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China and the Silk Road (7) Qing Dynasty Manchu Empire
A Chronology of the Silk Road
Estimated 500 BC - 14Th Century Emergence Maritime Trading Routes
This page was last updated on: July 10, 2019
This page was last updated on: July 10, 2019
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1644 AD: A .
Furthermore, the nearby Kanaker village was completely destroyed. The classical Hellenistic Temple of Garni also collapsed. Among many churches and monasteries that were reduced to ruins were Havuts Tar, Saint Sargis Monastery of Ushi, Hovhannavank, Geghard, and Khor Virap.
November 1680 AD: sees the spectacular passing of a comet which had an unusually long tail and became bright enough to be visible in the daytime sky. Today also identified as scientifcally as C/1680 V1, and more popularly identified as the Great Comet of 1680 it became the brightest such passing by far in the 17th century as was subsequently much discussed among the religious as well as among scientists. It also became the first comet in history to be first discovered by use of the telescope the very first primitive parts of which had been invented in The Netherlands at around 1600 AD and from then on rapidly developed and taken into use as astronomical instrument. The first discovery was made by Gottfried Kirch on 14 November 1680 and hence the comet is also named Kirch's Comet (Comet of Kirch). However, it may have been the remnant of a comet which was recorded to have in the year 372 B.C. by none other than Aristotle (the Great Philosopher).
1717 AD: Dzungars of East-Turkestan invade the Nation of Tibet. Soon they start destroying Tibetan Monasteries and Cultural Treasures drawing outrage among the Population as well as a swift response from the nominally Buddhist-Lamaist Qing Court in Beijing . In 1718 AD a First assault by Qing Armies against the Islamic Dzungars in Tibet is repelled and defeated.
1720 AD: Islamic Dzungar Rulers of East-Turkestan are evicted from Tibet under the Reign of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty .
26 April, 1721: A massive 7.7 Richter magnitude earthquake hits Shebli (Persian: دهستان شبلي), which today is a mountainous rural district in Botanabad County of East Azerbaidjan Province of north-western Iran. Although records of reports are inadequate sources it is estimated that up to 250 thousand lives may have been lost in this earthquake (or as few as 8000 thousand) which has gone down in history as the 1721 Tabriz Earthquake.
Between 1720 AD and 1730 AD the Dutch Adventurer Samuel van de Putte traveled from his home in The Netherlands via Persia, India and Tibet to Beijing , after which he managed to make his return in the year 1730 AD.
Little is known about van de Putte's Journey, his motivations as oddly, the traveler refused to divulge to anyone what sights he had witness and who he had encountered on his historic and unusual Travels. Before his Death in 1745 AD he personally burned all his notes, diaries and evidence of the entire 10 year period, leaving but one rough map which provided data on the Route he had traveled.
The Map, preserved in the Netherlands, was destroyed in an bombing raid during world war 2.
November 29, 1743 - April 1744 AD: One of the Great Comets in recorded human history appears within sight of human observers on the earth. First sighted as a distant faint object on November 29 of 1943 by Jan De Munck in the Dutch Port City of Middelburg, The Netherlands, the object soon developed a coma and subsequently a full double tale associated with a comet. The comet brightened steadily as it approached to its closest point to the sun. By February 18, 1744,while tracked by astronomers across the globe, it reportedly was as bright as the planet Venus (with an apparent magnitude of -4.6) and at this time displayed a double tail. On March 1 of 1744 it made its closest pass near the sun at a mere 0.2 Astronomical units, that is 0.2 the distance to earth. Not surprisingly, during this very close grazing of the sun the comet seems to have broken up in parts, subsequently developing (at least) 6 large visible tales (some sources record 7). Very unusually, in China, observers reported audible sounds occurring in conjunction with the appearance of the many tales.
Around March 9 it passed out of sight of observers in the northern hemisphere while in the southern hemisphere observers reported the comet tale to grow to 90 degrees of the visible sky with a highpoint around March 18.
