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China and the Silk Road - Earliest Development of Civilization and Overland Trade with the West

A Chronology of the Silk Road

Estimated 500 BC - 14Th Century Emergence Maritime Trading Routes

This page was last updated on: December 5, 2018

This page was last updated on: December 5, 2018

A Magnificent Liao Dynasty Era (907 AD -1125 AD) carved Statue of GuanYin, the Goddes of Mercy (Clay on Stone). At the Shanxi Provincial Museum of History, TaiYuan, Shanxi Province.

AD 906-1279: The Silk Road of the Sung Dynasty and the Mongol Empire.

1206 AD: Mongolian tribes unify and begin to conquer Asia under the rule of Genghis Khan.

READ ON IN: Chronology Silk Road History (6) "Song Dynasty, Mongolian Empire and Rise o/t Ming (906 AD - 1644 AD)".

S‍‍ilk Road (5c) ‍The T’ang Dynasty (705 AD - 907 AD): The later Tang Dynasty

December 16, 705 AD: Having seen the completion of the landmark Da Cien Pagoda in the southern district of the Capital, the by then truly legendary and equally notorious Empress Wu Zetian (武則天) dies in Luoyang , in Henan Province. Although thoroughly resented by (especially) Confucian Literati who had been marginalized under her Government, she was buried with full Imperial Honors on orders of Wu Zetian's son Emperor Zhongzong. On July 2, of the year 706 she was interred at Liangshan Mountain (梁山) in a joint burial with Emperor Gaozong at the Qianling Mausoleum (乾陵), now a legendary tourist spot in Qian County of Xianyang City in Shaanxi Province . To date both tombs remain unopened and not archeologically excavated‍‍‍. Emperor Zhongzong also buried at Qianling his brother Li Xián (the former Crown Prince murdered on orders of Wu Zetian), son Li Chongrun, and daughter Li Xianhui (李仙蕙) the Lady Yongtai (posthumously honoured as the Princess Yongtai)- all ‍‍victims of Wu Zetian's cruel rule.

707 AD - 710 AD: In the Jinglong Period (707-710) under the reign of Tang Emperor Zhongzong, 2 years after the Monk Yi Jing (義淨)(Life: 635 AD - 713 AD) had become abbot of Jianfu Temple , the “Jianfu Temple Pagoda” - today better known as the "Small Wild Goose Pagoda" of the city of Xi'An , was built in order to store the some 400 Buddhist scriptures sutras that this monk had brought from India and his journey of some 30 odd countries in south-eastern and southern Asia. When Yi Jing dies in the year 713 AD, he has translated some 56 texts written in 230 volumes and also leaves a biography, which to this date holds vital historic clues about ancient contacts between Chinese and Indian Civilizations and about maritime sea routes in South Asia‍‍‍.

The Small Goose Pagoda, a brick stone tower, has withstood over 70 heavy earthquakes since has many times been damaged, among things losing its top floors, but still stands to this day.

712 AD: Kuteybeh Ibn Muslim conquers west Turkestan including Khotan; probable time of the destruction of Buddhist temples at ‍‍‍ Khotan.

In 837 AD: Halley's Comet may have passed as close as 0.03 AU (3.2 million miles; 5.1 million kilometers) from Earth, by far its closest known approach. Its tail may have stretched 60 degrees across the sky. It was recorded by astronomers in (Tang Dynasty) ‍ China‍‍‍ , Japan, Germany, the Byzantine Empire, and the Middle East.

25 March, 717 AD: Emperor Theodosios III is deposed after a reign of 1 year and 10 months. He is succeeded by the 32-year-old Leo III the Isaurian, a general (strategos) of the Anatolic Theme (modern Turkey). Theodosios and his son enter the clergy, and he probably becomes bishop of Ephesus. Leo brings an end to the Twenty Years' Anarchy in the Byzantine Empire, which marks the beginning of the so-called Isaurian Dynasty.

With the Dynasty already in complete disarray since prior to his Reign, Emperor Zhaozong of Tang (1st Reign Period: 888 AD - 1 December, 900 AD) descends into depression and (alledged) alcoholism. Apparently mentally instable, he is deposed by a powerful Court Clique ultimately led Eunuch General Liu Jishu. In an attempt to take control of the Dynasty, Liu Jishui and his plotters install son of Zhaozong, Li Yu to the Throne in order to replace the father and salvage the Dynasty. However, the new rule is soon aborted and a counter-coup restores Emperor Tang Zhaozong to the throne to rule until his death by assassination on orders of Liu Jishu in 904 AD. Son of Tang Zhaozong Li Zuo is then made crown prince and subsequently Emperor.

In Mid-March of the year 852 AD Chinese Chronicles record the passing of a bright "star", dragging a 75 degrees tail in the sky. Later scientists determine it was likely a sun grazing comet.

905 AD: In the spring of the year 905 one of the Great Comets in (recorded) human history appears. As recorded in the Chinese Annal named T'ang Hui Yao (dated to 961 AD) and later again in the Qin T'ang Shui (1060 AD) the object is first observed in China on May 18, when it was said to have been as bright as Venus while trailing a tale which took up some 50 degrees in the sky. Subsequently its passing is recorded in Japan, in (Islamic) Iraq‍ ‍‍(Al Muntazam Fi Al-Ta' Rikh, dated 1201 AD) as well as in Europe. The spectacular comet passing is noted in Byzantium (Constantinople, today: Istanbul, Turkey) where the sighting is immediately linked to the birth of the Holy Roman Emperor Contstantine VII, who had been born into the world earlier on that same day (Later Byzantine texts will hold that both the birth and death of Constantine had been foretold by visiting comets).

Spectacularly, the comet remains visible for months until last being sighted on June 13.

906 AD: Fall of T’ang Dynasty ; rise of Five Dynasties (AD 907-960). At some time during the fall of the Dynasty and its Capital, the Temple of Great Benefaction in the southern district of Chang An burns down to the ground, however its magnificent 7 storey pagoda remains standing amidst the turmoil.

-----> History of the Silk Road :

See Also - The Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty history.

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Map of the Modern Silk Road, connecting Istanbul in Turkey via highways, roads and railways to Beijing in the Far East. Travel beyond that point is possible to Vladivostok, Dalian and Dandong in Liaoning Province, or Pyongyang in North Korea, DPRK.

On the Western side, Istanbul connects via former Yugoslavia to the European Railway network.

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YouTube Video: Yang guan - Sun Gate; China's Sun Gate Revives (2013).

9th-10th c.: Silk Road traffic and Khotan both decline as Buddhism begins to wane. Arabs take over Silk Road trade domains and start acting as middlemen, raising prices. As a result the Maritime Routes, the “Sea Silk Route” to China become more economically attractive.

At some time during the 10Th Century, the once might western Gate of the Tang Dynasty Empire (ultimately established during the Han Dynasty (220 BC - 221 AD) , the Yang Guan (Sun Gate) due south west of Dunhuang (Blazing Beacon) already out of function for some time, is abandoned entirely. The Sun Gate Beacon Tower ‍ ‍‍and the mighty Fortress supporting it start a long process of degredation and erosion by the desert winds and sands. What has been to far western border of China for well over a 1000 years disappears. Centuries later the border of China will be reestablished at Jiayuguan 100's of miles eastward during the advent of the Ming Dynasty (1368 AD - 1644 AD) .

1006 AD to 1165 AD, the Western Taklamakan Desert City and former Chinese Vasal State, the City of Hotan falls into the hands of the advancing Muslim Kara-Khanid Khanate arising in the West.‍‍‍

The Silk Road southern path along the Taklamakan Desert falls out of control of the Han Chinese and the process of Islamification of the "Xinjiang" region goes through a new stage.

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- Silk Road Chronology (1) Early History of the Silk Road (Index)

- Silk Road Chronology (2) From Warring States to the Qin Dynasty (1000 BC - 206 BC)

- Silk Road Chronology (3) During the Chinese Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD)

- Silk Road Chronology (4) Three Kingdoms Period, the Sui Dynasty (221 AD - 618 AD)

- Silk Road Chronology (6) Song Dynasty, Mongol Empire and Rise of the Ming Dynasty (906 AD to 1644 AD)

- Silk Road Chronology (7) Qing Dynasty Manchu Empire (1644 AD - 1911 AD)

- Silk Road Chronology (8) Modern History o/t Silk Road I (1800 AD to 1900)

- Silk Road Chronology (11) Modern History o/t Silk Road IV (1950 AD to 2000)

- Silk Road Chronology (12) Modern History o/t Silk Road V: the New Millennium (2000 AD to Present)

715‍‍ AD: The first encounter between the Tang Chinese and the Umayyad Arabs (Arabic: ٱلْخِلافَةُ ٱلأُمَوِيَّة‎, trans. Al-Khilāfatu al-ʾUmawiyyah) had occurred in 715 AD when Ikhshid, the king of Fergana Valley, was deposed with the help of the Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate and a new king Alutar was installed on the throne. The deposed king fled to Kucha (seat of Anxi Protectorate)(in current day Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region‍‍‍ ), and sought Chinese intervention. The Chinese sent 10,000 troops under Zhang Xiaosong to Ferghana‍ ‍‍(in current day Kyrgyzstan ). He defeated Alutar and the Arab occupation force at Namangan and reinstalled Ikhshid on the throne.

717 AD: Having aligned with the Tibetan Empire against the Chinese of the Tang Dynasty, the Umayyad Arabs along with their Turgesh and Tibetan allies besieged the two cities of Buat-ɦuɑn (Aksu) and Dai-dʑiᴇk-dʑiᴇŋ (Uqturpan) in the Aksu region ( Aksu City Prefecture , on the eastern side of the Tianshan Mountains near the border with Kyrgyzstan in Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region) which was under Chinese protection. The commander of China's four Anxi garrisons in Central Asia, Tang Jiahui, sent two armies: one composed of Tang irregular troops led by Jiahui himself and other composed of Karluk horsemen led by Ashina Xin. In the resulting battle, Arab army was heavily defeated and forced to retreat. Many Arab troops were taken prisoner but were subsequently released after the Caliphate paid a ransom in gold for their release. As a result of the battle, the Arabs were expelled from Northern Transoxiana. The Turgesh submitted to the Tang and subsequently attacked the Arabs in Ferghana. For their loyalty, the Tang emperor conferred imperial titles on the Turgesh khagan Suluk and awarded him the city of Suyab in return for his loyalty. With Chinese backing the Turgesh launched punitive attacks into Arab territory eventually wresting all of Ferghana from the Arabs with the exception of a few forts.

Xinjiang Autonomous Region Geographic Map 1A

A Geographic overview Map of the entire Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region and large parts of neighboring Nations of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, The Republic of Mongolia, as well as bordering Chinese Provinces and Territories of Inner-Mongolia AR, Gansu Province, Qinghai Province and Tibet Autonomous Region. This Map Includes Cities and Towns (shown by size), Main Monuments & landmarks of Xinjiang AR, the Taklamakan Desert in South-Central Xinjiang AR, major highways, provincial railroads, a variety of border passes in the Karakoram Mountain Range and the Tian Shan Mt. Range, plus main mountains, waterways, rivers and lakes of this large region.

845 AD : Persecution of Buddhists by Muslims begins in Western and Central China‍‍‍. Anti-Buddhist movement of the 9th century: 4,600 temples reported to be destroyed, with 260,500 monks and nuns defrocked. Large Scale Vandalism of Buddhist Statues at LongMen Caves, near Luoyang in Henan Province‍‍.

717 AD: Shortly after the demise of Emperor Theodosios III the Arab–Byzantine War ignites: Muslim general Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik leads his army of 80,000 men from Pergamum to Abydos, where he crosses the Hellespont. To prevent interference by the Bulgars, or by any

Byzantine forces in Thrace, he sends part of his army to a covering position near Adrianople; with his main body, Maslama builds siege lines to blockade Constantinople, which is protected by the massive Theodosian Walls.

