The 750s decade ran from January 1, 750, to December 31, 759.

Events

750

By place

Arab Caliphate
Al-Saffah became caliph (ruler) of the Islamic Caliphate on 25 January 750. He ruled from 750 to 10 June 754.
Europe
Britain
Africa
India
America
Indonesia
  • Borobudur, or Barabudur (a Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia, as well as the world's largest Buddhist temple, and also one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world) is built (approximate date).

By topic

Art
Food and drink

751

By place

Byzantine Empire
Europe
Abbasid Caliphate
  • Battle of Talas: First recorded encounter (and the last) between Arab and Chinese forces. 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. 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.
  • Muslim introduction of papermaking: 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.
Asia
  • Like the storm of 721, the storm of this year at the southern Chinese seaport of Yangzhou reportedly destroys over 1,000 ships engaged in canal and river traffic (approximate date).
  • The Japanese poetry anthology Kaifūsō is assembled.

By topic

Religion

752

By place

Europe
Britain
Africa
Mesoamerica

By topic

Religion

753

By place

Europe

By topic

Religion

754

By place

Europe
Abbasid Caliphate
Abbasid caliph al-Mansur (r. 754–775)
Asia
  • Jianzhen, Chinese Buddhist monk, arrives in Nara, where he is welcomed by former emperor Shōmu and empress Kōmyō. During his visit Jianzhen introduces sugar to the Japanese court, using it to mask the flavors of foul-tasting herbal tea.
  • A Tang 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 (approximate date).

By topic

Religion

755

By place

Europe
Britain
Asia
Central America

756

By place

Byzantine Empire
Europe
Britain
Abbasid Caliphate
  • Ibn al-Muqaffa', Muslim writer and thinker, 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 (approximate date).
Chinese Empire
  • January 18[13]An Lushan Rebellion: The eastern capital of Luoyang falls to the 200,000-strong army of the rebel general An Lushan, who defeats loyalist forces under Feng Changqing. The rebels cross the Yellow River, and march on to capture the cities Chenliu and Yingyang (modern Zhengzhou, Henan).
  • Battle of Yongqiu: A Tang garrison (2,000 men), under Zhang Xun, successfully defend their fortress against the rebel army at Yongqiu. Zhang achieves a victory after a 4-month siege, and prevents the rebels from capturing the fertile Tang territory south of the Huai River.
  • February 5 – 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 decides to seize southern China, to cut off loyalist reinforcements. Meanwhile, numerous soldiers join the rebellion.
  • May 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.
  • July 7[14][note 1]– An Lushan crushes the Tang troops at the Tong Pass, leaving the road to the capital wide open.
  • July 14 Xuan Zong flees the capital of Chang'an (along with the imperial court) for Sichuan, as rebel forces advance through the Tongguan Pass toward the city. Meanwhile, An Lushan is ailing, perhaps with diabetes. He is nearly blind and suffers from extreme irascibility.
  • July 15 Xuan Zong is ordered by his Imperial Guards to execute Yang Guozhong, by forcing him to commit suicide or face a mutiny. He permits his consort Yang Guifei to be strangled by his chief eunuch. An Lushan also has other members of the emperor's family killed.
  • August 12 Xuan Zong abdicates the throne after a 44-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Su Zong, as emperor of the Tang Dynasty. He hires 22,000 Muslim mercenaries to reinforce his decimated army at Lingzhou.
  • November 19[17] Tang General Fang Guan is defeated at Xianyang. The imperial forces consisted of two thousand oxcarts with cavalry and foot soldiers on two fronts, but the rebels took advantage of their upwind position and attacked with fire. Imperial forces killed or wounded numbered more than 40,000 men.
Japan

757

By place

Europe
Britain
Africa
China

By topic

Catastrophe
Religion

758

By place

Europe
Britain
Africa
Asia
  • An Lushan Rebellion: The Chinese seaport of Guangzhou is sacked by Muslim and Persian raiders. The port is shut down for the next 5 decades, while foreign vessels dock at Hanoi (modern Vietnam) instead. Guangzhou thrives again, once it is reopened to foreign trade in the early 9th century.
  • June 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.
  • Empress Kōken abdicates the throne, after a 9-year reign. She is succeeded by her adopted son Junnin, grandson of the late emperor Tenmu. He becomes the 47th emperor (tennō) of Japan.

759

By place

Byzantine Empire
Europe
Britain
Abbasid Caliphate
Asia

By topic

Religion

Significant people

Notes

  1. Others date it on July 9[15][16]

References

  1. David Nicolle (2009). The Great Islamic Conquests 632–750 AD, p. 79. ISBN 978-1-84603-273-8.
  2. Higham, pp. 148149; Kirby, p. 150; York, Kings, p. 89.
  3. Stringer, Keith (1998). Alexander, Grant (ed.). Medieval Scotland. Columbia University Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7486-1110-2.
  4. Pierre Riché, The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe (Philadelphia, 1993), p. 65.
  5. Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 34–37. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
  6. Benvenuti, Gino (1985). Le Repubbliche Marinare. Amalfi, Pisa, Genova e Venezia. Rome: Newton & Compton Editori. p. 42. ISBN 88-8289-529-7.
  7. Kazhdan (1991), p. 1600
  8. Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). "Pope Stephen II". The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Vol. 1. New York: Oxford University Press.
  9. Greenfield, Stanley Brian (1986). A New Critical History of Old English Literature. New York University Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-8147-3088-4.
  10. Sargent, Denny. Shinto and Its Festivals.
  11. Runciman S., A History of the First Bulgarian Empire, London G.Bell & Sons, 1930, pp. 37, 289.
  12. Lawler, Jennifer (2015-05-20). Encyclopedia of the Byzantine Empire. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-0929-4.
  13. Ju-n̂eng Yao, Robert baron Des Rotours (1962). Histoire de Ngan Lou-chan. p. 26.
  14. Graff, David. Fang Guan's Chariots: Scholarship, War, and Character Assassination in the MiddleTang (PDF). p. 1.
  15. Charles D. Benn Daily life in traditional China : the Tang dynasty Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002 ISBN 978-0-313-30955-7
  16. Ju-n̂eng Yao, Robert baron Des Rotours (1962). Histoire de Ngan Lou-chan. p. 26.
  17. Graff, David. Fang Guan's Chariots: Scholarship, War, and Character Assassination in the MiddleTang (PDF). p. 2.
  18. "PÉPIN LE BREF (741-768)" (in Latin and French). Noctes-gallicanae.org. Archived from the original on 2009-12-05. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
  19. Gilbert Meynier (2010). L'Algérie cœur du Maghreb classique. De l'ouverture islamo-arabe au repli (658-1518). Paris: La Découverte; p.26.
  20. Gilbert Meynier (2010). L'Algérie cœur du Maghreb classique. De l'ouverture islamo-arabe au repli (658-1518). Paris: La Découverte; p. 25.
  21. Theophanes the Confessor. Chronographia, p. 431
  22. Stratton, J.M. (1969). Agricultural Records. John Baker. ISBN 0-212-97022-4.
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