هوالفتاح العلیم
خلاصه ای از مطالب تاریخی (از قبل از اسلام) در ذیل ذکر گردیده است.
یادآوری می نماید
See also a timeline of the Near East
See also a timeline of the Persians
See also a timeline of the Xiongnu
1500 BC: the Jewish patriarch Abraham (Ibrahim) founds the shrine of Mecca ("kaaba")
853BC: First reference to Arabs in an Assyrian inscription
200BC: Mao-tun unites the Turkic-speaking Huns (Xiongnu, Hsiung-nu) in Central Asia around Lake Bajkal and southeastern Mongolia
121BC: China defeats the Huns
275 AD: the Lakhmids of Hira (on the Euphrates) are vassals of the Sassanids
300: "qasida" poems
350: the Aramaic-speaking Nabataeans (Jordan) develop the Arabic script
460:
460: Persian king Firuz persecutes Jews, who emigrate to Arabia
500: southern Arabia is ruled by a Jewish kingdom
500: northern Arabia is ruled by the Kinda
500: the Arabs of Najran (southern Arabia) convert to Christianity
504: Mundhir III becomes king of the Lakhmids of Hira
512: First recorded inscription in Arabic
522: the Jewish Himyarite king of Yemen persecutes the Christians, which ask the Ethiopians for help
523: the Himyarites defeat the Ethiopians and massacre the Christians of Najran
525: the Jewish king Dhu Nuwas of Yemen dies and Yemen becomes an Ethiopian (Christian) colony
528: Harith ibn 'Amr (Arethas) king of Kinda dies
547: Abyssinian general Abreha proclaims himself king of southern Arabia
552: Turkic people led by Tumin destroy the Juan-juan (Avars) and establish the Turkic Khaganate in Central Asia
553: Tumin dies and the Turkic Khaganate splits into Western and Eastern Khanates
554: Mundhir III is defeated by the Byzantine phylarch Ghassanid Harith IV ibn Jabala
567: the western Turkic Khaganate invades Transoxania
570: Christian Ethiopia tries to capture Mecca but is defeated by the Arabs
575: Yemen becomes a Sassanid province under Chrosroes II
600: Steel is invented in Iran (Persia)
602: the Lakhmid dynasty of Hira ends
603: the western Turkic Khaganate self-destroys in a civil war
608: the Kaaba is erected in Mecca, a granite cube to enclose a black meteorite stone, a shrine to numerous Arabian tribal gods
610: Muhammad (Mohammed) of the Quraysh family preaches a new religion, Islam, in Mecca
615: Muslims travel to Ethiopia
622: Mohammed and his followers migrate ("heijra") to Yathrib, which is renamed Medina
627: Mohammed kills 700 Jews of the tribe of Qurayza
628: Yemen converts to Islam
629: Mohammed wins the battle of Khaybar and beheads all the Jews
630: the Muslims conquer Mecca
630: Seven emperors are raised to the throne of Iran in four years
630: the eastern Turkic Khaganate is conquered by China
632: the Muslims conquer the Arabian peninsula
632: Muhammad delivers his last sermon on Mount Arafat
632: Mohammed dies
632: the Shiites, or Partisans of Ali, claim that Ali should succeed Mohammed based on blood relation, but the council of the elderly (Sunnites) choses instead Abu Bakr
632: Abu Bakr, one of Mohammed's followers and the first Muslim caliph ("prophet's successor"), quells upheavals throughout Arabia and declares war on the Roman (Byzantine) and Persian (Sassanid) empires
633: Abu Bakr conquers southern Mesopotamia
634: Abu Bakr defeats Byzantium in Palestine
634: Abu Bakr is succeeded by Umar ibn Abn Khattab
636: the Arabs capture Jerusalem
637: the Arabs capture Seleucia-Ctesiphon and the Sassanid empire ends
639: the Arabs conquer Syria (mainly Nestorian) from Byzantium
642: the Arabs conquer Egypt (mainly monophysite) from Byzantium, destroy the library of Alexandria and found the first mosque in Africa, Amr Ebn El Aas Mosque (the site of future Cairo)
642: Oldest extant manuscript in Arabic (with disambiguation dots)
644: Umar is murdered and is succeeded by Uthman ibn Affan, a Quraysh
647: the Arabs expand in nothern Africa
649: the Arabs attack Byzantium on the sea and conquer Cyprus
650: the Arabs conquer the whole of Persia
650: Youstol Dispage Fromscaruffi dies
655: the text of the Quran/Koran is finalized