August 15, 717: Siege of Constantinople‍,‍‍ Capital of the Byzantine Empire, begins. The capital controls the Bosporus which forms the access between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and is defended by a garrison of some 2‍‍5 thousand men. ‍Leo III orders the ‍‍granaries to be restocked and siege engines started. The Arab besiegers are suffering immense losses due to disease and the attrition of siege warfare.

September 1, 717 AD: A Muslim armada, consisting of 1,800 ships commanded by Admiral Suleiman, sails into the Sea of Marmara and drops anchor below the sea walls of Constantinople, to supply their forces ashore. Leo III orders the Byzantine fleet to sally forth from their protected harbors with Greek fire, setting alight the thickly-packed Muslim ships. Many vessels burst into flames, while others collide with each other before sinking.

December 24, 717 AD: A destructive earthquake, with six months of aftershocks, affected Syria and Mesopotamia.

S‍‍pring of 718 AD: A Muslim supply fleet of 760 ships under Sufyan arrives from Egypt and North Africa, concealing itself along the Asiatic shore. The Byzantines learn of the fleet's location from defecting Christian Egyptians sailors. Emperor Leo III sends the Byzantine navy to intercept the fleet; his Greek fire ships destroy the enemy vessels in the Sea of Marmara and seize their supplies on shore, denying the sieging army vital provisions. On land the Byzantine troops ambush an advancing Arab army, and destroy it in the hills around Sophon, south of Nicomedia (modern Turkey). The Arab besiegers are still suffering from hunger and pestilence.

August 15, 718 AD: Lifting of the Siege of Constantinople: A Bulgar relief force attacks the siege lines at Constantinople, on the west side of the Bosporus. Contemporary chroniclers report that at least 22,000–32,000 Arabs are killed during the Bulgarian attacks. Caliph Umar II is forced to lift the siege after 13 months; the Muslim army attempts to withdraw back through Anatolia, while the rest escapes by sea in the remaining vessels. The Arab fleet suffers further casualties to storms, and an eruption of the volcano of Thera. According to Arab sources 150,000 Muslims perish during the campaign.‍‍

In 719 AD: In the Byzantine Empire Ex-Emperor Anastasios II starts a revolt against Leo III with considerable support, including auxiliaries provided by Tervel, emperor (khagan) of the Bulgarian Empire. His attack on Constantinople fails; Anastasios is captured and is put to death (by beheading), on orders of Leo‍‍.

720 AD: After a crushing defeat at the battle of Aksu in 717 AD, Umayyad forces achieve the conquest of Transoxiana: The first Turgesh attack on Muslim-Arabs in Transoxiana leads to the siege and relief of the Umayyad garrison at the fortress of Qasr al-Bahili, near Samarkand (in current day Uzbekistan )(or 721).

February 10, 720 AD: Caliph Umar II is poisoned by a servant, and dies in Aleppo (Syria) after a 3-year reign. He is succeeded by his cousin Yazid II. In the same year the Umayyad Caliphate reaches its greatest extent in Spain, controlling all of it except a small region in the north controlled by the Kingdom of Asturias.

723 AD: Along a by-route of the Silk Road Gunakamadeva, Lichhavi ruler (rajah), founds the city of Kathmandu (Capital of modern Nepal ). During his reign, he transforms the agrarian society to an industrial city trading between India and Tibet‍ .‍‍

724 AD: Having been defeated in Transoxiana in 720 AD, The Turgesh Khaganate (Türügesh, Chinese: 突騎施/突骑施) strikes back by scoring a major victory over the Umayyad Arabs, in the "Day of Thirst" near Khujand (in modern Tajikistan )‍‍.‍‍

725 AD: In Chang'An, Capital of Tang Dynasty China, ‍Yi Xing (一行)(Life: 683 AD - 727‍ ‍‍AD), a Buddhist monk‍,‍‍ mechanical engineer and astronomer, becomes the first person in world history to apply a clockwork escapement mechanism, to provide rotating motion to his astronomical armillary sphere‍‍.‍‍

726‍‍ AD: Muslim forces under Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik resume their expedition against Anatolia (modern Turkey) continuing the (Umayyad) Arab-Byzantine War. In a large-scale raid they plunder the fortress city of  (Today seat of Kayseri Province‍‍ in Central Anatolia Region, Turkey).‍‍

727‍ AD: Umayyad Muslim forces under Mu'awiya ibn Hisham (son of Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik) penetrate deep into Asia Minor, and sack the fortress city of Gangra, but unsuccessfully lay siege to Nicaea (northwestern Anatolia).‍‍

727‍ AD: Arab–Khazar War: The semi-nomadic Turkic people of Central Asia known as Khazars‍ ‍‍(Persian: خزر‎, Azerbaijani: Xəzərlər; Turkish: Hazarlar; Bashkir: Хазарлар; Tatar: Хәзәрләр, Xäzärlär; Hebrew: כוזרים‎, Kuzarim;‍‍ Xazar; Ukrainian: Хоза́ри, Chozáry; Russian: Хаза́ры, Hazáry; Hungarian: Kazárok; Xazar; Greek: Χάζαροι, Cházaroi; Latin: Gazari / Gasani) who occupied the Volga-Don steppes to the eastern Crimea and the northern Caucasus drive back the Umayyad Muslim invasion, led by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, into Mesopotamia. Reinforced there with Syrian troops, Maslama counterattacks and takes (current day) Georgia, establishing the northern frontier on the Caucasus.‍‍

729 AD: Battle of Baykand: The Turkic Turgesh khaganate and its Soghdian allies confront the Umayyad Arab Caliphate at Baykand, a town near Bukhara in Transoxiana (in modern Uzbekistan ). In the event the Umayyad Arabs narrowly escape disaster when being encircled and cut off from water by the Turgesh, but nevertheless manage to push through to reach Bukhara in Transoxiana, laying siege to this city.

729 AD: Siege of Kamarja: While the Umayyad Arab forces campaign across the Oxus River in order to subdue revolting Sogdian Princes supported by the Turgesh, the Turgesh and Sogdians counterattack. A small Arab garrison defends the fortress of Kamarja (near Samarkand) against the Turgesh for 58 days, ending with a negotiated withdrawawal of the Umayyad Arabs to Samarkand .

September and October, 730 AD: Umayyad Caliphate forces continue their war on the Byzantine Empire sacking the Byzantine fortress of Charsianon in central Anatolia‍ ‍‍region (modern Turkey), which remains a contested stronghold during the next century of Byzantine–Arab warfare.

December 9, 730 AD: Battle of Marj Ardabil: In retaliation for Umayyad Caliphate attacks on their homeland, the Khazars under Barjik  (son of the Khazar khagan) invade the provinces of Jibal (Arabic: جبال ; "The Mountains") and Adharybaydjian‍ ‍‍(Persian: آذربایجان‎ Āzarbāijān ; Azerbaijani: آذربایجان‎ Azərbaycan ; today also known as Iranian Azerbaijan) in current day western Iran. He defeats an Umayyad army (25,000 men) in the plains outside of Ardabil (Iran), killing al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah‍.‍‍ The victorious Barjik mounted his head on top of the throne from which he commanded the battles of his Middle Eastern campaign. According to the historian Agapius, the Arabs suffered 20,000 dead and twice that number captured, a figure which probably includes the population of Ardabil and the surrounding territories.Following their victory, the Khazars occupied Ardabil. The next year, however, Barjik led an army to Mosul (in current day northern Iraq (Kurdistan)) and was defeated. According to Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari and other Arab historians, the Muslims were so enraged by Barjik's desecration of their commander's head that they fought with extra vigor. Having been defeated at Mosul the Khazar army withdrew north of the Caucasus Mountains.

731 AD: Battle of the Defile (or Battle of the Pass (Arabic: وقعة الشعب‎ Waqʿat al-Shʿib) is fought at Tashtakaracha Pass (One of the most detailed accounts of the entire Umayyad era survives in the History of al-Tabari which also records the Battle of the Defile in detail.): An Umayyad relief army (28,000 men) led by newly appointed governor of Khurasan, Junayd ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Murri, is sent to Samarkand (in modern Uzbekistan), which is besieged by the Turgesh. On their way to the city, the Umayyad ‍‍Muslim army is ambushed near the Zarafshan Range, at the Tashtakaracha Pass.

Eventually, the remainder of the Umayyad army manages to reach Samarkand. Junayd remained in Samarkand for about four months, until October 731, allowing his army to recover. The Turgesh meanwhile made for Bukhara , which they besieged. Junayd again resolved to meet them in battle, and managed to inflict some defeats on the Turgesh in early November and raise the siege of Bukhara, which he entered on the day of Mihragan. Junayd and his army then returned to Merv, leaving a token garrison of 800 men behind in Samarkand. Once the Turgesh had withdrawn north for the winter, he evacuated the city of its Muslim inhabitants. The battle of the defile and aftermath result in a Pyrrhic victory for the Umayyad Muslims, with heavy casualties for the Umayyad army, halting Muslim expansion in Central Asia for almost two decades.

734 AD: ‍‍Death of the ‍Bilge Khagan (Old Turkic: 𐰋𐰃𐰠𐰏𐰀 𐰴𐰍𐰣, Bilge qaγan ; Chinese: 毗伽可汗)(Life: 683 AD - 25 November 734 AD). The Bilge Khan was the Khagan of the Second Turkic Khaganate (also Göktürks or Turgesh)(682 AD - 744 AD). His accomplishments were described in the Orkhon inscriptions‍‍. During it's initial years the Turkic Khanganate was centered in Mongolia‍ , however during the (roughly) last 3 decades of the rule of the Bilge Khan it had expanded it's influence westward ‍‍as far as Samarkand (in current day Uzbekistan ).‍‍ The rule of the Bilge Khan formed the last highpoint of the Turkic Khanganate, before their loss of territory in the west to the advancing Umayyad Arab forces and the demise of Khanganate in 744 AD.‍ ‍‍The Bilge Khan was succeeded by his elder son Yollig Khagan (Reign: 734-?), and younger son Tengri Qaghan (Reign: ?-741). Yollig was responsible for at least one of the Orkhon inscriptions. Tengri was a minor and dominated by his mother, Po Beg, and her favorite. Neither khagan could hold the tribes together leading to the ultimate demise of the Turkic Khaganate in 744 AD.

7‍‍35 AD: Completion of the erection of the Orkhon Tablets (Khöshöö Tsaidam Monuments, today part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage of the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape) in the Orkhon River‍ ‍‍(Mongolian: Орхон гол, Orkhon gol) Valley in Mongolia (Bilge had‍‍ already erected Kül Tigin's monument and Bilge's son erects Bilge's monument.).

7‍‍37 AD: In the Second Arab–Khazar War (722 AD - 737 AD): The Khazars led by Hazer Tarkhan defeat the Umayyad Muslims near the Volga River, and force them to retreat. By holding the Caucasus against Islamic aggression, the Khazars delay the Islamic conquest of Eastern Europe, and thwart the Umayyad desire to attack the Byzantine Capital of Constantinople from the north.