Dimming fast after its high speed pass near the sun, the broken object was last visible on April 22. Today recorded and known as the object C/1743 X1, and which is also known as Comet de Chéseaux or Comet Klinkenberg-Chéseaux, the Great Comet of 1744 is counted as among the 6 brightests comet appearances in recorded human history. It seems to have been a non recurring, sun grazing comet and no return date or sun orbit has been determined.
1755 to 1757 AD: Qing Dynasty of China campaigns in the West with the aim of destroying the East Turkestan State and regaining the Western Territories once held by the Chinese. Independent East-Turkestan is violently subdued after the capture of the Dzungar Khan in 1755 AD. In the aftermath Dzungar Tribes fight for their lives against overwhelming odds. 70 to 80% of the Dzungars, some 500 thousand to 800 thousand individuals, are massacred in a campaign of ethnic cleansing and cultural annihilation. The Dzungar, numbers exhausted, are finally defeated in 1759 AD, the remainder fleeing towards newly established Russian Territories to the North.
Silk Road (7) 1644 AD - 1860 AD: The Qing Dynasty Interbellum - Regaining the West.
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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.
Find DrBen and ChinaReport on Facebook with the latest from www.drben.net.
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April 1709 AD: In the chaos following the war between Shi'a Safavid state of Persia and the Sunni Mughal state of India, a carefully planned revolt arises and Gurgin Khan (also known as George XI (Georgian: გიორგი XI, Giorgi XI or George of Kartli)(Life: 1651 AD - 21 April 1709) the Safavid Persian Governor of Kandahar is murdered. In south western parts of current day Afghanistan the Hotak dynasty (Pashto: د هوتکيانو ټولواکمني) is founded by Mirwais Hotak (Pashto: مير ويس خان هوتک)(Life: 1673 AD - November 1715 AD) of the Ghilji Pashtuns, who leads a successful revolt against the declining powers of Persian overlords. After revolting and killing the Safavid Persian governor over the region, Gurgin Khan in April 1709, Mirwais Hotak declared the Loy Kandahar ("Greater Kandahar") region covering most of present-day Afghanistan and part of pashtun areas of Balochistan, today a part of Pakistan, independent. The heroic revolt and his
1717 AD: The silk road city of Herat (Persian: هرات,Harât ,Herât; Pashto: هرات; Ancient Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρεια ἡ ἐν Ἀρίοις, Alexándreia hē en Aríois; Latin: Alexandria Ariorum)(in current day north western Afghanistan) was invaded by the forces of the Hotaki dynasty established Mirwais Hotak. Herat remains a part of the Hotaki Territory until the year 1729 when they are expelled by the rising Afsharid dynasty (Persian: افشاریان).
4 June, 1679 AD: A 6.4 magnitude heavy earthquake strikes in the Yerevan region of Armenia , in the southern Caucasus Mountains Region, then part of the Persian Empire. Numerous buildings were destroyed as a result of the earthquake. In Yerevan (Erivan) most notable structures were damaged. The Erivan Fortress was destroyed completely, so were the following churches: Poghos-Petros, Katoghike, Zoravor and the Gethsemane Chapel. The event goes down in history as the (1679) Yerevan earthquake or Garni earthquake (or simply as 1679 Armenia earthquake).
YouTube Video: Introduction to Afghan National Hero Mirwais Hotaki, founder of the powerful Hotaki Dynasty.
popular reign earned him the nickname Mīrwais Nīkə (ميرويس نيکه) or Mīrwais Bābā (ميرويس بابا, "Mirwais the father"). Mirwais is buried in his mausoleum in the Kokaran section of Kandahar, which is in the western end of the city. He is regarded as one of Afghanistan's greatest national heroes and admired by many Afghans, especially the Pashtuns. Steven Otfinoski referred to him as Afghanistan's George Washington in his 2004 book Afghanistan.
