1279★★★★★
Battle of Yamen: end of the Southern Song
The Yuan fleet defeats the last Song loyalists; the child emperor is drowned, ending the Song dynasty.
WarDynasty· China
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Events this year
Ongoing
c. 11th century – c. 1450s★★★★★
Great Zimbabwe flourishes
Great Zimbabwe, a city of mortarless stone enclosures, was the centre of a powerful state that prospered from cattle and the gold trade with the Swahili coast.
CultureEconomy· Zimbabwe
1206 – 1526★★★★★
Founding of the Delhi Sultanate
Qutb ud-Din Aibak establishes the Delhi Sultanate, which dominates much of northern India for over three centuries.
DynastyPolitics· India, Pakistan, Bangladesh
1250 – 1517★★★★★
Mamluk Sultanate established in Egypt
Mamluk slave-soldiers overthrow the Ayyubids and seize power in Egypt, ruling Egypt and Syria for over two and a half centuries.
DynastyPolitics· Egypt, Syria
c. 1250s – c. 1300s★★★★★
Polynesian settlement of New Zealand
Eastern Polynesian voyagers reached New Zealand by canoe, probably between about 1250 and 1300; their descendants developed Māori culture.
ExplorationCulture· New Zealand
1271 – 1295★★★★★
Travels of Marco Polo
The Venetian merchant Marco Polo travels to China under Kublai Khan; the account of his journey shapes European knowledge of Asia.
Exploration· Italy, China
1274 – 1281★★★★★
Mongol invasions of Japan
The Yuan twice sends fleets against Japan, in 1274 and 1281, and both fail; the storms involved become known as kamikaze ('divine winds').
War· Japan, China, South Korea