722‍‍ AD: Start of the second Second Arab–Khazar War (722 AD - 737 AD).‍‍

September 30, 7‍‍37 AD: While the Second Arab–Khazar War (722 AD - 737 AD)‍ sees its final stage, Battle of the Baggage takes place between the Turkic‍‍ Khazar‍‍ and Umayyad Muslim Forces: The Turgesh led by their Khan Suluk drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, pursue them south of the River Oxus (northern Afghanistan‍ ‍‍ ), and capture their baggage train. In the winter, the Turgesh (Turkic) and their Transoxianan allies launch a major counter-invasion, but are halted.‍‍

‍Around the year 7‍‍37 AD: The Tang Dynasty Emperor Xuan Zong (Life: 8 September 685 AD - 3 May 762 AD) discards the policy of conscripting men into the Chinese army to be replaced every three years, replacing them with long-service soldiers who are more battle-hardened and efficient, there after making the Chinese Forces much more effective in the field.‍‍

7‍‍38 AD: Death of Suluk (also Sul-lu or Sulu), Turkic ruler (Khagan) of the Turgesh, who had split off from the Turkic Khaganate following the defeat of the Western Turks by the Tang Dynasty in 658 AD. Elected as the new Khan of the Turgesh‍‍ in 717 by the tribal chiefs, Suluk was the main Turkic tribe leader and a warlord who defended Transoxiana against the invasion of the Umayyad Arab armies in the early 8th century‍.‍‍ Suluk died at the hands of Baga Tarkhan, one of his relatives after which the Turkish Khaganate descended into civil war, which divided the Turgesh into two rival factions: the Yellow Turgesh and Black Turgesh. Bilge Khagan, the last of the able Turkic K‍‍hagans, was already dead, and with the death of Suluk, Transoxiana was opened to Arabic conquest. Around this time there was a power shift in the Caliphate, as the Ummayad D‍‍ynasty was supplanted by the Abbasid Dynasty creating the Abbasid Caliphate (Arabic: ٱلْخِلافَةُ ٱلْعَبَّاسِيَّة‎ al-Khilāfatu al-‘Abbāsiyyah)(Officially 750 AD - 1258 AD)‍. The policy of the Abbasid Caliphs was more peaceful than that of the Ummayads and Arab control of Transoxiana was limited to the occupation of a few forts.

740 AD: Umayyad Arab-Byzantine War continues with the Battle of Akroinon: Following the disastrous Battle of Sebastopolis (see 692), Emperor Leo III has largely confined himself to a defensive strategy, while the Umayyad armies regularly launch raids into Byzantine-held Anatolia. Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik assembles an expeditionary force (90,000 men) under his son Sulayman ibn Hisham. One of these armies, 20,000 men strong under Abdallah al-Battal, is defeated at Akroinon (modern-day Afyon) by the Byzantines, led by Leo and his son, the future emperor Constantine V. About 6,800 Muslim Arabs, however, resist and manage to conduct an orderly retreat to Synnada (Phrygia). On October 26 of 740 AD an earthquake strikes Constantinople and the surrounding countryside, causing destruction to the city's land walls and buildings.

Around 740 AD: Much to the delight of the citizens of Chang'an, the Chinese government of the Tang Dynasty (618 AD - 907 AD) orders fruit trees to be planted along every main avenue of the city, which enriches not only the diets of the people but also the surroundings.

740 AD: ‍The Khazars (Persian: خزر‎, Azerbaijani: Xəzərlər; Turkish: Hazarlar; Bashkir: Хазарлар; Tatar: Хәзәрләр, Xäzärlär; Hebrew: כוזרים‎, Kuzarim: Xazar; Ukrainian: Хоза́ри, Chozáry; Russian: Хаза́ры, Hazáry; Hungarian: Kazárok; Xazar; Greek: Χάζαροι, Cházaroi; Latin: Gazari ‍‍ /Gasani), the semi-nomadic nation of Turkic Peoples of the Black Sea steppe, though not ethnically Jewish, voluntarily convert to Judaism.

June 18, 741 AD: ‍Emperor Leo III ("the Isaurian") dies of dropsy at Constantinople, after a 24-year reign that has saved the Byzantine Empire and delivered Eastern Europe from the threat of an Arab conquest. He is succeeded by his son Constantine V, who invades Syria, but has to withdraw to deal with a civil war in Asia Minor.

741 AD: ‍Artabasdos, Byzantine general (strategos) of the Armeniac theme, defeats the new Emperor Constantine V and advances on Constantinople, where he is crowned emperor deposing Constantine V. He secures the support of the themes of Thrace and Opsikion, and abandons Leo's religious policy of iconoclasm. Constantine seeks the support of the Anatolic theme.

742 AD: ‍Tang Emperor Emperor Xuan Zong (Life: Born 8 September 685 AD‍ ‍‍in ‍ ‍‍Luoyang - 3 May 762 AD)(Reign: September 713 AD -‍‍ 12 August 756 AD) begins to favor Taoism over Buddhism, adopting the new reign title Tianbao ("Heavenly Treasures" (742 AD - 756 AD)), to indicate his divine mandate. The Tianbao reign period however is regarded by historians as far less successful as the previous Kaiyuan Reign period under the same Emperor Xianzong. As Emperor Xuanzong turned his attention to pleasure-seeking with his favorite concubine Yang Guifei (simplified Chinese: 杨玉环; traditional Chinese: 楊玉環; pinyin: Yáng Yùhuán)(Life: 26 June, 719 AD - 15 July 756 AD) and her family, he paid less and less attention to the running of his empire, and much of his power fell into the hands of the corrupt Li Linfu (who was succeeded by Lady Yang's dissolute cousin Yang Guozhong) and the eunuch Gao Lishi. The total number of enlisted troops in the Tang armies has risen to about half a million, due to Xuan Zongs's earlier military reforms. In that same year the municipal census of the Chinese capital city Chang'an and its metropolitan area of Jingzhou (including small towns in the vicinity), the New Book of Tang records that in this year there are 362,921 registered families with 1,960,188 persons, making the Tang Capital likely the largest city in the world.

Statue of the famous and notorious lady Yang Kuei-Fei at the main pond of the Huaqing leisure Palace in Lintung, the place where she used to spend her time with the Emperor Xuanzong. The modern day statue is set in the large pond of the restored place in front of a backdrop of Palace Pavilions and the Tiger Mountain.

Also in 742: Li Bai (李白)(also Li Po or Li Bo and Li Taibai (太白))(Life: 701 AD (in Suyab (碎葉) of ancient Chinese Central Asia (present-day Kyrgyzstan ) - 762 AD (Dangtu, Anhui Province ), Chinese poet, is summoned by Xuan Zong to attend the imperial court. He and his friend the poet Du Fu (Chinese: 杜甫)(Life: 712 AD – 770 AD) become the two most prominent figures in the flourishing of Chinese poetry, during the mid-Tang Dynasty. Du Fu will go on to become recognised as the greatest of all poets in Chinese history.

February 6, 743: Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik dies after a 19-year reign, in which the Arab expansion in Europe has been stopped and the Umayyad Caliphate has come under pressure from the Turks in Central Asia and Berbers in North Africa. He is succeeded by his nephew Al-Walid II (Arabic: الوليد بن يزيد‎)(Life: 709 AD - 17 April 744 AD), who has Khalid al-Qasri (Arabic: خالد بن عبد الله القسري), former Governor of Mecca and later of Governor of Iraq with a reputation for un-Islamic beliefs, support for Christianity and even atheism (zindiq), imprisoned and tortured twice. Khalid al-Qasri succumbs to his treatment and dies later in that same year.

‍744 AD: Ignoring messages about a‍‍ planned assassination plot against his person, Caliph Al-Walid II (Arabic: الوليد بن يزيد‎)(Life: 709 AD - 17 April 744 AD) finds himself besieged in his castle outside the city of Damascus. He is defeated and killed by Arab forces under Sulayman ibn Hisham. Al-Walid is succeeded by his cousin Yazid III, who dies shortly after of a brain tumor‍.‍‍ In December Marwan ibn Muhammad (Arabic: مروان بن محمد بن مروان بن الحكم)(Life: 691 AD - 6 August 750 AD) rebels against Yazid's designated successor Ibrahim ibn al-Walid, defeats the Umayyad forces under Sulayman ibn Hisham, and then becomes Caliph Marwan II and the last Umayyad ruler to rule the united Caliphate before the Abbasid Revolution toppled the Umayyad Dynasty (661 AD - 750 AD).

Around the year 745 AD: Bubonic plague in Asia Minor kills 1/3 of the population, and subsequently sweeps through the Peloponnese (Balkan Peninsula).

745 AD: While China has accomplishments in poetry, painting and printing, its monarchical system tends toward failure. Emperor Xuan Zong has fallen under the spell of his son's wife Yang Guifei (one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China), a Taoist priestess. He is ignoring the economy and the Tang Dynasty is declining. Meanwhile local military Governors gain more powers leading to virtual local fiefdoms.

745 AD: While Tang Emperor Xuan Zong dables in Chang'An the second Turkic Khaganate is replaced by t‍‍he newly founded Uyghur Khaganate (also Uyghur Empire or ‍Toquz Oghuz Country) which controls most of the former Turkic‍‍ Khaganate‍‍ territory, creating an empire that extends from Lake Balkash (modern Kazakhstan ) to Lake Baikal (Mongolia/ Today: Siberia, Russian Federation). Having rebelled in 742 AD (together wit the Karluks, and Basmyls), In 745 the Uyghurs killed the last Khagan of the Göktürks, Baimei Kagan Cooloon bey, and sent his head to the Tang Emperor. The Uyghur are in alliance with the Tang and‍‍ nominally subject to Chinese suzerainty (approximate date)‍.

742 AD: The Uyghurs, Karluks, and Basmyls rebelled against the Second Turkic Khaganate.

‍744 AD: The Basmyls captured the Turk capital of Otukan and killed the reigning Özmiş Khagan. Later that year a Uyghur-Karluk alliance formed against the Basmyls and defeated them. Their khagan was killed and the Basmyls ceased to exist as a people. Hostilities between the Uyghurs and Karluks then forced the Karluks to migrate west into Zhetysu and conflict with the Turgesh, whom they defeated and conquered in 766 AD.

746 AD: Umayyad Arab–Byzantine Wars: Taking advantage of discontent among the Muslim Arabs, Emperor Constantine V invades Syria, and captures Germanikeia (modern Turkey). He organises the resettlement of part of the local Christian population in Thrace. In the same year the Byzantine navy scores a crushing victory over ‍‍the Umayyad Egyptian fleet at the Battle of Keramaia (a harbor of Cyprus). As a result Egypt ceased to be a major base for naval expeditions against Byzantium during the century after Keramaia.

746 AD: In the Umayyad Caliphate: ‍Battle of Kafartuta: Caliph Marwan II defeats and kills Al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Shaybani, leader of the Kharijites (Arabic: الخوارج‎, al-Khawārij, singular خارجي, khāriji), Kharijites, or the ash-Shurah (Arabic: الشراة‎, translit. ash-Shurāh "the Exchangers"), in Upper Mesopotamia. The rebels withdraw across the River Tigris, escaping destruction.

747‍‍ AD: Umayyad Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Constantine V destroys the Arab fleet off Cyprus, with the aid of ships from the Italian city-states, breaking the naval power of the Umayyad Caliphate.

June 9, 747‍‍ AD: ‍‍Abbasid Revolution: Abu Muslim Khorasani, Persian military leader from Khorasan (a historical region lying in northeast of Greater Persia, including part of Central Asia and Afghanistan), begins an open revolt against Umayyad rule, which is carried out under the sign of the Black Standard. Close to 10,000 Muslims, primarily Khorasani Persians are under his command, when the hostilities officially begin in Merv (modern Turkmenistan ).

747‍‍ AD: Chinese Tang Dynasty forces under Gao Xianzhi (a Korean in Tang employ) defeat the Arabs and Tibetans in the West by means of rapid military expeditions over the Pamir Mountains and Hindu Kush. About 72 local Indian and Sogdian kingdoms become Tang vassals. Over the next two years he establishes complete control in East Asia for the Emperor Xuanzong. Around this time, Emperor Xuan Zong abolishes the death penalty in Tang Dynasty China.

February 14, 748‍ AD: In the ongoing Abbasid Revolution which will topple the Umayyad Arab Dynasty, the Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv (Today in Turkmenistan), capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan (modern Iran), marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt. Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i takes the cities Nishapur and Rey, defeating an Umayyad army (10,000 men) at Gorgan.