1730 AD: A heavy earthquake destroys much of the garrison town of Zhongwei along the Great Wall of China on the Yellow River (Huang He)(in current day Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China (P.R.C.). The Confucian Temple today known as Gao Miao (高庙 ; High Temple) Buddhist Temple is also levelled to the ground. The complex is rebuilt there after, on a larger scale.
1709 AD: In the 48th year of the Qing Dynasty Emperor Kang Xi (Life: 4 May 1654AD - 20 December 1722 AD)(Reign: 5 February 1661 AD - 20 December 1722 AD) the Labrang Monastery (Tibetan: Genden Shédrup Dargyé Trashi Gyésu khyilwé Ling ; དགེ་ལྡན་བཤད་སྒྲུབ་དར་རྒྱས་བཀྲ་ཤིས་གྱས་སུ་འཁྱིལ་བའི་གླིང༌།) was founded along the Daxia River (a tributary of the Yellow River (Huang He) on the eastern fringes of the Tibetan Plateau in the Amdo Province of Tibet (Today: Xiahe County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, China (P.R.C.).). It's founding Monk named Jamyang Shêpa (Lineage of Tulku's of the Gelugpa Sect (Yellow Hat) of Tibetan Monastery) Ngawang Tsondru ( (Tibetan: འཇམ་དབྱངས་བཞད་པ་, Wylie: jam dbyangs bzhad pa ; Chinese: E'Ang Zhongzhe) who had previously studied at the Drepung Monastery ( Lhasa) and returned to this corner of Amdo on invitation by the local Mongol king to return and teach Buddhism there became its first residing first generation "Living Buddha" (Chinese: Jiemuyang), ranking 3rd level in the Tibetan (Political) hierarchy of living Buddha's. Ever since it has been one of the six great monasteries of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.
1644 AD: Reconstruction of the Grand Mosque of the Western Gate (Chinese: 西关清真寺; pinyin: Xīguān Qīngzhēnsì) in Lanzhou. The Grand Mosque was first constructed during the reign period of the Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (19 July 1572 AD - 18 August 1620 AD), but was rebuilt and expanded in the 26th year of the reign period of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (Reign: 5 February 1661 AD - 20 December 1722 AD).
1693 AD: Death of Appaq (also: Apaq or Afāq Khoja, less frequently Aba Khoja) Hoja. The first generation of the Hoja family was Yusuf Hoja, a celebrated Islam missionary. After he died, his eldest son Apak Hoja carried on the missionary work and became the leader of the famous White Cap Sect during the seventeenth century and seized the power of the Yarkent Kingdom (Today: Yarkand) for a time. Apaq Hoja was buried in 1693 and was buried in the tomb. His reputation was greater than his father's, so the tomb was renamed "The Apaq Hoja Tomb" (آفاق خواجه مزار) (Uyghur: Апақ Хоҗа Мазар Apakh Khoja Mazar). Today, the Tomb Mausoleum still stands and is regarded as one of the major historical landmarks of the city of Kashgar (in Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region, China (P.R.C.).
1777 AD: Year of the construction of the Emin Minaret (or Emin Tower)(Persian: مناره امین ; Traditional Chinese: 蘇公塔 ; Simplified Chinese: 苏公塔) in the Turfan Oasis (along the silk road in what is today, Turfan, Turfan City Prefecture, Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region, China (P.R.C.). As its name suggests, the Emin Tower was dedicated to the memory of local Turpan general and later Governor of Turpan, Emin Khoja (Chinese: 額敏和卓), hence the name "Emin". Emin Khoja was a local Uyghur Muslim, who, in rebellion against the so called Dzungar (Oirat) (Tibetan) Buddhist Muslims (who had occupied the Yarkand Khanate earlier ending the Chagatai Khanate in Altishahr), fought in alliance with the Manchu Qing Emperor Qianlong in his conquest and total destruction of the Dzungar Khanate (1634 AD - 1758 AD) and its people. After the Qing conquest (and genocide of the Dzungar people)(1755 AD - 1759 AD) was completed, Emin Khoja was promoted to Governor of Turfan Oasis under the
YouTube Video: current day architecture of the Emin Tower (Emin Minaret), famous landmark of the silk road Oasis of Turfan dedicated to 18Th century Uyghur Hero Emin Khoja.
