Early Modern
Dream of the Red Chamber (1791): Cao Xueqin's Great Qing Novel
The first printed 120-chapter edition made the novel widely available and it became the most celebrated work of classical Chinese fiction.
Region
Asia
Early Modern
Macartney Embassy (1793): Britain's Mission to Qing China
The Qianlong Emperor rejected every British request, and the embassy returned home without a treaty or improved trading rights.
Early Modern
Hwaseong Fortress (1794): King Jeongjo's Fortress at Suwon
A fortified new city was completed at Suwon in about two and a half years; its detailed building record later allowed faithful restoration, and it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
Early Modern
White Lotus Rebellion (1794-1804): Revolt That Shook the Qing
The rebellion was suppressed by 1804, but at enormous cost to the Qing treasury and army.
Modern Era
Vellore Mutiny (1806): The Sepoy Revolt in South India
The rising was crushed within hours, but the dress regulations were withdrawn and the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Madras were recalled.
Modern Era
Anglo-Nepalese War (1814-1816): The Gurkhas and the Company
East India Company victory; by the Treaty of Sugauli Nepal lost about a third of its territory and accepted a British Resident in Kathmandu.
Modern Era
Mount Tambora Eruption (1815): The Largest Blast in History
A VEI 7 eruption destroyed the summit and two local kingdoms, killed tens of thousands through blast, famine and disease, and cooled the world's climate in 1816.
Modern Era
First Cholera Pandemic (1817-1824): From Bengal to the World
Cholera spread for the first time far beyond India, killing hundreds of thousands of people across Asia before dying down by 1824.
Modern Era
Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-1818): End of Maratha Power
East India Company victory; the Peshwa's office was abolished, his lands annexed and the remaining Maratha states made subordinate to the Company.
Modern Era
Founding of Singapore (1819): Stamford Raffles and the Treaty
A treaty with the Sultan of Johor and the Temenggong allowed the East India Company to found a trading post that grew into a major free port.
Modern Era
Java War (1825-1830): Prince Diponegoro Against the Dutch
Dutch victory after Diponegoro was arrested during negotiations; Dutch control of Java was consolidated and the Cultivation System introduced.
Modern Era
Abolition of Sati (1829): Bentinck's Regulation and Ram Mohan Roy
Bengal Regulation XVII of 1829 declared sati illegal and punishable as culpable homicide; the ban was extended to Madras and Bombay in 1830.