December 9, 748‍ AD: Nasr ibn Sayyar, Arab governor of Khorasan, dies after a 10-year administration in which he has fought vigorously against dissident tribes, Turgesh neighbors, and the Abbasids. Nasr had imposed poll taxes (jizya) on non-Muslims, and introduced a system of land taxation for Muslim Arabs.

748‍ AD: The city of Baalbek (modern Lebanon) is sacked with great slaughter.

748‍ AD: An earthquake strikes the Middle East from northern Egypt to northwestern Mesopotamia, destroying many remnants of Byzantine culture (approximate date).

749 AD: In the ongoing Abbasid Revolution Muslim forces under Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i defeat a large Umayyad army (50,000 men) at Isfahan (in modern day Iran), and go on to invade Iraq‍ ‍‍ , taking the city of Kufa.  On October 28, 749 AD Abdullah ibn Muhammad is proclaimed Caliph at Kufa by his supporters and adopts the title of as-Saffah (the "Slaughterer of Blood" or "The Blood Shedder").

749 AD or 750 AD: Abdallah ibn Abd al-Malik, Umayyad prince, is executed by crucifixion on orders of the first Abbasid Caliph, Abdullah ibn Muhammad, at Al-Hirah.

January 18, 749 AD: Galilee earthquake: Palestine and eastern Transjordan are devastated by an earthquake. in the earthquake the cities of Tiberias, Beit She'an, Hippos and Pella are largely destroye‍d‍‍ and many other cities of the Levant were heavily damaged. Historical sources report tsunami's in the Mediterranean Sea and say that casualties in Jerusalem numbered in the 1000's while many buildings, among them the Al-Aqsa Mosque, were severely damaged. The total number of lives lost must have been well over 10 thousand‍.

Around 750 AD: ‍‍The "Western Paradise" of Amitābha Buddha, detail of a wall painting in Cave 217, at the ‍ ‍‍Mogao Caves near Dunhuang ( Gansu Province , China‍‍‍), is made during the Tang Dynasty (618 AD - 907 AD).

January 25, 750 AD: ‍‍Battle of the Zab: Abbasid forces under Abdallah ibn Ali defeat the Umayyads near the Great Zab River. Members of the Umayyad house are hunted down and killed. Defeated by his rivals, Caliph Marwan II flees westward to Egypt, perhaps attempting to reach Al-Andalus (Iberian Peninsula), where there are still significant Umayyad armies.‍ ‍‍On the 6th of August, Marwan II is caught and killed at Faiyum (Arabic: الفيوم‎ El Fayyūm ; Coptic:  ̀Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ or Ⲫⲓⲱⲙ Phiom or Phiōm) some 100 kilometers south-west of Cairo by supporters of the Abbasid Caliph As-Saffah. Almost the entire Umayyad Dynasty is assassinated; only Prince Abd al-Rahman I escapes to Al-Andalus. The Abbasids assume control of the Islamic world and establish their first capital at Kufa.

June, 751 AD: In the Byzantine Empire, Leo IV, son of Emperor Constantine V, is crowned co-E‍‍mperor at Constantinople. Only a year or‍‍ so after his mother Irene died, Constanstine's second wife Maria dies at approximately the same time as Leo's coronation.

751 AD: Battle of Talas (Battle of Artlakh)(Chinese: 怛羅斯戰役; Arabic: معركة نهر طلاس‎): The First recorded encounter (and the last) between Abbasid Arab Forces (allied with the Tibetan Empire) and Chinese forces takes place at the Talas River (Chinese: Daluosi (怛羅斯, Talas), west of the Tianshan ("Heavenly") Mountains. The rulers of Tashkent and Ferghana are both nominal vassals of the Tang Dynasty; the Chinese have intervened on behalf of Ferghana in a conflict between the two; the Abbasid Caliphate, competing with the Chinese for control of Central Asia, has become involved. Arab forces from Samarkand have marched to challenge a Chinese army (30,000 men) under Gao Xianzhi. Gao has had a series of military victories in the region, but his Turkish contingent, Karluk mercenaries, defects vastly tipping the scales in favour of the Abbasid Arabs. Out of 10,000 Tang troops, only 2,000 manage to return from the Talas River to China. The Arabs triumph, and they will remain the dominant force in Transoxiana for the next 150 years.‍‍ The westward expansion of the Tang Dynasty is abruptly halted and the Battle of the Talas River for control over the Syr Daria Region will be remembered as a historic turning point for the fortunes of the Chinese Tang Dynasty.

751 AD: As an interesting by product of the Battle of the Talas River, Abbasid Arabs acquire the skill of paper making, which they put to good use shortly after the Battle and from the year 751 AD forward. Soon The first paper mill in the Islamic world begins production at Samarkand. Captured craftsmen, taken at the Battle of Talas River, have by some accounts revealed the technique of papermaking (although paper may have arrived from China much earlier via the Silk Road). Arab scholars will use paper to produce translations of Ancient Greek and Roman writings which in turn greatly helps advances in science, geography and learning in the Abbasid Arab Empire.

June 10, 754 AD: Caliph as-Saffah dies of smallpox after a 4-year reign. He is succeeded by his brother al-Mansur, as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate. Only a few months later, in November 754 AD, Abdallah ibn Ali, governor of Syria and uncle of as-Saffah, launches a claim for the Caliphate, but is defeated by forces loyal to al-Mansur, under Abu Muslim, at Nisibis (Nusaybin (pronounced [nuˈsajbin] ; Akkadian: Naṣibina; Classical Greek: Νίσιβις, Nisibis; Arabic: نصيبين‎, Kurdish: Nisêbîn; Syriac: ܢܨܝܒܝܢ‎, Nṣībīn; Armenian: Մծբին, Mtsbin)(in Mardin Province, South East Anatolia Region of modern Turkey).‍

Around 754 AD: A Tang Dynasty in China census shows that 75% of the Chinese live north of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) River. The capital of Chang'an has a population of 2 million and more than 25 other cities have well over 500,000 citizens.

February 754 AD:  Council of Hieria: Emperor Constantine V summons a Christian council in the palace of Hieria in Constantinople. The council, under the presidency of Bishop Theodosius of Ephesus, supports the policy of Iconoclasm and condemn‍s the use of religious images (icons) in the Byzantine Empire. Constantine increases the persecution of the monasteries; hundreds of monks and nuns are mutilated or put to death.

755 AD: Trisong Detsen (Tibetan: ཁྲི་སྲོང་ལྡེ་བཙན, Wylie: khri srong lde btsan, Lhasa dialect IPA: ʈʂʰisoŋ tetsɛ̃)(Reign: 755 AD - 797 AD‍ ‍‍(or 804 AD)) becomes the 38th Emperor of Tibet. During his reign he plays a pivotal role in the introduction of Buddhism, and the establishment of the Nyingma or "Ancient" school of Tibetan Buddhism. Among things, having been crowned Emperor he invited various influential Buddhist teachers to come from India to Tibet, thus dispensing the latest versions of the Buddhist beliefs and knowledge to the Tibetan Nation. As a result, under his rule and the guidance of the Indian Buddhist teachers, the first Gompa (Religious School) was established at Samye (Tibetan: བསམ་ཡས་, Wylie: bsam yas, Chinese: 桑耶寺) at Dranang Town in Lhoka (Tibetan: ལྷོ་ཁ།; Chinese: 洛卡; literally: "south of the mountains")(in modern times renamed by Chinese invaders as Shannan City Prefecture, (in T.A.R.‍‍‍) in Tibet. Later, around the year 761 AD and 763 AD, Trisong Detsen also sponsors expeditions to bring in Buddhist knowledge from Tang Dynasty China to Tibet. The expeditio‍‍ns reach what in current times is Chengdu, Sichuan Province where they receive Buddhist Teachings and scriptures. Through documents and personal knowledge Chan Buddhism is transmitted to Tibet. For his important role in establishing Buddhism across the Nation Trisong Detsen becomes immortalised as the second of the Three Dharma Kings (Tibetan: Chosgyal) of Tibet (The Three Dharma Kings were Songtsen Gampo, Trisong Detsen, and Ralpacan).

December 16, 755 AD: Tensions within the Tang Empire Elite come to a boiling point. After a long period of careful preparation, General An Lushan, who made his careeras defender of the Northern Frontiers against the Khitans and other nomadic tribes establishing a militarily powerful fiefdom, begins the Anshi Rebellion against Emperor Xuan Zong of the Tang Dynasty (China). Having declared himself Emperor of Yang, his army surges down from Fanyang (near modern Beijing), and moves rapidly along the Grand Canal. While the powerful rebellious army makes quick headway, Tang Emperor Xuan Zong sends Feng Changqing, governor of Fanyang, to build up defenses at the eastern capital of Luoyang. It was the beginning of a long and devastating civil war which lasted until the year 763, when the rebellious Yan State collapsed.‍‍

756 AD‍ ‍‍or 759 AD: In the Abbasid Caliphate Ibn al-Muqaffa' (Arabic: ابن المقفع‎)(also Abū Muhammad ʿAbd Allāh Rūzbih ibn Dādūya (Arabic: ابو محمد عبدالله روزبه ابن دادويه‎), born Rōzbih pūr-i Dādōē Persian: روزبه پور دادویه‎), Muslim writer and thinker, having written a letter in defence of his rebellious uncle Abdullah Ibn Ali which has offended the Caliph Al-Mansur, is tortured at Basra (modern Iraq‍‍‍ ), on orders from Caliph al-Mansur. His limbs are severed and he is thrown, still alive, into a burning oven. For having allegedly written a defense of Manichaean dualism and a few lines of prose written in imitation of the Quran (these historic documents have been ascribed to him) he is remembered as a heretic.

January 756 AD: In the next phase of the An Lushan Rebellion, the rebel army crosses the Yellow River (Huang He) subsequently the Chinese eastern capital of Luoyang falls to the 200,000-strong army of the rebel general An Lushan, who defeats loyalist forces under Feng Changqing. Turning eastward, the armies‍‍ march on to capture the cities Chenliu and Yingyang (modern Zhengzhou, Henan Province).

January to April 756 AD: In the Battle of Yongqiu (雍丘之戰, pinyin: Yōngqiū zhī zhàn) in current day Qi County‍ ‍‍(Chinese: 杞县; pinyin: Qǐ Xiàn) near Kaifeng City, a Tang garrison (2,000 men), under Zhang Xun, successfully defend their fortress against the rebel army at Yongqiu. Zang achieves a victory after a 4-month siege, and prevents the rebels from capturing the fertile Tang territory south of the Huai River (Huai He) .

February 5, 756 AD: ‍Having seized the old Tang Capital of Luoyang, An Lushan declares himself emperor at Luoyang, establishing a new empire, called the Great Yan. He pushes on towards the primary Tang capital at Chang'an (now Xi'an). An ddecides to seize southern China, in order to cut off loyalist reinforcements. Meanwhile, numerous soldiers join the rebellion.

M‍‍ay, 756 AD: Emperor Xuan Zong hires 4,000 Muslim mercenaries to help defend Chang'an against the rebels. Loyalist forces take defensible positions in the mountain passes, but chancellor Yang Guozhong gives orders for them to leave their posts. An Lushan crushes the Tang troops, leaving the capital wide open ‍to rebel attack.

July 14, 756 AD: As rebel forces advance through the strategic Tongguan Pass toward the city of Chang'An, Tang Emperor Xuan Zong flees (along with the imperial court) for safety in the direction of Sichuan‍ ‍‍Province. Meanwhile, The opposing Rebel Emperor of Yan, General An Lushan is ailing (, as is later determined possibly suffering from diabetes). He is nearly blind and suffers from extreme irascibility. July 15, 756: a day into the flight of the Emperor his loyalists and troops force the Emperor Xuanzong to execute Yang Guozhong, who after his order to the troops to abandon their defencesof Chang'An is labelled as a traitor of the worst kind. The Imperial troops present the Xuan Zong Emperor with an ultimatum; either force Yang Guozhong to commit suicide or face an open mutiny. At the same time, the tide finally turns against the Emperor's favourite c‍oncubine Yang Guifei, who, envied and unpopular since long, is also blamed forecourt intrigue and the general the demise of the Tang Empire. The fate of Yang Guozhong is sealed. Xuanzong reluctantly permits his consort Yang Guifei to be strangled by his chief eunuch. As the Tang Capital falls to the rebels, An Lushan also has other members of the emperor's family killed.