crown of the Qianlong Emperor. After his death, in 1777 under the (hereditary) rule of his son Suleiman, he was thus honored by the local population with the permission of the Qianlong Emperor (Reign: 18 October 1735 AD - 9 February 1796 AD) with the construction of his very own commemorative tower, the Emin Minaret. The construction of the minaret started in 1777 and was completed in about a years time. Today, the Emin Minaret still stands as the highest minaret in "Xinjiang" ("Western Territories", so designated after the Qing Conquest). Its height is 44 meters with the diameter of 10 meters at its bottom. The Emin Minaret was built from local materials using sun dried bickand wood in a style traditional for Islamic buildings. It has a conical shape, intricate exterior decorations created by layering bricks and wood. It has several openings for letting in the light and ventilation. At the very top of the tower there is a spiral staircase connecting with a small platform. The platform greets an amazing sight of the city and its surroundings. From one side you can see a beautiful green oasis, and from the other - an endless desert, where you can still see the ruins of ancient cities. Before the minaret there are two steles with inscriptions in Uyghur and Chinese. The Uyghur stele displays verses from the Koran (Quran), while the Chinese ones praise the Qing government and tell about the construction of the minaret.
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1780 AD: First construction of the Mastuj Fort, a fortification placed upon on a plateau at confluence of the Yarkhun River or Kūnaṛ River ((Pashto: کونړ سيند), also known in its upper reaches as the Mastuj (مستوج سيند), Chitral (چترال سيند; دریائے چترال), or Kama River (کامې سيند)) and the Mastuj River near Shandur Pass ((Urdu: شندور) ; Shandur Pass is located between Chitral District and Ghizer District of Gilgit-Baltistan in North Pakistan) in Mastuj (Urdu: مستوج) city in current day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The fort is believed to be built by Katoor Dynasty (1570 AD - 1947 AD) in 18th century in around 1780 with couple of rebuilds in 1830 and 1920s. It's purpose was to guard the silk road paths leading to the Pamirs, and the Wakhan Corridor (Today part of eastern Afghanistan) and the borders of current day Tajikistan and Kashgar City Prefecture, Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region, China (P.R.C.).
1775 AD: When Timur Shah (Timur Shah Durrani Sadozai ; Pashto, Persion, Urdu, Arabic: تیمور شاہ درانی سدوزئی)(Reign: October 16, 1772 - May 18, 1793), the second of the Durrani (Durrani Empire (Pashto: د دورانیانو امپراتوري), also called the Afghan Empire (د افغانانو واکمني)(1747 AD - 1826 AD) rulers of Afghanistan, moved his capital from Peshawar to Kabul in 1775, he occupied its ancient citadel; the Bala Hissar, or ‘High Fort’. This is sited on an outcrop of the Sher Darwaza ridge that borders the old city of Kabul. The citadel’s hill was high enough to dominate the city but low enough to sink wells, and the site had been greatly developed as fortress and palace during the Mughal period (1505 AD -1738 AD) of domination of Afghanistan. Timur Shah built his own Palace on the far side of the fortress, reaching to the north wall of the fort between 1775 and his death in 1793. Subsequently, the Bala Hissar Fortress would remain a location of importance in the history of Kabul well into the 20th century.
