Early Modern
Second Battle of Panipat (1556): Akbar's Army Defeats Hemu
Decisive Mughal victory; Hemu was captured and killed, Delhi and Agra returned to Mughal control, and the Sur dynasty's last chance of restoration ended.
Region
Asia
Early Modern
Akbar the Great: Expansion and Tolerance in Mughal India
Akbar turned a fragile foothold into a vast, centrally administered empire and set the pattern of Mughal government for the next century.
Early Modern
Shaanxi Earthquake (1556): The Deadliest Earthquake in History
An earthquake of estimated magnitude around 8 devastated Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan; official records put the dead at about 830,000, the highest toll of any recorded earthquake.
Early Modern
Portuguese Macau (1557): Europe's First Foothold in China
The Portuguese gained a tolerated, rent-paying settlement under Ming authority that became the main European gateway to China and Japan for nearly a century.
Early Modern
Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582): The First Great Unifier of Japan
Nobunaga ended the Ashikaga shogunate and brought much of central Japan under his control, laying the foundations on which Hideyoshi and Ieyasu completed unification.
Early Modern
Urdaneta's Tornaviaje (1565): The Return Route across the Pacific
The San Pedro reached Acapulco after about 130 days at sea, establishing a reliable eastward route across the Pacific and enabling Spanish rule in the Philippines.
Early Modern
Humayun's Tomb, Delhi: The First Great Mughal Garden Tomb
The tomb set the model for monumental Mughal garden tombs, culminating in the Taj Mahal, and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.
Early Modern
Manila Galleon Trade (1565-1815): Ships Linking Asia and America
For 250 years the galleons carried American silver to Asia and Asian goods to the Americas and Europe, creating the first regular trans-Pacific trade route.
Early Modern
Fatehpur Sikri: Akbar's Short-Lived Red Sandstone Capital
Akbar built a planned imperial city that served as his capital until 1585; it was then largely abandoned and survives as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Early Modern
Siege of Mount Hiei (1571): Nobunaga Destroys Enryaku-ji
Nobunaga's forces burned Sakamoto and much of the Enryaku-ji complex, killing an estimated 1,500 to 4,000 people and ending the monastery's military power.
Early Modern
Founding of Spanish Manila (1571): Legazpi Claims the Philippines
Legazpi established a Spanish city council at Manila, which became the capital of the Spanish Philippines and the Asian end of the Manila galleon trade.
Early Modern
Zhang Juzheng's Reforms (1572-1582): Saving the Ming Treasury
Zhang restored Ming finances and administrative discipline, but after his death in 1582 he was disgraced and much of his programme lost momentum.