656: Uthman is murdered and is succeeded by Ali (cousin and son-in-law of Mohammed), the first "imam" of Shiah (and only one to become also caliph), who moves the capital from Medina to Kufa
661: Ali is murdered and is succeeded as caliph by Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, first of the Umayyads and first caliph not to be an early follower of Mohammed, and by Hasan as imam
661: Mu'awiya moves the capital to Damascus (in Syria rather than Arabia) and creates an army of paid mercenaries
662: Ziyad ibn Abihi is appointed governor of Iraq (Basra) and the former Sassanid provinces
664: the Arabs conquer Afghanistan
669: Hasan dies and Hussein becomes imam
670: the Arabs led by Uqba ibn Nafi fight the Berbers in northern Africa
670: the Arabs found Qayrawan in Tunisia
680: Mu'awiya dies and the shiite pretendent to the Caliphate, Husayn/Hussein, Ali's son and Mohammed's grandson, is assassinated by sunnite troops of Mu'awiya's son Yazid in Karbala
682: the eastern Turkic Khaganate regain independence from China under Kutluk
685: Abd Malik becomes caliph and introduces administrative reforms (Arabic language as the official language, coins with Islamic verses)
691: the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is the oldest evidence of the Quran
692: Hajjaj ibn Yusuf captures Mecca and ends the anti-caliphate of Abdallah ibn Zubayr (shiite)
694: Tugluk's brother Khapghan extend the Turkic empire over Transoxania, thus unifying eastern and western Turks
695: the Arabs build the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (with the first inscription from the Koran)
696: Arabic becomes the official language of the Islamic world
697: the Arabs force the Persians to abandon the Pahlavi alphabet in favor of the Arabic script
698: the Arabs recapture Carthage and found Tunis
700: Hasan Basri preaches virtue, mortification, prayer, purity of heart to attain knowledge of God
705: caliph Walid I
708: Arabs led by Musa ibn-Nusayr conquer Tangiers (Morocco) and subdue the Berbers
709: Qutayba ibn Muslim invades Central Asia (Merv, Bukhara, Samarkand)
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709: the Al Aqsa mosque is built in Jerusalem
710: a mosque is built in Damascus
711: Tariq ibn Ziyad conquers southern Spain from the Visigoths of king Roderic (with help from the Jews) and Cordoba becomes the residence of the Arab governor
712: a Berber army under Tariq ibn Ziyad conquers southern Spain from the Visigoths and Cordoba becomes the residence of the Arab governor
712: the first mosque is built in Bukhara, which will become the second holiest city in Islam after Mecca
715: calip Sulayman besieges Byzantium
715: a mosque is built in Aleppo
712: the Arabs, led by Kutayba ben Muslim, conquer Transoxania and convert the Turks to Islam
715: Qutayba dies and Muslim expansion in Central Asia comes to an end
720: the Zayids do not recognize the imam Baqir and cause a split within the shiites
720: the Arabs capture Narbonne
725: the Arabs capture Carcassonne
728: caliph Hisham attacks the Franks at Tours and Poitiers
732: the Muslim invasion of Europe is stopped by the Franks at the battle of Tours
737: the Arabs capture Provence
740: the Shias of Yemen split from the main Shia tradition claiming that Zayd was the rightful fifth imam instead of Muhammad al Baqir
744: the Turkic empire self-destroys again in a civil war
749: Abu 'l-'Abbas Saffah, whose army is led by the Persian general Abu Muslim Khorasani, replaces the Umayyad dynasty with the Abbasid dynasty
751: the Arabs defeat the Chinese at the battle of the Talas River
751: the Arabs acquire the knowledge of paper from the Chinese (first paper mill in the Islamic world founded in Samarkand)
752: the Franks under Pippin expel the Arabs from Provence
756: the last surviving member of the Umayyad dynasty flees to Spain, establishing himself as Cabd al-Rahman I of Spain, which becomes a separate emirate
750: the Ibadis believe that that the most worthy person should be imam and found an imamate in Oman
