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Rome falls to Barbarian invasions.
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trade route develops through the straits of Malacca, linking the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea.
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Life of Muhammad, and the beginning of the rise and spread of Islam.
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The Chinese invention of the compass
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Astronomical instruments from the middle east arrive in Europe.
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Mongols, under Helegu, sack the city of Baghdad, kill the last caliph, and end the Abbasid Empire.
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Marco Polo travels overland from Venice, Italy to Fushou, China and then sails through the South China Sea and Indian Ocean to Hormuz.
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Ibn Battuta travels throughout the Islamic world from Morocco to China. His nearly 30 years of travel were dictated in his book, Al Rihla.
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Ming Dynasty established with overthrow of Mongols.
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Mongol leader, Timur (Tamerlane), conquers Baghdad and Damascus, disrupting overland trade routes.
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Zheng He completes seven diplomatic and discovery expeditions from Nanjung, Chine to the Arabian Peninsula. He was a military admiral.
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Ahmad Ibn Majid born in Oman.
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Ottomans overthrow Byzantine Empire and Establish capitol in Constantinople.
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official Ethiopian delegation arrives in Lisbon, Portugal.
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Bartholomeu Dias becomes first European to sail past the southern tip of Africa.
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Ahmad Ibn Majid writes a navigational encyclopedia for Indian ocean sailors, entitled Fawaid.
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Granada falls to Ferdinand and Isabella, and Columbus sails across Atlantic.
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Vasco De Gama circumnavigates Africa, and in 1499, sails first Portuguese ships to India