September 8 - 11, 1795 AD: Battle of Krtsanisi (Georgian: კრწანისის ბრძოლა, k'rts'anisis brdzola) was fought between the Qajars of Iran led by Agha Mohammad Khanand and the Georgian armies of the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti and Kingdom of Imereti at the place of Krtsanisi near Tbilisi, Georgia, from September 8 to September 11, 1795. The battle resulted in the decisive defeat of the Georgians, capture, and complete destruction of their capital Tbilisi, as well as the temporary absorption of eastern parts of Georgia into the Iranian Empire. In 1795, the tower of the historic Sioni Cathedral of the Dormition (Georgian: სიონი (ტაძარი)) built in the year 1425 by King Alexander I was largely destroyed (it was restored in 1939 during the Soviet Period). In addition its wooden iconostasis was burned and afterwards was replaced with one made of stone. Since the Georgian Kingdom was under protection of the Russian Empire, the destruction of Georgia at the hands of the Qajars led to a punitive action by the Russians the following year.
July 24, 1783 AD: The kingdom of Georgia, a subject of the Persians for many centuries, became a Russian protectorate, when Erekle II (of the east Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti) signed the Treaty of Georgievsk (Russian: Георгиевский трактат, Georgievskiy traktat; Georgian: გეორგიევსკის ტრაქტატი, georgievskis trakt'at'i), whereby the Empress promised to defend him in case of the Iranian attack. The shamkhals of Tarki followed the lead and accepted Russian protection three years later.
April - November, 1796 AD: Persian Expedition of Catherine the Great (Екатери́на Вели́кая, Yekaterina Velikaya). In the aftermath of the re-strengthening of Persian power across the Caucasus and the destruction of the Georgian State and its Capital Tbilisi, Catherine II (Russian: Екатерина Алексеевна Yekaterina Alekseyevna; 2 May (Life: [O.S. April 21] , 1729 - November 17 [O.S. 6 November] 1796) was determined to mount a punitive expedition against the Shah, sending a 50 thousand strong Russian army commanded by Count Valerian (Aleksandrovich) Zubov (Life: 1771 - 1804). The expedition was not merely mounted in order to restore Russian pride in the eyes of the Georgian populace, the ultimate goal for the Russian government was to topple the anti-Russian Shah, and to replace him with a half-brother of Agha Muhammad Khan, namely Morteza Qoli Khan, who had defected to Russia, and was therefore considered to be pro-Russian. The Russian troops set out from Kizlyar (Russian: Кизля́р) along the Terek River (Russian: Те́рек; Karachay-Balkar: Терк, Terk; Georgian: თერგი, Tergi; Ossetian: Терк, Terk; Kumyk: Терек-сув, Terek-suv; Chechen: Теркa, Terka) in April 1796 and stormed the key fortress of Derbent (Today: Derbent Дербент, Republic of Dagestan) on May 10. The event was glorified by the court poet Derzhavin in his famous ode (he was later to comment bitterly on Zubov's inglorious return from the expedition in another remarkable poem). By mid-June, Zubov's troops overran without any resistance most of the territory of modern-day Azerbaijan, including three principal cities - Baku (Bakı), Shemakha (Şamaxı) and Ganja (Azerbaijani: Gəncə). By November, they were stationed at the confluence of the Araks (Araxes ; border of Azerbaijan and current day Iran) and Kura (Turkish: Kura; Azerbaijani: Kür; Georgian: მტკვარი, Mt’k’vari; Armenian: Կուր, Kur; Ancient Greek: Κῦρος, Cyrus; Persian: کوروش, Kuruš) Rivers, poised to attack mainland Iran In November however, the Empress of Russia died and her successor Paul I (Russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич; Pavel Petrovich), who detested the Zubovs had and ordered the troops to retreat to Russia, thus allowing the Persian Shah Agha Mohhamad further conquests in the Caucasus region. This reversal aroused the frustration and enmity of the powerful Zubovs and other officers who took part in the campaign: many of them would be among the conspirators who arranged Paul's murder five years later.
1797 AD: Agha Mohammad Khan was assassinated in his tent in Shusha ((Azerbaijani: Şuşa; Russian: Шуша), or Shushi (Armenian: Շուշի))(Today: a city in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus and De Jure part of Azerbaijan), the capital of the Karabakh Khanate (Persian: خانات قرهباغ – Xānāt e Qarebāq, Azerbaijani: Qarabağ xanlığı)(Territory of modern day Armenia and Azerbaijan), which he had taken just some days earlier.