759: the Muslim army is expelled from France
760: the Islails do not recognize the seventh imam Musa Kazim and cause another split within the shiites
762: the Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur moves the capital from Damascus to Baghdad, built near the old Sassanid capital, Ctesiphon
775: Al-Mansur dies
777: Ibadis form an imamate in western Algeria with capital in Tahart
778: Charlemagne attacks the Muslims and invades northeastern Spain but is defeated
785: the Great Mosque at Cordoba
786: Harun Rashid becomes caliph
790: Idris, a descendant of Ali, conquers Morocco and founds the Idrisid dynasty
793: Sibawayh formalizes the Arabic language
793: caliph Haroun-el-Raschid establishes paper factory in Baghdad
800: Arab merchants travel to China
800: Shafi preaches that God's will is manifested both by the Koran and by the "sunna" (the practice of Mohammed embodied in "hadiths")
800: the Aghlabids in Tunisia become virtually independent
801: Charlemagne's son Louis captures Barcelona from the Arabs, creating the Spanish March along the Pyrenees (Aragonia and Catalonia)
809: Harun Rashid dies, after expanding the caliphate from Gibraltar to the Indu river
819: the Samanids in Khurasan (Transoxania) become virtually independent
822: Abd al Rahman II becomes the Arab emir of Spain and begins construction of the Alcazar of Sevilla
825: caliph Al-Mamun sponsors translations of Greek classics into Arabic, and founds the first madrasa (a "house of wisdom" in Baghdad)
825: the Arab mathematician Al Khwarizmi of Baghdad writes a book on "Hindu numerals" that spreads the use of "Arabic" numerals
827: an Arab tribe, the Saracens, invade Sicily
830: Ahmad ibn Hanbal: strict obedience to the Koran and the Hadith
833: Sultan al-Mutasim creates a regiment of Turkish slaves
840: the sufist Muhasibi preaches the path to truth
840: Islamic philosophy is founded by Kindi
840: Sibovayh, a Persian scholar, codifies the Arabic grammar and writes the first Arabic dictionary
846: the Uighurs state collapses and the Karakhanid state is founded in Transoxania
849: caliph al-Mutawakkil deposes the patriarch of the Eastern Christian Church and persecutes Christians
878: the Muslims conquer all of Sicily
930: the philosopher Farabi reconciles the philosopher's logic and religion as a symbolic system to express truth to non-philosophers
850: Hunayn ibn Ishaq translates Greek classics
850: the Persian mathematician Khwarazmi founds Algebra and invents the Arabix numerals
870: Bukhari collects and classifies the "hadiths"
867: the Saffarids (shiite) in eastern Persia become virtually independent with capital in Zaranj (Afghanistan)
868: Ahmad ibn Tulun proclaims Egypt independent and founds the Tulunid dynasty
873: the Samanids (sunni), with capital in Bukhara, rule over Transoxania
874: the twelfth imam disappears
877: Ahmad ibn Tulun, govemor of Egypt, invades Syria
878: the Arabs capture Sicily and make Palermo their capital
879: the Safarid ruler Yaqub Leys revolts against the Arabs and unifies most of Persia
880: the Abbasid dynasty is replaced in Egypt by a Turkic dynasty
890: the Abbasids suppress the imamate of Oman
899: the Samanids defeat the Saffarids and expand their empire to Persia but adopt the Persian language
900: the sufist Junayd preaches the ecstasy of enlightment
909: the Ibadi imamate of Tahart (Algeria) dissolves
910: Ubaydullah, a descendant of Ali and Fatima (Mohammed's daughter) and an imam, conquers Tunisia and founds the Fatimid dynasty
912: the Umayyad ruler of Spain, Abd Rahman III, assumes the title of caliph, declaring Spain independent
922: the sufist Hallaj is executed in Baghdad for heresy ("I am the truth")
932: the Turkic Qarakhanid dynasty is founded in Kashgar
942: the Samanids expands in Central Asia (Bukhara, Samarkand, Herat) and move their capital to Bukhara, which becomes one of the cultural centers of the Muslim world
945: the Buyids (shiite) descend from the Caspian Sea, and invade Persia
949: Adud Dawla of the Buyid dynasty adopts the Persian imperial title shah
