THE WORLD ATLAS

Chapter · Early Middle Ages

Charlemagne Crowned

The world in 800

On Christmas Day 800, Pope Leo III crowns the Frankish king Charlemagne emperor of the Romans in St Peter's in Rome, reviving the imperial title in the West for the first time in over three centuries. Charlemagne's empire stretches from the Pyrenees to the Elbe and into Italy.

Yet the greatest power of the age is the Abbasid Caliphate, ruled by Harun al-Rashid from Baghdad, a city of perhaps half a million people and a centre of trade, translation and science. In Constantinople, Empress Irene rules the Byzantine Empire as sole sovereign. Tang China is recovering from the catastrophic An Lushan Rebellion, while the Tibetan Empire and the Uyghur Khaganate dominate Central Asia. In India, the Rashtrakutas, Palas and Pratiharas fight for control of the north. Vikings have begun raiding the coasts of Britain, and on Java the Sailendra kings are building Borobudur. In the Americas, the Maya cities are nearing their collapse.

Open the map in 800

The great powers

Region by region

Southern Africa

Bantu-speaking farmers live across eastern and southern Africa, and cattle-keeping chiefdoms are growing in the Limpopo valley, forerunners of Mapungubwe. Swahili trading villages are appearing along the East African coast. Madagascar is home to Malagasy communities of Austronesian and African descent, and Khoisan peoples still occupy the far southwest.

Northern Africa

Egypt is an Abbasid province, and in 800 Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab founds the Aghlabid dynasty in Ifriqiya (Tunisia), ruling for the caliph; the Idrisids rule northern Morocco from Walila (Volubilis), where the boy Idris II is guided by regents. Christian Makuria and Alodia rule Nubia. In West Africa, Ghana is the great gold empire of the Soninke, and Kanem is forming near Lake Chad.

Europe

Charlemagne (king 768–814, emperor from 800) rules the Carolingian Empire from Aachen, having conquered the Saxons, the Lombards and the Avars. The Byzantine Empire is ruled by Empress Irene (r. 797–802) from Constantinople, while al-Hakam I rules the Emirate of Córdoba in Spain and the small Christian kingdom of Asturias holds out in the north. Offa's successor Coenwulf rules Mercia in England, Viking raids have begun since Lindisfarne in 793, and the Khazars and Bulgars dominate the east.

Middle East & South Asia

The Abbasid Caliphate under Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) rules from Baghdad over Iraq, Iran, Arabia, Syria and Egypt. The Byzantines hold Anatolia, frequently raided by Abbasid armies. In India three powers struggle for the Ganges plain: the Rashtrakutas under Govinda III in the Deccan, the Palas under Dharmapala in Bengal and Bihar, and the Gurjara-Pratiharas under Nagabhata II in the west.

Northern & Central Asia

The Uyghur Khaganate, under Huaixin Khagan, rules Mongolia from its capital Ordu-Baliq and is an ally and creditor of Tang China. The Abbasids hold Transoxiana and its Silk Road cities of Bukhara and Samarkand, the Karluks rule the Tian Shan, and the Khazars and Volga Bulgars control the western steppe.

East Asia

Tang China, under Emperor Dezong (r. 779–805), rules from Chang'an but has lost much power to regional military governors since the An Lushan Rebellion (755–763). The Tibetan Empire, whose throne passes to the boy king Tride Songtsen around this time, holds the Tarim Basin and Gansu. Silla rules Korea, Balhae rules Manchuria, and in Japan Emperor Kanmu has just moved the capital to Heian-kyō (Kyoto) in 794, beginning the Heian period.

Southeast Asia

Srivijaya controls the Strait of Malacca from Sumatra, and the Sailendra dynasty of central Java is building Borobudur, the world's largest Buddhist monument. In Cambodia, Jayavarman II will proclaim himself universal monarch in 802, founding the Khmer Empire. Champa, the Pyu, the Mon and the Nanzhao kingdom (in Yunnan) round out the region.

Northern North America

Dorset hunters occupy the eastern Arctic, while in Alaska whaling cultures are developing into the Thule, who will later spread east across the Arctic. Athabaskan, Algonquian and Beothuk peoples hunt in the subarctic forests, and Pacific Northwest peoples build plank houses and carve monumental art.

Southern North America

The Maya cities of the southern lowlands are at the end of their Classic peak; within a century most will be abandoned. Central Mexico is divided among cities like Xochicalco and Cacaxtla, and the Toltecs are beginning to rise. Ancestral Puebloans and the Mogollon and Hohokam peoples farm the Southwest, and in the Mississippi valley maize farming is spreading, setting the stage for Mississippian chiefdoms.

Northern South America

The Wari Empire dominates highland and coastal Peru, while Tiwanaku rules the Lake Titicaca basin. Tupi-speaking peoples are expanding along the Brazilian coast and the Amazon, and the Marajoara culture builds mounds at the mouth of the Amazon.

Southern Cone

Hunter-gatherers occupy the pampas and Patagonia, and canoe peoples live in the far south. Tiwanaku influence reaches oasis communities in northern Chile, such as San Pedro de Atacama, and farming peoples live in northwest Argentina and central Chile.

Australasia & Oceania

Aboriginal Australians live in diverse societies across the continent. Papuan and Austronesian peoples farm and trade in New Guinea, and Polynesians in Tonga and Samoa are poised to settle eastern Polynesia, the start of the last great human migration.

Events

  1. Abbasids overthrow the Umayyads
  2. Battle of Talas between Abbasids and Tang
  3. An Lushan Rebellion devastates Tang China
  4. Baghdad founded as the Abbasid capital
  5. Vikings raid Lindisfarne
  6. Japan's capital moves to Heian-kyō (Kyoto)
  7. Charlemagne crowned emperor in Rome
  8. Jayavarman II founds the Khmer Empire

Moments of this period

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Sources