A‍‍ ugust 12, 756 AD: Tang Emperor Xuan Zong abdicates the throne after a 44-year reign, the longest single reign period in Tang History. He is succeeded by his son Su Zong, as emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Su Zong immediately hires 22,000 Hui and Uyghur Muslim mercenaries to reinforce his decimated army at Lingzhou‍ ( current day Lingwu (simplified Chinese: 灵武市; traditional Chinese: 靈武市; pinyin: Língwǔ Shì‍)‍‍, in Yinchuan City Prefecture, Capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region) .

J‍‍anuary 29, 757 AD: Following the successful victory over the Tang Capital Chang'An, ambitions and insecurities about the succession to the throne of leading General An Lushan divide the Rebel Yan Dynasty. As a result, the ailing rebel General An Lushan, leader of the revolt and emperor of Yan, is murdered through a plot of one of‍‍ his own sons, An Qingxu (安慶緒), Prince of Jin, at Luoyang. Instead of the designated crownprince An Qing'en (安慶恩),(Son of the secondary wife of An Lushan and by then the favourite), An Qingxu claims the position of his father,‍‍ succeeding him as second Emperor of Yan, and appoints Shi Siming as his deputy. In the aftermath of the murder and change of rulers, the military armies, who have regrouped in Ningxia and Sichuan are able to retake both of the capitals at Chang'An and at Luoyang. The rebel army is forced to retreat eastward and eventually the new Yan Emperor An Qingxu finds himself cornered and besieged.

April 759‍‍ AD: Having lost Chang'An and Luoyang, as well as the Shan Commandery (陝郡, roughly modern Sanmenxia, Henan Province‍‍‍) to advancing Tang Forces in alliance with troops of the Uyghur Khanate (Huige), The Yan Emperor has been forced on the retreat towards Yecheng (in current day Handan City Prefectur e of Hebei Province) where he finds himself cornered and besieged. After a complicated battle resulting in the lifting of the siege of Yecheng, Yan Emperor An Qingxu finds himself confronting the General Shi Siming, who earlier in the same year had submitted himself to the Tang, but now has regained strength and has gone rogue. Facing superior forces and a superior leader An Qingxu tries to offer the throne of Yan to Shi Siming. The latter however declines. Yet, not much later (April 10) Shi Siming accuses the Yan Emperor An Qingxu of cowardice, murder of his father and usurping of the Yan throne, after which Shi then executed An Qingxu as well as his four brothers, Gao, Sun, and Cui. He took over An's territory and troops and soon claimed for himself the title of emperor of Yan‍.‍‍

March 9, 757 AD: A major earthquake strikes Palestine and Syria.

757 AD: Battle of Suiyang: A Tang garrison (7,000 men) under Zhang Xun defend their fortress against the rebel army at Suiyang. Zhang makes multiple attempts to get food from nearby fortresses, but this is refused. After a desperate 10-month siege, Suiyang is overrun by rebel forces who take the city. Because of famine an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 citizens are cannibalized, only 400 people are left.

Summer / Fall, 757 AD: The Tang prince Li Chu the Prince of Guangping (the son of Li Heng, who by this point had taken imperial title as Emperor Suzong), with aid from Huige, was able to recapture Chang'An in early fall. Tang forces under Li Chu and Huige‍ ‍‍(Uyghur Khanate) forces then advanced east, toward Luoyang which city fell about a month later.‍ In the aftermath, not only the city of Luoyang is pillaged the Huige (Uyghur Khanate) soldiers (as reluctantly agreed to by the Tang Emperor Suzong), but the Capital of Chang'An suffers likewise. Although the Huge Forces temporarily have the upper hand in negotiations, these actions by the Huige will have consequences for the Uyghur Khanate in the not too distant future.

December 8, 757 AD: Du Fu, the Chinese poet, returns to Chang'An as a member of Emperor Xuan Zong's court, after having escaped the city during the An Lushan Rebellion.

Winter, 757 AD: ‍R‍‍ ‍‍ebel Emperor of Yan, An Qingxu put together his forces and sent them, under Yan Zhuang's command, to defend Shan Commandery (陝郡, roughly modern Sanmenxia, Henan). When Yan forces engaged Tang forces, however, they saw that Huige forces were on Tang's side, and, in fear, they collapsed. Yan Zhuang and Zhang Tongru (張通儒) fled back to Luoyang to inform An, and An, after executing some 30 Tang generals who had been captured, abandoned Luoyang and fled north, to Yecheng, which he converted to Ancheng Municipality.

Winter, 758 AD: Tang generals Guo Ziyi, Lu Jiong (魯炅), Li Huan (李奐), Xu Shuji (許叔冀), Li Siye, Ji Guangchen (季廣琛), Cui Guangyuan (崔光遠), Dong Qin (董秦), Li Guangbi, and Wang Sili (王思禮), were gathering at Yecheng and putting it under siege. An Qingxu tried to fight out of the siege, but was defeated by Tang forces, and his brother An Qinghe (安慶和) was killed. Meanwhile, with Shi recently having again rebelled against Tang, An sent the general Xue Song to Fanyang to seek aid from Shi, offering the throne to him. Shi thus advanced south toward Yecheng.

June, 758 AD: Abbasid Arabs and Uyghur Turks arrive simultaneously at the Tang capital of Chang'an, in order to offer tribute to the imperial court. The Arabs and Turks bicker and fight over diplomatic prominence at the gate, to present tribute before the other. A settlement is reached when both are allowed to enter at the same time, but through different gates to the palace.

In 759 AD: Caliph al-Mansur of the Abbasid Caliphate launches the conquest of Tabaristan (from Middle Persian: ---, Tapurstān), also known as Tapuria (land of Tapurs)(Today: Mazandaran, a province in northern Iran on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea). Its ruler, Khurshid (erroneously also known as Khurshid II‍ by early scholars)‍‍, flees into the mountainous region of Daylam.

759 AD: With rebel Yan Emperor An Qingxu dead and replaced by Shi Siming, the An Lushan Rebellion enters a new phase. Pushing back rebel forces to their Capital and main base, Tang forces led by General Guo Ziyi (formally Prince Zhōngwǔ of Fényáng (汾陽忠武王)) lay siege to the city of Yanjing (Northern China) as they increase their efforts to end the rebellion. The fighting creates such a shortage of food within its walls that rats sell at enormous prices.

December 24, 759 AD: Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu‍ ‍‍( Sichuan‍‍‍), where he is hosted by fellow poet Pei Di (Chinese: 裴迪)(Life: 714 AD - Unknown).

760 AD: After a careful plot to convince Emperor Suzong that has father retired Emperor Xuanzong was plotting against him in order to regain the Tang Throne, Former Emperor Xuanzong is placed under house arrest by the eunuch official Li Fuguo (李輔國)(Life: 704AD - November 8, 762 AD), with the tacit and not explicit support of Xuanzong's son, Suzong (Life: 9 October 711 AD - 16 May 762 AD), who later is said to have regretted hos decisions and the offending of his father. The intrigant plotter Li Fuguo is appointed commander of the Imperial Guards, there after possesing nearly absolute power during Suzong's reign, which however only lasts for two more years. He has Xuanzong's loyalists Eunuch official Gao Lishi (Duke of Qi), General Wang Zhongsi, eunuch Wei Yue (魏悅), and Ru exiled.

761 AD: Alike his father the (retired) Xuanzong Emperor, Tang Dynasty Emperor Suzong suffers from a mysterious illnessand grows weaker and weaker. While preparing to recapture Chang'An ( Xi'An ), the rebel Yan Dynasty Emperor Shi Shiming is captured and not much later killed by his own (oldest) son who then becomes Yan Emperor Shi Chaoyi (史朝義)‍. The Rebel Yan retreat to Luoyang.

February 15, 706‍‍ AD: Emperor Justinian II presides over the public humiliation of his predecessors, Leontios and Tiberios III, and their chief associates in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, after which they are executed. Patriarch Kallinikos I‍,‍‍ who has supported in the insurrection which ledto the usurping of the throne by Tiberios III, is also deposed, blinded and exiled to Rome, and succeeded by Kyros (also Cyrus)(‍‍Greek: Κύρος) .

July 2, 706‍‍ AD: ‍Emperor Zhong Zong has the remains of his mother and recently deceased ruling empress Wu Zetian, her son Li Xian, her grandson Li Chongrun, and granddaughter Li Xianhui, all interred in the same tomb complex as his father and Wu Zetian's husband Gao Zong, outside Chang'an, known as the Qianling Mausoleum, located on Mount Liang, which will then remain unopened until 1960‍.

706‍‍ AD: ‍Caliph Al-Walid I commissions the construction of the Umayyad Mosque also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus (Syria)(Arabic: جامع بني أمية الكبير‎, Romanization: Ğāmi' Banī 'Umayya al-Kabīr) . A legend dating to the 6th century holds that the building contains the head of John the Baptist‍ ‍‍(Hebrew: יוחנן המטביל‎ Yokhanan HaMatbil, Ancient Greek: Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστής, Iōánnēs ho baptistḗs or Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτίζων, Iōánnēs ho baptízōn, Coptic: ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ ⲡⲓⲡⲣⲟⲇⲣⲟⲙⲟⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ ⲡⲓⲣϥϯⲱⲙⲥ, Arabic: يوحنا المعمدان‎)‍‍. The mosque is also believed by Muslims to be the place where Jesus (Isa) will return at the End of Days. The mausoleum containing the tomb of Saladin ‍(Arabic: سلطان‎ sulṭān) ‍‍dated to 11‍‍96 AD stands in a small garden adjoining the north wall of the mosque. The Great Mosque of Damascus is considered by some ‍‍Muslims to be the fourth-holiest place in Islam.‍ ‍‍The Umayyad Mosque holds great significance to Shia and Sunni Muslims, as this was the destination of the ladies and children of the family of Muhammad, made to walk here from Iraq, following the Battle of Karbala. Furthermore, it was the place where they were imprisoned for 60 days.

YouTube Video: Umayyad Mosque also Great Mosque of Damascus by Mircea Costiniuc.

707‍ AD: ‍Arab-Byzantine War: An Umayyad army under command of Prince Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik (Arabic: مسلمة بن عبد الملك‎, in Greek sources Μασαλμᾶς, Masalmas)(Life: ca. 705 AD - 738 AD) invades Asia Minor, and lays siege to Tyana (Ancient Greek: Τύανα; Hittite Tuwanuwa)(Cappadocia)(current day  Kemerhisar, Niğde Province, Central Anatolia, Turkey). The fortress city resists, dragging the siege through the winter and into 708 .

October 18, 707‍ AD: ‍Pope John VII dies at Rome after a 19-month reign. A prolonged sede vacante exists, until the ratification of the election of Sisinnius by the Exarch of Ravenna, in early 708 (Papacy 15 January 708 AD - 4 February 708 AD) .

Around 707‍ AD: ‍The Muslim-Arabs conquer the Balearic Islands (Island group including Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera) in the Mediterranean Sea .

Around 707‍ AD: ‍The first Islamic hospital (bimaristan) is founded in Damascus.