1748 AD: Construction of the Bayat Castle (Azerbaijani: Bayat qalası) in Kebirli mahali (province) as the Capital of the Karabakh Khanate founded by Panah Ali Khan Javanshir (Persian: پناهعلی خان جوانشیر, Azerbaijani: Pənah Əli Qarabağlı)(Life: 1693, Sarijali, Safavid Empire - 1761, Shiraz, Zand dynasty) under Persian suzerainty. The name of the Bayat castle was given in honour of the Turkic Bayat clan. The castle included all strategic defense structures such as walls warfare trenches and had a market, bath house and a mosque. It was built with hard burned bricks. When the construction of the castle was finalized Panah Ali Khan moved all of his court to the castle. The Castle then stayed in function as the home of the ruler and Capital of the Khanate until the completion of the Shahbulag Castle located in the lowlands of Karabakh in 1752. Today, the castle is situated in Kebirli village of Tartar Rayon of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
1748 AD: Completion of the Shahbulagh Castle (Azerbaijani: Şahbulaq qalası "Spring of the Shah" referring to the nearby spring) near the current day Ghost Town of Ağdam (Ակնա, Akna)(Today factually controlled by the de facto Republic of Artsakh (Armenian: Արցախի Հանրապետություն, Artsakhi Hanrapetut'yun)(between 1991 and 2017 known as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic)), but de jure internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan). Soon after completion of the Shahbulagh Castle, the ruler Panah Ali Khan Javanshir moved his court there from Bayat Castle. The Castle thus functioned as Royal stronghold, court and Capital for an unknown number of years.
According to some sources the town of Shusha ((Azerbaijani: Şuşa; Russian: Шуша), or Shushi (Armenian: Շուշի)) was also founded in 1752 by Panah Ali Khan, later to serve as the Capital of the Karabakh Khanate (Mid 18th Century - 1822). Eventually, Panah Ali Khan moved the capital to its final location, Shusha, a natural fortress located on a hardly penetratable mountain rock. Once construction of Shusha castle was completed, Panah Ali Khan relocated all of his court, nobles, meliks to the new location. Nevertheless, Karabakh Khans kept about 3,000 strong horse cavalry in Shabulag Castle at all times for defense purposes, mainly against invasion from neighbouring Persia. Designs of Shahbulag, Shusha and Askeran castles resemble. Today only the castle itself and the mosque on its northwestern end survive. the Shahbulag castle remains an important historic and cultural remnant of the Karabakh Khanate period. Following takeover of Agdam by Armenian forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh War in July 1993, the castle was restored and a small museum was opened inside the castle by local Armenians, storing artifacts found during ongoing excavation efforts at the adjacent archaeological site of Tigranakert (Armenian: Արցախի Տիգրանակերտ, Arts'akhi Tigranakert)a ruined Armenian city dating back to the Hellenistic period and named in honor of the Armenian king Tigranes the Great (Reign: 95 - 55 B.C.)(or his Father Tigranes I (Reign: ca. 123 - 95 B.C.)).
1710 AD: Batonishvili Vakhtang VI, the regent of Kartli, made changes to the dome, roof, and inscriptions on the seat of the Orthodox Christian Patriarchy of Georgia, the historic Cathedral of the Dormition (Georgian: სიონი (ტაძარი)) in Tbilisi, Georgia. It was the first time since the 12th centruy that significant changes were made to its overall design (except for the exterior bell tower constructed in 1425, King Alexander I.
