661 CE
West Asia Political change
A caliphate centered on Damascus
The Met dates the beginning of Umayyad rule to 661, with power centered in Syria.
Civilization Timeline
Follow twenty-four selected events across nine regions. Compare periods, explore learning and trade, and keep the source beside each event.
Map
Land outlines give regional orientation. No historical state borders or exact event locations are plotted.
At the same time…
Overlapping bands do not prove contact or causation. Broad periods and exact years retain different precision.
Choose an event
670 CE
North Africa Cities
Kairouan is founded
UNESCO dates Kairouan’s foundation to 670 and describes its later Aghlabid flourishing.
691 CE
West Asia Architecture
A major Umayyad building in Jerusalem
The Met dates completion of the Dome of the Rock to 691 under Abd al-Malik.
8th century CE
Iberia Cities
Cordoba grows into a major city
UNESCO describes extensive building in Cordoba after the eighth-century conquest.
750 CE
West Asia Political change
The Abbasid political center shifts east
The Abbasids succeeded the Umayyads in 750, shifting the political center toward Iraq.
762 CE
West Asia Cities
Baghdad becomes a new capital
The Met identifies 762 as the foundation of Baghdad as the new Abbasid capital.
9th century CE
North Africa Cities
The ninth-century beginnings of Fez
UNESCO places the foundation of Fez in the ninth century.
836–892 CE
West Asia Architecture
Samarra serves as an Abbasid capital
Samarra replaced Baghdad as capital for a period dated 836–892 by the Met.
10th century CE
Central Asia Architecture
A surviving Samanid monument
UNESCO highlights the tenth-century tomb of Ismail Samani among Bukhara’s monuments.
10th century CE
North Africa Cities
The medieval city of Cairo takes shape
UNESCO dates the foundation of Islamic Cairo to the tenth century.
13th–14th centuries CE
Iberia Architecture
Gardens and residences of Nasrid Granada
UNESCO connects the Generalife and the emirs of Granada with the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
13th–16th centuries CE
East Africa Trade
Kilwa connects Indian Ocean trade
UNESCO describes Kilwa merchants connecting African goods with Arabian, Persian and Chinese wares.
1228–1233 CE
West Asia Learning
A college for four legal schools
The Met dates the Mustansiriyya college for four Sunni legal schools to 1228–1233.
1258 CE
West Asia Political change
The sack of Abbasid Baghdad
The Met places the Mongol sack of Baghdad and the end of Abbasid rule there in 1258.
14th century CE
Anatolia Cities
Bursa links city and countryside
UNESCO describes an early Ottoman urban system of markets, schools, baths and public kitchens linked to rural support.
14th–15th centuries CE
Central Asia Learning
Timurid Samarkand and its observatory
UNESCO highlights Timurid development and monuments including Ulugh-Beg’s observatory.
15th century CE
South Asia Cities
A brick-built mosque city in Bengal
UNESCO dates Khalifatabad’s foundation under Khan Jahan to the fifteenth century.
15th century CE
Southeast Asia Trade
A sultanate at the trading straits
UNESCO identifies the fifteenth-century Malay sultanate as an early phase of Melaka’s trading history.
15th–16th centuries CE
West Africa Learning
A West African center of learning
UNESCO describes Timbuktu’s madrasas and its importance as an intellectual center in these centuries.
1453 CE
Anatolia Political change
Constantinople enters Ottoman rule
The Met dates the Ottoman capture of Constantinople to 1453.
16th century CE
Anatolia Architecture
A mosque with a social complex
UNESCO describes Sinan’s Selimiye complex, with schools, a market and a library.
Second half of the 16th century CE
South Asia Political change
A short-lived Mughal capital
UNESCO describes Akbar’s planned city and its roughly ten years as a Mughal capital.
Early 17th century CE
West Asia Architecture
A Safavid civic square
UNESCO places Shah Abbas I’s Meidan Emam complex in the early seventeenth century.
1631–1648 CE
South Asia Architecture
A Mughal marble mausoleum
UNESCO dates construction of the Taj Mahal under Shah Jahan to 1631–1648.
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A useful starting point
How this app works
Civilization Timeline connects twenty-four selected events across nine regions. Read about learning, trade and other developments beside institutional source references, or compare two periods. Regional map outlines offer orientation without plotting historical state borders, and overlapping periods remain distinct from evidence of contact or causation.
Try it in three steps
- Choose an event or narrow the list by region, topic or date.
- Open the event and read its source and dating notes.
- Compare two periods to inspect their time ranges without assuming the overlap proves a connection.
Does the map show historical state borders?
No. Land outlines provide regional orientation. The map does not plot historical state borders or exact event locations.
Does overlap between two periods prove that they influenced each other?
No. The comparison shows their date ranges. Contact, influence and causation require separate evidence; the app preserves the difference between a broad period and an exact year.
Inspect this app's sources and methodology, or read about Moongazer and source corrections.