) took place on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire. As a result, the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia and ...

. * 1516:

defeats the

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

s at the Battle of Merc-i Dabik and kills Sultan Kansu Gavri; Syria is conquered. *1517: The Ottoman army crosses the

Sinai desert Sinai commonly refers to: * Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God Sinai may also refer to: * Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...

, defeats the new

Sultan Tomanbai at the Battle of Ridaniye and Battle of Cairo and conquers

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. The Sharif of

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

presented keys to the holy cities^bon the badfksh guy of Mecca and

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

to Selim I and is declared their hereditary ruler. Al-Mutawakkil, the last

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

caliph, formally surrenders the title of caliph to Selim I.

1520 - 1529

Kazakh Khanate

* 1520: Qasim bin Janibek Khan creates the "Bright Road of Qasim Khan", which served as the first code of laws for the Kazakhs. * 1521: Qasim bin Janibek Khan dies and is succeeded by his son Khanzada Muhammed, who assumes the title Muhammed Khan as the fifth ruler of the Kazakh Khanate. * 1523: Kazakh ruler Muhammed Khan dies and is succeeded by his cousin

Tahir Khan Mohammad Tahir Khan (born 9 January 1981, Karachi, Sindh) is a Pakistani first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one o ...

, the sixth ruler of the Kazakh Khanate.

South East Asia (Indonesia)

* 1527: Fall of Majapahit empire, the last Hindu stronghold in South East Asia.

Demak Demak is on the north coast of Central Java province, on the island of Java, Indonesia. * Demak, Demak, modern-day large town * Demak Sultanate, sixteenth century sultanate * Demak Regency Demak ( jv, ꦢꦼꦩꦏ꧀) is a regency located in t ...

established as first Islamic sultanate of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

Ottoman Empire

* 1520:

dies and the reign of Suleiman I, the Magnificent begins. * 1521: Suleiman I conquers Belgrade. * 1522: Suleiman I defeats the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

and drives them from the island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

. * 1526: Suleiman I defeats the Hungarian army at the

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; hu, mohácsi csata, tr, Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı) was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary, between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II, and thos ...

, where

Louis II of Hungary Louis II ( cs, Ludvík, hr, Ludovik , hu, Lajos, sk, Ľudovít; 1 July 1506 – 29 August 1526) was King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia from 1516 to 1526. He was killed during the Battle of Mohács fighting the Ottomans, whose victory led to t ...

dies. Buda and Pest are taken by the Ottomans and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

is declared a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. * 1529: Unsuccessful Ottoman siege of Vienna.

Mughal Empire

*1526: Babur destroys the Delhi Sultanate at the Battle of Panipat, laying the foundation of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

. *1527: Babur annihilates the

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

Confederacy of Rana Sanga at the

Battle of Khanwa The Battle of Khanwa was fought at Khanwa on March 16, 1527. It was fought between the invading Timurid forces of Babur and the Rajput confederacy led by Rana Sanga for suprermacy of Northern India. The battle was a major event in Medieval ...

, ending the most dangerous threat to Muslim rule in India at the time. *1528: Babur defeats an Afghan army at the Battle of Kannauj. *1529: Babur crushes an Afghan army at the Battle of Ghaghra, ending hopes of a Lodhi restoration.

1530 - 1539

Kazakh Khanate

* 1530: the First Kazakh Civil War is underway due to the inefficiency of

. * 1533:

dies and is quickly succeeded by Ahmed Khan, the 7th ruler of the Kazakh Khanate. * 1534: Some nobles dissent in rebellion from Ahmed Khan, refusing to recognize his legitimacy and further prolonging the civil war. * 1536: Ahmed Khan dies and is succeeded by Haqnazar Khan. * 1538: Haqnazar Khan ends the First Kazakh Civil War and re-consolidates all major Kazakh towns under his rule.

Ottoman Empire

* 1534: Suleiman I conducts a military campaign against

Shah Tahmasp and conquers Van,

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

, and

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

. * 1538: The Ottoman navy under the command of Barbarossa Khayreddin wins a naval victory against a combined Christian fleet at the Battle of Preveza.

Algeria

* 1533: Barbarossa Khayreddin is appointed the Admiral of the Ottoman fleet and governor of

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

1540 - 1549

1550 - 1559

Ottoman Empire

* 1550: The architect

Mimar Sinan Mimar Sinan ( ota, معمار سينان, translit=Mi'mâr Sinân, , ) ( 1488–1490 – 17 July 1588) also known as Koca Mi'mâr Sinân Âğâ, ("Sinan Agha the Grand Architect" or "Grand Sinan") was the chief Ottoman architect ( tr, l ...

builds the

Suleiman Mosque Suleiman (Arabic: سُلِيمَان ''sulaymān''; or dictionary.reference.comsuleiman/ref>) is the Arabic name of the Quranic king and Islamic prophet Solomon meaning "man of peace", derived from the Hebrew name Shlomo. The name is also spe ...

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. The rise of the Muslim kingdom of Aceh in Sumatra.

Khanate of Kazan

* 1552: The Khanate is conquered by the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...

Indonesia

*1550: Islam spreads to

, the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...

, and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

Mughals

* 1556: Akbar begins his reign of the

Mughal empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

in India at age 13 with his regent Bairam Khan after winning the Second Battle of Panipat against

Hemu Hemu (; also known as Hemu Vikramaditya and Hemchandra Vikramaditya; died 5 November 1556) was an Indian emperor who previously served as a general and Wazir of Adil Shah Suri of Sur Empire during a period in Indian history when Mughals and A ...

1560 - 1569

Ottoman Empire

* 1565: The Ottomans are defeated by the

during the Siege of Malta. * 1566: The Ottomans gain control of the Aegean islands. * 1566: Suleiman I dies and is succeeded by Selim II.

Spain

* 1568:

Moriscos Moriscos (, ; pt, mouriscos ; Spanish for "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish Crown commanded to convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed the ope ...

revolt during the Alpujarra uprising.

1570 - 1579

Ottoman Empire

* 1571: The Ottomans are defeated at the naval

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...

Morocco

* 1578: The Battle of Alcazarquivir at Alcazarquivir in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. King

Sebastian of Portugal Sebastian ( pt, Sebastião I ; 20 January 1554 – 4 August 1578) was King of Portugal from 11 June 1557 to 4 August 1578 and the penultimate Portuguese monarch of the House of Aviz. He was the son of João Manuel, Prince of Portugal, and hi ...

is killed.

1580 - 1589

Safavid Dynasty

* 1588: The reign of Abbas I of Safavid begins.

1590 - 1599

Religious

* 1591:

Mustaali The Musta‘lī ( ar, مستعلي) are a branch of Isma'ilism named for their acceptance of al-Musta'li as the legitimate nineteenth Fatimid caliph and legitimate successor to his father, al-Mustansir Billah. In contrast, the Nizari—the other l ...

Ismailis split into Sulaymanis and Daudis.

16th century (1501–2100) (906 AH – 1009 AH)

1500 - 1509

Persia

Golden Horde

Ak Koyunlu

1510 - 1519

Malaysia

Kazakh Khanate

Ottoman Empire

1520 - 1529

Kazakh Khanate

South East Asia (Indonesia)

Ottoman Empire

Mughal Empire

1530 - 1539

Kazakh Khanate

Ottoman Empire

Algeria

1540 - 1549

1550 - 1559

Ottoman Empire

Khanate of Kazan

Indonesia

Mughals

1560 - 1569

Ottoman Empire

Spain

1570 - 1579

Ottoman Empire

Morocco

1580 - 1589

Safavid Dynasty

1590 - 1599

Religious

See also