August 7, 707‍ AD: ‍Death of Li Chongjun (李重俊)(Life: unknown - 7 August 707 AD), formally Crown Prince Jiemin (節愍太子),‍‍ crown prince of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. In 706 Li Chongjun was named Crown Prince, yet he was often humiliated as he was held to be a weaker surrogate of his older brother Li Chongrun, son of Emperor Zhongzong and Empress Wei who died on October 8, 701. In 707, in anger over his humiliations, Li Chongjun‍‍ started a coup supported by generals Li Sichong (李思沖), Li Chengkuang (李承況), Dugu Yizhi (獨孤褘之), and Shazha Zhongyi (沙吒忠義). They rebels subsequently‍‍ killed Wu Chongxun and his father Wu Sansi the Prince of Dejing, but the‍‍ subsequent attempt to arrest Empress Wei‍ ‍‍(韋皇后)(2nd wife of Emperor Zhongzong), Li Guo'er, and Consort of Emperor Zhongzong Shangguan Wan'er was thwarted, and Li Chogrun was killed in flight not far from the Tang Capital at Chang'An ( Xi'An). Emperor Zhongzong presented Li Chongjun's head to the imperial ancestral temple (in other words, treating him as having committed treason), and then also presented it to the caskets of Wu Sansi and Wu Chongxun. He then hung Li Chongjun's head on the government wall.

707‍ AD: ‍Birth of Abu Amr Abd al-Rahman ibn Amr al-Awzai (Arabic: أبو عمرو عبدُ الرحمٰن بن عمرو الأوزاعي‎) (Life: 707 AD - 774) in Baalbek (current day Lebanon). In life he was‍‍ the chief representative and eponym of the Awzai school of Islamic jurisprudence. Awzai was referred to by his tribe "Awza" (الأوزاع), part of Banu Hamdan. Very little of al-Awzai's writings survive, but his style of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) is preserved in Abu Yusuf's (died 798) book Al-radd ala siyar al-Awzai, in particular his reliance on the "living tradition," or the uninterrupted practice of Muslims handed down from preceding generations. For Awzai, this is the true Sunnah of Muhammad (The prophet of Islam who died in 632 AD). Awzai's school flourished in Syria, the Maghreb, and Muslim Spain but was eventually overcome by the Maliki school of Islamic law in the 9th century. However, given his authority and reputation as a Sunni Imam and pious ancestry, his views retain potential as a source of law and a basis for alternative legal approaches and solutions. He died in 774 and was buried near Beirut, Lebanon, where his tomb is still visited.

Around 708 AD: ‍Tea drinking gains popularity among the Chinese. It is also valued for its alleged medicinal values.

‍January 15, 708 AD: ‍Pope Sisinnius succeeds Pope John VII as the 87th pope.

March 2‍‍5, 708 AD: ‍Pope Constantine I succeeds Pope Sisinnius as the 88th pope‍‍.

February 4, 708 AD: ‍Death of Sisinnius, pope ‍‍the 87th pope‍ ‍‍of the Catholic Church‍.‍‍

708 AD: ‍Arab-Byzantine War: The Umayyads under Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik capture and sack the Byzantine city of Tyana (Cappadocia) after a prolonged siege, and following a victory over a Byzantine relief army. Maslamah also leads another expedition in the summer, and defeats a Byzantine force near Amorium ‍(‍‍Greek: Amorion ; Ἀμόριον)(also ‍ʿAmmūriye, Amūrīn, Hergen Kale)(Today:  Ruinded City near Hisarköy, Afyonkarahisar Province, ‍‍ ‍Phrygia Region, Turkey)‍.

708 AD: ‍Battle of Anchialus (Bulgarian: Битката при Анхиало): A Byzantine expeditionary force under Emperor Justinian II invades the lands previously granted to his Bulgarian Allies led by Tervel. His army is defeated near the seaside city of Anchialus (near current day ‍Pomorie, Bulgaria‍‍), on the Black Sea Coast. The Byzantines are overwhelmed by a surprise attack of Bulgarian cavalry, led by Tervel. Justinian manages to reach the fortress, and escapes to Constantinople on a ship. As a result of the battle the Bulgarians secured the new territorial gains for centuries.

708 AD: ‍Nazaktar Khan, a Turk Shahi (The Shahi ‍o‍‍r Shahiya or Kabul Shahi were Rulers of Kabul and Gandhara Northern Afghanistan) prince in alliance with the Tibetan Empire, captures Bactria ‍(‍‍Amur Daria Valley between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush) from the Umayyads.

June 5, 708 AD: ‍D‍‍e‍ath of Jacob of Edessa (also James of Edessa)(Syriac: ܝܥܩܘܒ ܐܘܪܗܝܐ‎, translit. Ya'qub Urhoy)(Life: ca. 640 AD - 5 June 708 AD) at Edessa (Ancient Greek: Ἔδεσσα; Arabic: الرها‎ ar-Ruhā; Turkish: Şanlıurfa; Kurdish: Riha‎) in Upper Mesopotamia (near current day Şanlıurfa (Urfa), Şanlıurfa Province, Southeastern Anatolia Region, Turkey). Jacob of Edessa was Priest, Syriac writer, translator, philosopher and historian. To date he is most famous for his contributions to the Syriac language and the West Syriac script (Serto).

709‍‍ AD: ‍Arab-Byzantine War: An Umayyad army under command of Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik raids Isauria (Ancient Greek: Ἰσαυρία‍)(Today a location in South Western Anatolia Region, Turkey). He is appointed military governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan‍‍‍, succeeding his uncle Prince and General Muhammad ibn Marwan.

June, 709‍‍ AD: ‍Byzantine Emperor Justinian II sends a punitive expedition to Italy under the patrikios Theodore, to intervene in the dispute between Pope Constantine I and the archbishop Felix of Ravenna, who claims to be independent of the pope's authority. Theodore captures Ravenna, and arrests Felix and other Italian leaders. He deports them to Constantinople, from whence they are exiled to Cherson (Crimea).

709‍‍ AD: ‍After two years of failed efforts, Qutayba ibn Muslim captures Bukhara ( Uzbekistan) for the Umayyad Caliphate. The Hephthalite princes of Tokharistan (Bactria or Bactriana, with as Capital Baktra (Balkh, Afghanistan)) rebel against the Arabs, but are swiftly subdued by Qutayba.

April 5, 710‍ AD: ‍Emperor Zhong Zong of the Tang Dynasty has his chief ministers of court, sons-in-law, and high-ranking military officers engage (during the Cold Food Festival) in the festive game of tug of war, within a palace of Chang'A‍‍n.

July 3, 710‍ AD: ‍Emperor Zhong Zong of the Tang Dynasty is assassinated, allegedly poisoned by Empress Wei, who fails to install her daughter Li Guo'er as heir to the throne. Empress Wei did not initially announce the‍‍ death Of Emperor Zhongzong, but instead put a number of her cousins in charge of the imperial guards, to secure power, before she announced Emperor Zhongzong's death two days after his death. By an edict that Princess Taiping and Consort Shangguan drafted (and later revised by Empress Wei's cousin Wei Wen), Emperor Zhongzong's son Li Chongmao the Prince of Wen was created crown prince, and Li Chongmao then took the throne (as Emperor Shang‍ ‍‍; Tang Shangdi , 唐殤帝) on July 8. Empress Wei retained power as empress dowager and regent.

‍‍July 21, 710 AD: After a plan had been leaked which was to install Empress-Dowager Wei as the power on the Throne, Princess Taiping and her nephew Li Longji launch a coup in order to act first and restore Rui Zong as Emperor. After an attack on the Imperial Palace‍‍ Empress Dowager Wei panicked and fled to an imperial guard camp, a guard beheaded her. In the coup a large number of members of her clique were annihilated as well. The body of the dead Empress (Dowager) Wei was later displayed in public on the streets of Chang'An (Xi'An). Rui Zong, the younger brother of Emperor Zhongzong is once again elevated to Emperor Tang Rui Zong (唐睿宗). He takes the throne on 25 July 710 AD and reigns until‍‍ 8 September 712 AD. Emperor Shang was dethroned. After Li Chongmao's removal from the throne, he was initially housed inside the palace to prevent anyone from using him to start a coup.

710‍ AD: ‍The Byzantine outpost of Cherson (Crimea) rebels (with Khazar assistance) against Emperor Justinian II. He sends a fleet under the patrikios Stephen, which retakes the city and restores Byzantine control. The fleet, however, is struck by a storm on its way back and loses many ships, while the Chersonites, again with the aid of the Khazars, rebel anew.

710‍ AD: ‍The Byzantine general Leo (future E‍‍mperor Leo III) recovers the Abkhazia (Caucasus) for the Byzantine Empire, from the Arabs.

October 5, 710‍ AD: ‍Justinian II demanded "in a iussio" that Pope Constantine appear before him in Constantinople. Clearly, the Byzantine Emperor wants to finally settle a number of issues of religious doctrine which have plagued the Catholic Church for decades (Mainly the Trullan decrees). Pope Constantine departs for a year-long visit to Constantinople. He will be the last pontiff to visit the Byzantine capital for more than a thousand years.

710‍ AD: ‍A first wooden version of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is completed at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

711 AD: ‍With the help of the neighbouring Khazars, the ethnically Armenian Partrician Bardanes (Greek: Βαρδάνης, Vardanis; Armenian: Վարդան, Vardan)‍(‍‍Later known as Philippicus) who had been part of an earlier uprising against Justinian II and was exiled as punishment, incites the inhabitants of the Byzantine exile community of Cherson (in the Crimea Peninsula) to revolt. In response, Byzantine Emperor Justinian II sallies forth from Constantinople to oppose the rebels in the Crimea. Bardanes cleverly defeats the Byzantine forces in northern Anatolia, and then moves to seize the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. Justinian is unable to reach the Capital in time to defend it. With support of of local Particians Bardanes is proclaimed Emperor Philippikos or Philippicus (Greek: Φιλιππικός). Justinian reaches the Capital Constantinople but is denied support in the provinces and he is murdered outside the city shortly there after (December 711). His head is sent to Bardanes as a trophy. In december of 711, Empress Theodora (of Khazaria (Greek: Θεοδώρα των Χαζάρων)), hearing the news of Justinian's death, escapes with her 6-year-old son Tiberius (Greek: Τιβέριος, Tiberios, w‍‍ho had been made the co-Emperor of the Byzantine Empire in 706 AD, to the sanctuary at the St. Mary's Church (Constantinople). She is pursued by Philippicus' henchmen, who drag the child from the altar and murder him outside the church thereby ending the house of Heraclius, that has ruled since 610. The ultimate fate of Empress Theodora remains unknown and there is no known tomb of her mentioned in historical records.

711 AD: ‍After pirates (ostensibly under control of Sindh Raja Dahir (Sindhi: راجا ڏاھر‎; Sanskrit: राजा दाहिर, IAST: Rājā Dāhir)(Life: 663 AD - 712 AD)) plunder an Arab ship near the mouth of the Indus River (Darya-e-Sindh ; دریا سندھ)(‍I‍‍n current day Pakistan) and imprison Arab Muslim men and women, Uamayyad Arabs under Muhammad ibn Qasim (‘Imād ad-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Qāsim ath-Thaqafī (Arabic: عماد الدين محمد بن القاسم الثقفي) invade India with 10,000 men and 6,000 horses. In the following battles along the Indus River the Sindh Raja is killed and dismembered. The Ummayad Arabs subsequently established a sultanate in Sindh (Sindhi: سنڌ‎ ; Urdu: سِندھ‬‎) before moving on towards Multan. Muhammad ibn Qasim captures the fortress city of Multan (Punjabi, Saraiki, Urdu: مُ) after a long siege, and having taken its most important city raids with his forces into the Punjab region, with only light Muslim casualties. Qasim sends expeditions to Surashtra (also known as Sorath or Kathiawar)(in current day Gujarat State), where he makes peaceful treaty settlements with the ruling Rashtrakuta Dynasty (753 AD -982 AD). Qasim's conquest of Sindh and southern-most parts of Multan enabled further Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent, however, further gains were halted by Hindu kingdoms during the Caliphate campaigns in India.

