The most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history occurs on Sumbawa, causing the global "Year Without a Summer" of 1816.
Stamford Raffles signs a treaty establishing a British East India Company trading post at Singapore, beginning the modern port city.
Nguyễn Du writes The Tale of Kiều, a 3,254-line poem in lục bát verse regarded as the masterpiece of Vietnamese literature; the exact date of composition is uncertain.
Gia Long, founder of the Nguyễn dynasty, dies and is succeeded by his son Minh Mạng, who centralises the state.
Poet Nguyễn Du dies in Huế.
Britain and the Netherlands divide their spheres in the Malay world, roughly creating today's Malaysia–Indonesia divide.
Britain defeats Konbaung Burma, which cedes Assam, Manipur, Arakan and Tenasserim under the Treaty of Yandabo.