THE WORLD ATLAS

Chapter · Early Middle Ages

Empires Breaking Apart

The world in 900

Around 900 CE the great empires of the previous century are fragmenting. The Abbasid caliph still reigns in Baghdad, but real power in the Islamic world is passing to regional dynasties: the Samanids of Bukhara, who in 900 defeat the Saffarids, the Tulunids in Egypt, and the Aghlabids in Tunisia, whose lands the Fatimids will soon seize.

Tang China is in its death throes and will fall in 907. Charlemagne's empire has split into East and West Francia, both under attack from Vikings, Magyars and Arab raiders. In the east, a new state, Kyivan Rus, has formed under the Viking-descended prince Oleg, and the Magyars are moving into the Hungarian plain. The Byzantine Empire under Leo VI is stable, and Bulgaria under Simeon I is its greatest rival. In Southeast Asia, Khmer kings are building Angkor. In Mesoamerica the Classic Maya cities of the south have been abandoned, while Chichen Itza rises in Yucatán.

Open the map in 900

The great powers

Region by region

Southern Africa

Bantu-speaking farmers occupy most of southern and eastern Africa, and chiefdoms in the Limpopo valley grow rich trading ivory and gold to the coast. Swahili trading towns are developing along the East African shore. Madagascar has Malagasy farming communities, and Khoisan peoples live in the west and south.

Northern Africa

Egypt is ruled by the Tulunid dynasty, nominally under the Abbasids, who will reclaim it in 905. The Aghlabids rule Tunisia and Sicily, but will be overthrown by the Shi'a Fatimids in 909, while the Idrisid state in Morocco is fragmenting among Berber groups. Christian Makuria and Alodia rule Nubia, Ghana dominates the West African gold trade, Kanem grows near Lake Chad, and the bronze-casters of Igbo-Ukwu flourish in south-eastern Nigeria, east of the lower Niger.

Europe

The Carolingian Empire is divided: Louis the Child rules East Francia and Charles the Simple West Francia, while Vikings settle in England's Danelaw and raid France. Alfred the Great of Wessex died in 899, and his son Edward the Elder is reclaiming England. Oleg rules Kyivan Rus, Simeon I rules a powerful Bulgaria, the Magyars under Árpád are conquering the Carpathian basin and destroying Great Moravia, Leo VI the Wise rules Byzantium, and the Umayyad emir Abd Allah rules a troubled Córdoba.

Middle East & South Asia

The Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tadid (r. 892–902) has restored some authority in Baghdad, but Iran is divided between the Samanids and the Saffarids, whose ruler Amr ibn al-Layth is captured by the Samanids in 900. The Byzantines hold Anatolia. In India, the Pratiharas under Mahendrapala I rule the Ganges plain from Kanauj, the Rashtrakutas under Krishna II rule the Deccan, the Palas hold Bengal, the Hindu Shahis rule Kabul and the Punjab, and the Cholas under Aditya I are rising in the Tamil south.

Northern & Central Asia

The Samanid Empire under Ismail ibn Ahmad rules Transoxiana and Khorasan from Bukhara, a brilliant Persian Muslim court. The Oghuz Turks roam the Aral steppe, the Karluks hold the Tian Shan, and the Pechenegs, Khazars and Volga Bulgars control the western steppe. The Uyghur Khaganate was destroyed by the Kyrgyz in 840, and Uyghurs now rule oasis kingdoms in Turfan and Gansu.

East Asia

The Tang dynasty, under Emperor Zhaozong (r. 888–904), has been wrecked by the Huang Chao rebellion and will end in 907, opening the era of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. The Tibetan Empire collapsed in the 840s, and Tibet is fragmented. In Korea, Silla is splitting into the Later Three Kingdoms as Gyeon Hwon proclaims Later Baekje in 900; Balhae still rules Manchuria, the Khitans under Abaoji are rising in the north, and Japan is ruled by Emperor Daigo, who governs without a Fujiwara regent though Fujiwara no Tokihira leads his court.

Southeast Asia

The Khmer Empire under Yasovarman I (r. from 889) builds a new capital, Yasodharapura, at Angkor. Srivijaya dominates the Strait of Malacca, and the Mataram kingdom of Java has recently built the great Hindu temple of Prambanan. The Burmese kingdom of Pagan is emerging, and Champa rules central Vietnam.

Northern North America

Dorset Paleo-Inuit still hunt in the eastern Arctic, and the Thule culture is forming in Alaska. Between about 870 and 930 Norse settlers colonize Iceland, the gateway to Greenland and North America. Athabaskan, Algonquian and Beothuk peoples hunt in the subarctic forests.

Southern North America

The Classic Maya cities of the southern lowlands have collapsed, with the last dated monuments erected around 909, while Chichen Itza rises in northern Yucatán. In central Mexico, the Toltecs are building their capital at Tula. In the Southwest, Ancestral Puebloans are building the great houses of Chaco Canyon, and early Mississippian farming chiefdoms are forming along the Mississippi.

Northern South America

The Wari Empire is in decline in Peru, and Tiwanaku still dominates the Titicaca basin. The Sicán (Lambayeque) culture is rising on Peru's north coast, Tupi peoples are expanding along the Brazilian coast, and the Muisca and other chiefdoms live in the Colombian highlands.

Southern Cone

Hunter-gatherers occupy the pampas and Patagonia, and canoe peoples live in Tierra del Fuego. Farming peoples in northwest Argentina and northern Chile trade with Tiwanaku, and Guarani-speaking farmers are expanding into Paraguay and southern Brazil.

Australasia & Oceania

Aboriginal Australians live across the continent. In the Pacific, Polynesians in Samoa and Tonga will, within the next century or two, sail east to settle the Cook, Society and Marquesas Islands, the heart of eastern Polynesia.

Events

  1. Treaty of Verdun splits Charlemagne's empire
  2. Huang Chao rebellion begins in China (c. 875)
  3. Oleg takes Kyiv, forming Kyivan Rus
  4. Simeon I becomes ruler of Bulgaria
  5. Magyars begin their conquest of the Carpathian basin
  6. Samanids defeat the Saffarids near Balkh
  7. Tang dynasty falls
  8. Fatimid Caliphate proclaimed in North Africa

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