Middle Ages
Battle of Ngasaunggyan (1277): Mongols Against Pagan
Yuan victory; the Pagan army was driven back, opening a decade of Mongol campaigns that broke the Pagan kingdom.
Region
Asia
Middle Ages
Battle of Yamen (1279): The Last Stand of the Song Dynasty
Decisive Yuan victory; the last Song emperor died and the Song dynasty came to an end.
Middle Ages
Wen Tianxiang: The Song Loyalist Executed by Kublai (1283)
Wen Tianxiang was executed after refusing office under the Yuan and became China's best-known symbol of loyalty.
Middle Ages
Rabban Bar Sauma: A Mongol Envoy in Europe (1287–1288)
Bar Sauma was warmly received by European rulers, but no Mongol–European military alliance against the Mamluks resulted.
Middle Ages
Heilongjiang Hand Cannon (1288): One of the Oldest Firearms
A small bronze hand gun of the Yuan period that shows true metal-barrelled firearms were in use in China by the late 13th century.
Middle Ages
Majapahit Empire Founded (1293): Raden Wijaya and Java
Raden Wijaya defeated Jayakatwang with Yuan help, then drove out the Yuan army and was crowned first king of Majapahit.
Middle Ages
Battle of Kili (1299): Alauddin Khalji Holds Off the Mongols
The Mongols withdrew from Delhi after a costly battle in which the Delhi general Zafar Khan was killed.
Middle Ages
Siege of Chittorgarh (1303): Alauddin Khalji and Mewar
The Delhi Sultanate captured Chittor after a siege of about eight months; the fort was renamed Khizrabad and placed under Alauddin's son Khizr Khan.
Middle Ages
Ibn Battuta's Travels (1325-1354): Journeys Across Islam
Ibn Battuta's dictated account, the Rihla (completed 1355), became one of the most important sources on the 14th-century Islamic world.
Middle Ages
Muhammad bin Tughluq Moves the Capital to Daulatabad (1327)
Large parts of Delhi's Muslim elite were moved to Daulatabad, but the sultan later allowed them to return; the move spread Delhi's culture into the Deccan.
Middle Ages
Kenmu Restoration (1333): Emperor Go-Daigo Topples Kamakura
The Kamakura shogunate fell in 1333, but Go-Daigo's direct imperial rule collapsed by 1336 and Japan split into two rival courts.
Middle Ages
Ibn Battuta in India (1334-1342): Qadi at Tughluq's Court
Ibn Battuta served eight years as a qadi in Delhi before leaving as the sultan's envoy to China; his account is a major source on the Tughluq sultanate.