Asia and Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries
The Ming, Songhai, Safavid and Mughal empires, the Sengoku period in Japan, new states in the steppes of Central Asia and in Indochina, and the arrival of the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean.
20 events · 7 regions · East Asia, Central and Northern Asia, Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania, Balkans and Anatolia, Middle East and Egypt
In the mid-15th century, after the disaster at Tumu, Ming China turned to defending its northern frontier, while in Japan the Ōnin War opened a century of civil wars. In the steppes and oases of Central Asia the Kazakh Khanate and the Shaybanid realm arose on the ruins of the Golden Horde and the Timurid Empire, and Muscovite armies crossed the Urals for the first time. In Indochina Đại Việt crushed Champa, and in Burma the Toungoo dynasty began to unify the country.
In West Africa Songhai grew into a great power, in Central Africa the Christian Kingdom of Kongo rose, and in the Horn of Africa Ethiopia barely survived its war with the Adal Sultanate. New empires took shape in Iran and India: the Safavid state and the Mughal Empire. From 1498 the Portuguese entered the Indian Ocean: having seized Goa and Malacca, they forced their way into the centuries-old spice trade, and in 1543 they reached Japan.
Events
- Tumu Crisis1 September 1449 · East Asia
- Founding of the Kazakh Khanatebetween 1465 and 1471 · Central and Northern Asia
- Sonni Ali takes Timbuktubetween 1468 and 1469 · Africa
- Afanasy Nikitin’s Journey Beyond the Three Seasbetween 1466 and 1468 – between 1472 and 1474 · South Asia
- Đại Việt crushes Champa: the fall of VijayaNovember 1470 – March 1471 · Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Ōnin War1467–1477 · East Asia
- Battle of Otlukbeli11 August 1473 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Muscovite campaign across the Urals against Pelym and Yugra9 May – 1 October 1483 · Central and Northern Asia
- Askia Muhammad’s pilgrimage to Meccabetween 1495 and 1497 – between 1497 and 1498 · Africa
- Ismail I proclaimed shah in Tabriz1501 · Middle East and Egypt
- Shaybani Khan destroys the Timurid Empire1500 – 27 May 1507 · Central and Northern Asia
- Battle of Diu3 February 1509 · South Asia
- Portuguese conquest of Goa25 November 1510 · South Asia
- Capture of Malacca25 July – between 10 August and 24 August 1511 · Southeast Asia and Oceania
- First Battle of Panipat21 April 1526 · South Asia
- Letters of Afonso I of Kongo on the slave trade1526 · Africa
- Capture of Baghdad by Suleiman Ibetween November and December 1534 · Middle East and Egypt
- Ethiopian–Adal WarMarch 1529 – 21 February 1543 · Africa
- Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War: the beginning of Burma’s unification1534 – May 1541 · Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Altan Khan’s raid on Beijing1550 · East Asia
Key participants
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Ming dynasty
- Wikipedia (English): Sengoku period
- Wikipedia (English): Songhai Empire
- Wikipedia (English): Safavid Iran
- Wikipedia (English): Portuguese India
- Wikipedia (Russian): Империя Мин
- Wikipedia (Russian): Период Сэнгоку
- Wikipedia (Russian): Сонгай (государство)
- Wikipedia (Russian): Сефевидское государство
- Wikipedia (Russian): Португальская Индия
- The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part 1 / Ed. F. W. Mote, D. Twitchett. — Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
- Soucek S. A History of Inner Asia. — Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
- Lieberman V. Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830. Vol. 1: Integration on the Mainland. — Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
- Hunwick J. O. Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Saʿdī's Taʾrīkh al-sūdān down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents. — Leiden: Brill, 1999.
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