Empire · 968–1804 · Southeast Asia

Đại Việt

Also known as Annam

Northern Vietnam was ruled by China for about a thousand years until Ngô Quyền defeated a Southern Han fleet at the Bạch Đằng River in 938. In 968 Đinh Bộ Lĩnh unified the country and founded the kingdom later known as Đại Việt, Great Viet.

The Lý dynasty moved the capital to Thăng Long, modern Hanoi, in 1010 and built a Confucian bureaucracy alongside Buddhism. The Trần dynasty repelled three Mongol invasions in the 13th century, and after a brief Ming occupation Lê Lợi restored independence in 1428. The Lê kings pushed steadily south at the expense of Champa. From the 16th century the realm was divided, first by the Mạc usurpation of 1527 and then between rival lords, the Trịnh in the north and Nguyễn in the south, until the Tây Sơn rebellion and the Nguyễn dynasty reunified it, renaming it Vietnam in 1804.

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Years

968–1804

Capital

Hoa Lư, then Thăng Long (Hanoi) from 1010

Greatest extent

1780, about 300,000 km²

Region

Southeast Asia

After the long southward expansion into Champa and the Mekong delta (rough estimate)