712‍‍ AD: ‍While the new Byzantine Emperor Philippikos is busy consolidating his rule over the Byzantines, t‍‍he former allies of late Emperor Justinian, the Bulgars led by their King Tervel (Bulgarian: Тервел), ruler (khagan) of the Bulgarian Empire, raid Thrace and move forward to reach the city walls of Constantinople. The city falls under a lengthy siege. Skirmishes continue until 716. In order to defend his Capital Emperor Philippicus transfers a Byzantine army from the Opsikion Theme‍ ‍‍(Greek: θέμα Ὀψικίου, thema Opsikiou) (which was located closest to Constantinople) in Asia Minor, to police the Balkan Peninsula.

712‍‍ AD: ‍Although barred from further territorial gains in India, Arab forces under Qutayba ibn Muslim move beyond Buchara to conquer the Khwarezm Region (also Chorasmia)(Persian: خوارزم‬‎, Xvârazm) situated south of the Aral Sea and the Oxus River (Persian: آمودریا‎, translit. Âmudaryâ; Turkmen: Amyderýa/Амыдеря; Uzbek: Amudaryo/Амударё/ەمۇدەريا‬‎; Tajik: Амударё, Amudaryo; Pashto: د آمو سيند‬‎, də Āmú Sínd; Turkish: Ceyhun, Amu Derya; Ancient Greek: Ὦξος, translit. Ôxos) gaining control of crucial parts of the silk road in Central Asia. They go on to take control of the silk road trading city of Samarkand (Uzbek language: Samarqand; Persian: سمرقند‎; Russian: Самарканд)(modern Uzbekistan). At the time, Samarkand was a diverse religious community and was home to a number of religions, including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Manichaeism, Judaism and (Persian) Nestorian Christianity. However, after the Arab conquest of Sogdiana, Islam became the dominant religion, with much of the population converting.

September 8, 712‍‍ AD: ‍Following another court intrigue and attempt to subvert the throne, Emperor Rui Zong of the Chinese Tang Dynasty (618 AD - 907 AD) abdicates after a brief second reign period, in favor of his 27-year-old son Xuan Zong (Reign: ‍September 8, 712 AD - August 12, 756 AD‍‍), who ascends the imperial throne of the Tang Dynasty (China). His subsequent reign of 43 years was to be the longest reign period during the Tang dynasty.

Xiantan Era of ‍The T’ang Dynasty (712 AD - 713 AD)

Kaiyuan Era of ‍The T’ang Dynasty (713 AD - 741‍‍ AD)

712‍‍ AD: ‍Shortly after his enthronement, Tang Emperor Xuanzong sends his armies to reestablishes control over the Oxus River and Jaxartes River (Syr Darya ; Kazakh: Syrdarııa ; Uzbek: Sirdaryo ;Tajik: Сирдарё) valleys after these have fallen to the Um‍‍ayyad Arab Dynasty forces. During his reign (715 onwards) he defeats the invading Arab armies, in a series of campaigns in the Fergana Valley.

Tianbao Era of ‍The T’ang Dynasty (742 AD - 756‍ AD)

712 AD: Birth of Du Fu (Wade–Giles: Tu Fu; Chinese: 杜甫)(Life: 712 AD - 770 AD) in Gongyi ‍‍(simplified Chinese: 巩义市; traditional Chinese: 鞏義市; pinyin: Gǒngyì Shì) (or in a county of neighbouring Luoyang)‍, current day near Zhengzhou , Henan Province , China (P.R.C.). As son of a minor scholar official and grandson of a noted politician and poet, Du Fu was destined to become a scholar and official himself. However, as it turned out during his life, he was unsuited for the task and instead would become noted as one of the most famous Tang Dynasty Era Poets. Starting in the 730's, Du Fu traveled the country ending up in the Tang Capital of Chang'An (Xi'An) in 735 AD to take his civil service exam there. His first known poem is usually ascribed to this period. After his failure, he again traveled and became a wandering poet producing a multitude of poems; historical of his poems commenting on military tactics or the successes and failures of the government, poems of advice to the Government but also poems about animals, domestic life, calligraphy and paintings and more. In 740 AD he met the equally famous Poet Li Bai, forging a lifelong ‍

YouTube Video: (Introduction to the) The Life of Du Fu by Jier Qiu.

friendship with him. Although Du Fu never quite managed to reengage with the Government and claim his place as one of its officials, he was noted by the court for his outstanding literary works‍,‍‍ moral engagement and technical excellence. Today his works are world famous and regarded as among the absolute top literary works of the Tang Dynasty Era.

712 AD: Death of the Tibetan Empress Khri ma lod (or Thrimalö)(Life: Unknown - 712 AD). She was an unofficial co-ruler of the Tibetan empire, with two reign periods: the first from 675 AD to 689 AD as mother and regent of Emperor Mangsong Mangtsen's (Trimang Löntsen' or Khri-mang-slon-rtsan) son Tridu Songtsen and subsequently from 704 AD to 712 AD as regent for the half-brother of the deceased Tridu Songtsen. Khri ma lod is the only woman in Tibetan history to rule Tibet.

June 3, 713‍‍ AD: Following the uprising of the Opsikion Army in Thrace in may, Emperor Philippicus is attacked at the Hippodrome of the Capital Constantinople. He is blinded, deposed, and sent into exile by conspirators of the Opsikion army in Thrace, after a reign of 1 year and 6 months. He is succeeded by Anastasios (Greek: Ἀρτέμιος Ἀναστάσιος Β΄)(also known as Anastasios II or Anastasius II), a bureaucrat and imperial secretary, who restores internal order and begins the reorganization of the Byzantine army. He executes the officers who have been directly involved in the conspiracy against Philippicus and prepares the Byzantine Armies for battle with the Umayyad Arab Caliphate which keeps expanding and is surrounding the Byzantines by land and sea.

YouTube Video: The Spirit of Du Fu, a short video on the life of the Poet Du Fu‍‍.

713‍‍ AD: Arab-Byzantine wars: The Umayyad Arabs under al-Abbas ibn al-Walid, son of caliph al-Walid I, sack Antioch in Pisidia (also Antiochia in Pisidia or Pisidian Antioch (Greek: Ἀντιόχεια τῆς Πισιδίας ; Latin: Antiochia Caesareia or Antiochia Colonia Caesarea) (Today just north east of Yalvaç, in Isparta Province, Pisidia Region, Turkey), which never recovers.

713‍‍ AD: Fully empowered Emperor Xuan Zong (also Emperor Ming of Tang or Illustrious August, personal name Li Longji) liquidates the highly lucrative "Inexhaustible Treasury", which is run by a prominent Buddhist monastery in Chang'An (Xi'An). This monastery collects vast amounts of money, silk, and treasures through multitudes of rich people's repentances, left on the premises anonymously. Although the monastery is generous in donations, Xuan Zong issues a decree abolishing their treasury, on the grounds that their banking practices were fraudulent. He then collects their riches, and distributes the wealth to various other Buddhist monasteries, Daoist abbeys, and uses part of the funds to repair statues, halls, and bridges in the city.

Summer 713‍‍ AD: A plot to poison the newly enthroned Emperor Xuanzong is identified and the plotters are met with pre-emptive action by Xuanzong. On July 29, various plotters are seized and executed in the Capital. When hearing of the violence and orders of the Xuanzong Emperor, former Emperor Ruizong, by seniority still retaining many powers, affirms the actions of Emperor Xuanzong in an edict. The next day, Emperor Ruizong issued an edict transferring all (remaining) authorities to Emperor Xuanzong and moved to a secondary palace, Baifu Hall (百福殿) ain retirement. He would remain there until his death in 716. The events start the Kaiyuan Era of the Tang Dynasty.

713‍‍ AD: In the Tang Capital of Chang'An (Xi'An), for the annual Lantern Festival of this year, recently abdicated emperor Rui Zong erects an enormous lantern wheel at a city gate, with a recorded height of 200 ft. The frame is draped in brocades and silk gauze, adorned with gold and jade jewelry, and when its total of some 50,000 oil cups is lit, the radiance of it can be seen for miles.

713‍‍ AD: In a show of confidence and as method to boost his personal popularity, Emperor Xuan Zong starts up a personality cult for himself. He allots the money of 20 million copper coins, and assigns about 1,000 craftsmen to construct a hall at a Buddhist monastery with tons of painted portraits of himself. The monastery is also decorated with freshly created statues of deities, ghosts, and other symbols expected in a Buddhist Temple.

713‍‍ AD: Emperor Xuan Zong wins a power struggle with his sister, Princess Taiping (Chinese: 太平公主; pinyin: Tàipíng Gōngzhǔ, lit. "Princess of Great Peace", personal name unknown, possibly Li Lingyue (李令月)(Life: 665 AD - August 2, 713 AD). Ostensibly believing she and her court clique are about to overthrow his reign, the Xuanzong Emperor orders the execution of a large number of her allies and forces her to commit suicide on August 2 of 713 AD.

Around 713‍‍ AD: During the Tang Dynasty reign of Emperor Xuanzong the worlds first daily newspaper comes into existence. This publication holding the daily political and domestic news is known as Kaiyuan Za Bao (also Kaiyuan Chao Bao ; "Bulletin of the Court"). Its issues were hand printed on silk and the name refers to the Kaiyuan Period of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong . The main subscribers were imperial officials, howeverissues were also distributed to all Provinces of the Tang Empire.

YouTube Video: ‍‍"Road to Discovery" Documentary The Mysterious Giant Buddha (Of Leshan) by China Central Television (CCTV ; today CGTN (China Global Television Network).

713‍‍ AD: Under initiative and leadership of a Chinese monk named Hai Tong construction begins on the 71 meter‍‍s (233 ft) tall Leshan Giant Buddha (simplified Chinese: 乐山大佛; traditional Chinese: 樂山大佛; pinyin: Lèshān Dàfó) on a Cliff Face of Red Sandstone at the confluence of the Min River, Qingyi and Dadu Rivers near Leshan, Sichuan Province (Today: China (P.R.C.) ). Upon its completion in some 90 years later in the year 803 AD, it will become the largest stone carved Buddha Statue in the world. In its original form, the statue was covered by a huge wooden temple structure, which was however pillaged and looted during the Mongol Invasion of China. There after it existed in open air devout of coverage. Although eroded by time, but protected by a sophisticated drainage system, today the Giant seated Matreiya Buddha statue survives as one of the great monumental art works of ancient China, and is created a UNESCO World Cutural Heritage Site in the year 1996. The site is visited yearly by millions of visitors from across the world.

715‍‍ AD: The Chinese Tang Dynasty Emperor elevates Daoism to the status of favoured religion at his court and throughout his Empire. Buddhism, taking second place, faces restrictions, most prominently among them a ban on the worship of the Matreiya (Future) Buddha. The religious ban creates serious problems for the funding of the creation of the Giant Matreiya Statue under construction at Leshan in Sichuan Province .

713‍‍ AD: Death of the Chinese Monk (Yijing ; Chinese: 義淨; Wade–Giles: I Ching)(Life: 635 AD - 713 AD). The written records of his 25-year travels contributed to the world knowledge of the ancient kingdom of Srivijaya (a powerful city state on Sumatra Island, current day Indonesia), as well as providing information about the other kingdoms lying on the maritime route between China and the Nalanda Buddhist university in India. He was also responsible for the translation of a large number of Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Chinese. He brought back some 400 Buddhist translated texts upon his return to Luoyang in the year 695 AD. Account of Buddhism sent from the South Seas and Buddhist Monk's Pilgrimage of the Tang Dynasty are two of Yijing's best travel diaries, describing his adventurous journey to Srivijaya and India, reporting on the society of India, the lifestyles of various local peoples, and more‍.‍‍ Yijing's full Buddhist title was "Tripiṭaka Dharma Master Yijing" (三藏法師義淨)‍.‍‍

714‍ AD: While the Umayyad Arab conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (Hispania) continues, Commanders Musa ibn Nusayr (Arabic: موسى بن نصير‎ Mūsá bin Nuṣayr)(protector (wali) of Al-Andalus) and Tariq ibn Ziyad (Arabic: طارق بن زياد‎) are summoned back to the Umayyad Capital of Damascus‍‍‍ by caliph Al-Walid I. They are ordered to deliver all the spoils of war. Musa complains and is stripped of his rank. Abd al-Aziz,  (Full name: Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr (عبد العزيز بن موسى)), son of Musa, who becomes the first Umayyad governor of Al-Andalus (modern Spain) with Seville (Spanish: Sevilla) as his Capital.