1668 AD: In the year 1668 during the reign of Tsar Aleksey (I) Mikhailovich (Russian: Алексе́й Миха́йлович) Romanov (Reign: July 12, 645 AD - 29 January 29, 1676 AD) following severe economic problems and an earlier revolt in the Russian Capital Moscow, a large cossack army led by the famous and notorious Stenka Razin (Stepan Timofeyevich Razin (Russian: Степа́н Тимофе́евич Ра́зин) descends down the Volga River with 35 ships pillaging and capturing fortresses along the way. Eventually the army reaches Astrakhan on the coast of the Caspian Sea. Soon after their arrival in the city the Cossack leadership manages to convert a large number of soldiers and officers (as well as villains) to their cause which they as a cause of freedom from tyranny. When the Tsar send a second army to Astrakhan to subdue the rebellious Cossack led army this army too is infiltrated and the soldiers commence to throw their officers into the Volga river after which they too join the rebel army. After massacring all who opposed him (including two Princes Prozorovsky) and giving the rich bazaars of the city over to pillage, he converted Astrakhan into a Cossack republic. Cossack headman Stenka Razin makes a speech to the new troops congratulating them on their newfound freedom and announcing that god has sent him to be their leader and lord protector. It is an unheard of event in the Russian Empire. In the following years the rebellious cossacks rain various parts of the coastline of the Caspian Sea with Russian and Persian. In August 1669 Stenka Razin reappeared at Astrakhan and accepted a fresh offer of pardon from Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich there. However, soon after he yet again declared to be in open rebellion against the Tsar and his boyars. From 1670 to 1671, Razin seized multiple towns along the Volga River. The turning point in his campaign was his failed siege of Simbirsk (Today: Ulyanovsk ; Ульяновск) in October 1670. Together with his brother Frol Razin Stenka Razin was finally captured on the Don in April 1671, and was later drawn and quartered in the Bolotnaya Square in Moscow.
1797 AD: Following a string of military successes across Europe in northern Italy and Habsburg (Austria) a French army led by Napoleon Bonaparte forced the surrender of the Republic of Venice (current day Venice, Italy), ending 1,100 years of independence Venice. The French formally abolish the Jewish Ghetto established in 1516, although there after Jews would continue to live in that part of the city. Napoleon also authorized the French to loot treasures such as the Horses of Saint Mark ((Italian: Cavalli di San Marco), also known as the Triumphal Quadriga), a set of Roman bronze statues of four horses originally taken by Venice after the sacking of Constantinople in 1204 and placed on the facade, on the loggia above the porch, of St Mark's Basilica in Venice (until their removal by the French).
1685 AD: Due to heavy debt the Georgian (Hebrew: מנזר המצלבה, Georgian: ჯვრის მონასტერი, jvris monast'eri) in the Valley of the Cross outside Jerusalem (in current day Israel-Palestine) was sold by the Georgians to the Greeks in 1685, there after becoming a Monastery of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The monastery is home to Greek monks to this very day.
August 17, 1668 AD: Anatolian Earthquake magnitude 8.0 on the Richter scale ruptures some 400 kilometres of the East Anatolian Fault Line devastating current day eastern Turkey and parts of the southern Caucasus Region. Some 8000 people are reportedly killed by the event. Even the Tbilisi area of Georgia was struck by the earthquake and the seat of its Orthodox Christian Patriarchy, the Sioni church of the Dormition in Tbilisi was severely damaged by the quake.
1651 AD: In 1651 Safavid Persian troops attacked Russian fortifications in the Northern Caucasus. The main issue involved the expansion of a Russian garrison on the Koy Su River (Today: Sulak River in Dagestan), as well as the construction of several new fortresses, in particular the one built on the Persian side of the Terek River (Today: part of Chechnya, Russian Federation). The successful Safavid offensive resulted in the destruction of the Russian fortress and its garrison being expelled. In 1653 Tsar Alexis, initially thinking about sending the Zaporozhian Cossacks, eventually decided to send an embassy to Persia for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. In August 1653 courtier Prince Ivan Lobanov-Rostov and steward Ivan Komynin traveled from the Russian terminus city of Astrakhanon the Caspian Sea to Isfahan. The Safavid Persian Shah Abbas II agreed to settle the conflict, stating that the conflict was initiated without his consent.