The Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa, proving the Indian Ocean could be reached by sea.
Qutb ud-Din Aibak establishes the Delhi Sultanate, which dominates much of northern India for over three centuries.
Mamluk slave-soldiers overthrow the Ayyubids and seize power in Egypt, ruling Egypt and Syria for over two and a half centuries.
King Ramathibodi I founds the capital of Ayutthaya, beginning a Siamese kingdom that lasts over four centuries.
Parameswara founds Malacca, which becomes the key port on the Strait of Malacca and a centre for the spread of Islam in Southeast Asia.
Lê Thánh Tông takes the throne; his reign (1460–1497) is regarded as a golden age of Đại Việt, with major administrative and legal reforms.