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7000 BCE
Settlement of Nile Valley begins.
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5500 BCE
Cotton Cultivation Begins in India
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5000 BCE
Evidence of religious practices in the Indus Valley
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4000 BCE
Farming settlements are established in the Indus Valley
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3500 BCE
Cities growing in Mesopotamia
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3300 BCE
Early Harappan Civilization of India practices burial of the dead.
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3200 BCE
Pictographic Record Keeping
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3000 BCE
Signs used to write Sumerian
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2800 BCE
Legendary rules like gilgamesh are brought to law
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2600 BCE
Dozens of towns and cities are established in the Indus Valley.
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2200 BCE
Agade Empire expands and declines
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1700 BCE
Shang Dynasty - the first Chinese state for which clear written records remain - unites much of north central China
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770 BCE
Zhou dynasty replaces Shang as dominant force across northern China,
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700 BCE
India is divided into 16 Aryan states or kingdoms.
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530 BCE
Persia conquers the Indus Valley.
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525 BCE
Persian conquest.
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31 BCE
gypt comes under Roman rule; Queen Cleopatra commits suicide after Octavian's army defeats her forces.
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220
Han Dynasty: first durable state governing the entire Chinese heartland, ushers in first Chinese cultural "golden age", growth in money economy, and the promotion of Confucianism as the state philosophy. Buddhism makes its first inroads into China.
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Feb 6, 600
Islamic Conquest
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Feb 6, 642
Arab conquest of Egypt.
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Feb 6, 969
Cairo established as capital.
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Feb 6, 1368
Mongols conquer China and establish their own Yuan Dynasty, founded by Kublai Khan. Marco Polo and other Westerners visit. Beijing becomes the capital of a united China.
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Feb 6, 1368
Ming Dynasty overthrows Mongols and establishes sophisticated agricultural economy, underpinning strong centralised bureaucracy and military. Great Wall of China completed in the form seen today.
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Feb 6, 1500
Ottoman Empire Established
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Countries of Iraq and Syria founded
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Qing Dynasty begins a long decline. Western powers impose "unequal treaties" that create foreign concessions in China's ports. Regional warlords rise as central government atrophies.