Ancient World
Dutugemunu and Elara: Sri Lanka's Ancient Battle of Kings
Dutugemunu killed Elara in single combat, became king at Anuradhapura and ruled a united island until about 137 BC.
Region
Asia
Ancient World
Rebellion of the Seven States (154 BC): Han Princes Rise Up
The revolt was crushed; the kingdoms lost most of their autonomy and power shifted decisively to the Han central government.
Ancient World
Hathigumpha Inscription: King Kharavela of Kalinga
The seventeen-line Prakrit text preserved a year-by-year record of Kharavela's reign and remains the main source for Kalinga after the Mauryas.
Ancient World
Bharhut Stupa: Early Buddhist Reliefs of Ancient India
The carved railings and gateway became one of the earliest and most important bodies of Buddhist narrative sculpture, now mostly in the Indian Museum, Kolkata.
Ancient World
Emperor Wu of Han (141-87 BC): Expansion of the Han Empire
Han China doubled in extent, defeated the Xiongnu, opened contacts with Central Asia and adopted Confucian learning as state orthodoxy, at heavy financial and human cost.
Ancient World
Zhang Qian's Mission to the West and the Origins of the Silk Road
The mission failed to win an alliance with the Yuezhi, but Zhang Qian's reports led Han China to open regular diplomatic and trade contacts with Central Asia.
Ancient World
Dong Zhongshu and the Rise of Confucianism as Han State Ideology
Confucian classics became the basis of official education and recruitment in China, a role they kept, with interruptions, until 1905.
Ancient World
Hexi Corridor: Han China's Gateway to the Silk Road
Han China took control of the corridor, cut the Xiongnu off from the Qiang peoples and secured the main overland route to Central Asia.
Ancient World
Battle of Mobei (119 BC): Han Armies Strike the Xiongnu
Han victory; the Xiongnu chanyu fled north and the Xiongnu court withdrew from the lands south of the Gobi, but Han lost most of its war horses.
Ancient World
Jade Burial Suits of Liu Sheng and Dou Wan: Han Royal Tombs
The excavation revealed two intact Western Han royal tombs and the first complete jade burial suits ever found, now in the Hebei Museum.
Ancient World
Heliodorus Pillar: A Greek Envoy's Tribute to Vishnu, 113 BC
A Greek ambassador dedicated a Garuda standard to Vasudeva, leaving one of the earliest dated records of Vishnu devotion.
Ancient World
Han Conquest of Gojoseon (108 BC): Fall of Korea's First State
Han victory; Wiman Joseon was destroyed and replaced by four Han commanderies, of which Lelang lasted until AD 313.