714‍ AD: ‍Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (Arabic: الحجاج بن يوسف‎)(Full name: Abū Muhammad al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAqīl al-Thaqafī (Arabic: أبو محمد الحجاج بن يوسف بن الحكم بن عقيل الثقفي‎)(Life: Ta'if 661 AD - Wasit, 714 AD), governor of Mesopotamia (Iraq, Sindh and later also Persian Khurasan and Sistan (in current day Afghanistan)), dies at Wasit (Iraq) after a 20-year administration. He leaves a legacy as the most notable governor of the Umayyad Caliphate rule and is credited for improving agricultural production and introducing the diacritic points to the Arabic script. Al-Hajjaj convinces Al-Walid I to adopt an Arab currency‍‍.

714‍ AD: ‍By edict, ‍Emperor Xuan Zong forbids all commercial vendors and shops in the Chinese capital city of Chang'An (Xi'An) to copy and sell Buddhist sutras, so that the Emperor can give the clergy of the Buddhist monasteries the sole right to distribute written sutras to the laity.

Summer, 714‍ AD: ‍Upon proposal of starting the campaign by Xue Ne and despite opposition from various court advisors, Chinese Emperor Xuan Zong makes his general Xue Ne (Chinese: 薛訥; pinyin: Xuē Nè)(Life: 649 AD - 720 AD) chancellor de facto (Tong Ziwei Huangmen Sanpin (同紫微黃門三品)) , and there after commissions him with a Chinese army (60,000 men) to attack the Khitans (in Mongolia and current day Eastern China (Shandong)) and have them resubmit to the Tang Dynasty Throne. Xue's plans were ill planned and his army subsequently falls into a Khitan trap and the Tang forces are crushed, at an 80-90% casualty rate. Xue barely manages to escape the Khitans, upon his return putting blame squarely on his assistants. ‍Deeply embarrassed, Emperor Xuanzong executes Xue's sub-commanders (except Du) while Xue is spared and only removed him from all of his offices. Xue Ne is however recalled into military action when not much later the Tibetan Empire invades.

Fall, 714‍ AD: ‍Forces of the Tibetan Empire under the generals 'Bod da rgyas (Tibetan: འབོད་ད་རྒྱལ, Chinese: 坌達延) and dBa's Khri gzigs Zhang nyen attacked Lan Prefecture (蘭州, roughly modern Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China (P.R.C.)). Emperor Xuanzong commissioned the recently humiliated General Xue as an acting general and had him defend against the Tibetan attack, assisted by the general Guo Zhiyun (郭知運) and the official Wang Jun. Xue Ne engaged Tibetan forces at Wujie (武街, in modern Dingxi, Gansu), and defeated Tibetan forces. Emperor Xuanzong restored Xue's general rank and created him the Duke of Pingyang. In 715, Emperor Xuanzong further made Xue the commandant at Liang Prefecture (涼州, roughly modern Wuwei, Gansu), to prepare for potential attacks from Ashina Mochuo. Emperor Xuanzong soon also commissioned Xue as the commanding general of the soldiers in the Shuofang region (朔方, roughly modern ‍ ‍‍Yinchuan, Today: Capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region), assisted by Du and the official Lü Yanzuo (呂延祚), to attack the Göktürks, although whether the army was actually launched or not was unclear.

714‍ AD: Tang Emperor Xuan Zong creates Li Ying (李瑛), his second son (birth name: Li Siqian (李嗣謙)), crown prince of the Tang Dynasty.

714‍ AD: ‍Death of Sa'id ibn Jubayr (Arabic: سعيد بن جبير‎ ; also known as Abū Muhammad)(Life: 665 AD - 714 AD). In life he was Muslim scholar, a leading member of the Tābi‘un (Arabic: التابعون‎, also Tābi‘een التابعين, singular tābi التابع) ; "followers" or "successors", are the generation of Muslims who followed the Sahaba ("companions" of the Islamic prophet Muhammad)) and was considered one of the leading jurists of the time. Sa'īd is held in the highest esteem by scholars of the Shi'a and Sunni Islamic traditions.

April 9, 715 AD: Pope Constantine I dies at Rome after a 7-year reign. He is succeeded by Gregory II (Latin: Gregorius II)(Life: 669 AD - February 11, 731 AD)as the 89th pope of the Catholic Church. Subsequently, Pope Gregory II's defiance of the Byzantine emperor Leo III the Isaurian as a result of the iconoclastic controversy in the Eastern Empire prepared the way for a long series of revolts, schisms and civil wars that eventually led to the establishment of the temporal power of the popes. Gregory began the task of repairing the (City) Walls of Rome, beginning at the Porta Tiburtina.

May, 715 AD: Having been unpopular almost from the start of his reign, among things due to his execution order for those who ultimately helped him to gain the throne, Emperor Anastasios II is deposed in an armed mutiny of the Opsikion Army and is succeeded by Theodosius III (Greek: Θεοδόσιος Γ΄)(May 715 AD - March 25, 717 AD) , a tax-collector and according to some sources supposed son of the prior Emperor Tiberius III (who had been deposed by Justinian II). He was a native from the theme of Opsikion (modern Turkey). After a six-month siege, Theodosius and his troops take Constantinople; Anastasios is forced to abdicate the throne and retires to a monastery in Thessaloniki (Macedonia).

February 23, 715 AD: ‍After a 10 year reign period, Caliph Al-Walid I dies at Damascus and is succeeded by his brother Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik (Arabic: سليمان بن عبد الملك‎)(Life: c. 674 AD - September 22, 717 AD). During his rule the Umayyad Caliphate reaches its greatest height, with successful campaigns undertaken in Transoxiana (Central Asia), Sindh (Pakistan), Hispania and against the Byzantine Empire in the Mediterranean Sea and North Africa.

715‍‍ AD: Completion of the construction of the Umayyad Mosque (also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus (Arabic: جامع بني أمية الكبير‎, Romanization: Ğāmi' Banī 'Umayya al-Kabīr) in Damascus, in 706 AD ordered by Caliph Al-Walid I to be built upon the site previously taken up by the Christian basilica of Saint John the Baptist (Hebrew: יוחנן המטביל‎ Yokhanan HaMatbil, Ancient Greek: Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστής, Iōánnēs ho baptistḗs or Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτίζων, Iōánnēs ho baptízōn, Coptic: ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ ⲡⲓⲡⲣⲟⲇⲣⲟⲙⲟⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ ⲡⲓⲣϥϯⲱⲙⲥ, Arabic: يوحنا المعمدان‎)‍‍.

715‍‍ AD: The newly-appointed Patriarch Germanus I of Constantinople organises a council propagating the Christian doctrine of Dyothelitism (or dythelitism, from Greek δυοθελητισμός "doctrine of two wills"), and attempts to improve relations with the Armenian Apostolic Church (Armenian: Հայ Առաքելական Եկեղեցի, translit. Hay Aṙak'elakan Yekeghetsi).

716‍ AD: Byzantine Emperor Theodosios III concludes a peace treaty with Kormesiy (Bulgarian: Кормесий)(Reign (Likely): 715 AD - 721 AD)‍, (Likely) son of Tervel of Bulgaria and the third (or 4th) ruler of the Bulgarians, in an effort to secure support against the Arab invasion in Anatolia (modern Turkey). The treaty recognizes the Bulgarian borders, including the newly gained lands of Zagore (Bulgarian: Загоре ; also Zagorie, Zagora, Zagoria ; a vaguely defined historic region thought to be "south of the Balkan Mountains")(see also year 705). Theodosios agrees to pay annual tribute in gold and exchange refugees charged with conspiracy against the legal ruler. Goods can only be imported or exported with a state seal. Bulgarian merchants gain official access to the trade market in Constantinople. (Only historical sources is Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, with conflicting information.)

July 22, 716‍ AD: Qapaghan Khan (Old Turkic: 𐰴𐰯𐰍𐰣𐰴𐰍𐰣‬, Qapağan qağan ; simplified Chinese: 迁善; traditional Chinese: 遷善; pinyin: Qiānshàn, Xiao'erjing: ٿِيًا شًا, Dungan: Чяншан ; Chinese: 阿史那•默啜; pinyin: Āshǐnà Mòchuò), ruler (khagan) of the (2nd) Turkic Khaganate (Old Turkic: 𐰜𐰇𐰛:𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰 Kök Türük; Chinese: 突厥汗国; pinyin: Tūjué hánguó ; also identified as Göktürk Khaganate) in Central Asia‍‍, is killed in an ambush during his return from a campaign against his rivals the 9 tribes of Toquz Oghuz (Old Turkic: Toquz Oγuz ; "Nine Communities"(Tribes)), 7 of which lived north of the Gobi Desert and were supported by the Chinese Tang Dynasty thus becoming dominant. His severed head is sent to the Chinese Court in Chang'An (Xi'An), capital of the Tang Dynasty.‍ (The nine tribes were thus named in Chinese histories (historical records) as the Huihe (回纥), Pugu (仆骨), Hun (浑), Bayegu (拔野古), Tongluo (同罗), Sijie (思结), Qibi (契苾), A-Busi (阿布思), and Gulunwugukong (骨仑屋骨恐)).

July 13, 716‍ AD: Retired Emperor Ruizong (father of Emperor Xuanzong)(Life: 22 June 662 AD - July 13, 716 AD), having been both the fifth and the ninth Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, dies at his residential palace at Baifu Hall in Chang'An (Xi'An)‍‍‍. Afterwards, He was enshrined into the imperial temple, along with Emperor Xuanzong's mother Consort Dou, who was posthumously honored an Empress. Emperor Xuanzong had his daughter Princess Wan'an become a Taoist nun to seek blessings for Emperor Ruizong.

Qapaghan is succeeded by his son Inel Khagan (Old Turkic:𐰃𐰤𐰀𐰴𐰍𐰣, Chinese: 拓西可汗; pinyin: Tuoxīkèhán). Fulfilling the hopes of the Chinese Tang Dynasty to undermine tribal unity and the strength of the (2nd) Turkic Khaganate neighbors, Inel Khagan is however killed not much later by Kul Tegin during the following struggle for the power to rule the (2nd) Turkic Khaganate. Some writers say that the law of succession was that power passed from a ruler to his younger brothers before returning to his sons. Thus the order was Ilterish Qaghan, his brother Qapaghan Qaghan, then his sons Bilge Qaghan and Kul Tegin. According to this, Inel, being Qapaghan's son, had no right to the throne. Other writers treat the matter as a coup d'état with no mention of the rules of succession.

- Silk Road Chronology (9) Modern History o/t Silk Road II (1900 AD to 1925)

- Silk Road Chronology (5c) The Tang Dynasty (705 AD to 907 AD) - the later Tang Dynasty

803 AD: Year of completion of the Leshan Giant Buddha ( simplified Chinese: 乐山大佛; traditional Chinese: 樂山大佛; pinyin: Lèshān Dàfó). Some 90 years after construction commenced (713 AD) disciples of the Buddhist Monk Hai Tong sponsored by the regional military commander (jiedushi) Wei Gao complete what then is the largest sitting Buddha statue in the world. Originally a statue protected from climatic influences by the cover of a Temple, today the statue still exists as a part of the Mount Emei Scenic Area, a world cultural heritage site near Mount Emei, in Leshan City Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China (P.R.C).

- Silk Road Chronology (10) Modern History o/t Silk Road III (1925 AD to 1950)