950: Pahlavi, the language of Persia, is reformed according to the Arabic script
955: the Karakhanid state converts to Islam
961: Al-Hakam II al Mustansir becomes caliph of Spain and fosters scientific and philosophical studies
962: the Ghaznavid kingdom is founded in Afghanistan (at Ghazni) by Alp-tegin, a Turkic slave soldier of the Samanids
969: the Fatimids (shiites) conquer Egypt and establish the Fatimid caliphate (shiite)
972: a fire kills 17,000 people in Baghdad
973: the Fatimids move their capital to the newly-founded city of Cairo (Qahira)
976: Hisham II al Muayyad becomes caliph of Spain and orders the destruction of books of astronomy and logic because heretic
977: the Buyid shah Adud Dawla conquers Baghdad and seizes effective control of the caliphate from the Abbasids
977: Sebaktigin, king of the Ghaznavid kingdom, invades northern India and Central Asia
985: the Turkic-speaking Seljuks (led by Seljuk) invade Transoxania (Ilkhan) and convert to sunnite Islam
995: Gurgandj (Kunya-Urgench, Turkmenistan) becomes the capital of the Khorezmshakh state
999: the Ghaznavids of Afghanistan defeat the Samanids of Persia in Khurasan and the Qarakhanids seize Bukhara
1000: Timbuktu is founded in Africa by Muslim traders
1016: Pisa and Genoa defeat the Arabs in the Tyrrhenian Sea
1020: the philosopher Ibn Sina Avicenna writes the Canon of Medicine
1030: Mahmud Ghazni dies and the Ghaznavid empire declines
1031: the Umayyad caliphate collapses and Muslim Spain splits into the Taifa kingdoms (Sevilla, Toledo, Saragossa, Granada)
1038: the Seljuks, led by Toghrul Beg, defeat the Ghaznavids at Dandanaqan (near Merv)
1042: the Seljuks conquer Khorezm
1055: the Seljuks (sunni) defeat the Buyids (shiite), invade Mesopotamia and install themselves in Baghdad under the suzerainty of the Abbasids
1062: the Almoravids, a militant Berber party of strict Muslims, conquer Morocco and establish their capital at Marrakesh
1064: the Seljuk king Alp Arslan moves the capital to Ray (Tehran)
1064: the Seljuks invade Armenia
1071: the Seliuqs defeat the Byzantine army at the battle of Malazgird, capture Jerusalem and establishing a sultanate in central Anatolia
1072: the Seliuqs move the capital from Ray (Tehran) to Isfahan
1073: the Seliuqs defeat the Qarakhanids, taking Bukhara and Samarkand
1076: the Seliuqs invade Syria and Palestine
1076: the Almoravids defeat the kingdom of Ghana
1083: Alfonso VI of Castilla defeats the Arabs at Toledo
1090: Hasan ibn al-Sabbah acquires the mountain fortress of Alamut, assumes the title of Sheikh al-Jabal and founds the Empire of the Assassins
1091: the Normans conquer Sicily
1092: Mohammed I ibn Malikshah dies and the Seliuq empire breaks up into independent kingdoms in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Anatolia (Rum)
1096: the Pope launches the first Crusade to conquer Jerusalem
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1097: the Crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon capture Jerusalem
1100: Ghazali and "kalam" (rational theology)
1175: Ibn Rushd Averroes proclaims the two truths (religion for the uneducated masses and philosophy for the educated elite)
1118: Arabs import gunpowder from China (a mixture of potassium nitrate, sulfur and charcoal) and arms and artillery are invented
1130: rise of the Almohad dynasty in Algeria, founded by Muhammad ibn Tumart
1141: the Karakitai defeat the Seljuqs at the battle of Qatwan, thus destroying Seljuq power in Central Asia
1144: the Muslims captures Edessa and destroy the oldest Crusader state
1146: the Almohads, led by Abdul-Mu'min, conquer Morocco from the Almoravids and cause the collapse of the Almoravid dynasty
1150: the Almohads conquer Spain
1152: the Almohads conquer Algeria from the Almoravids
1153: the Khwarazmis (Turkish mercenaries) conquer Persia from the Seljuqs
1158: the Almohads conquer Tunisia from the Almoravids
1169: Saladin Ayubbid, a Kurdish general, ends the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt and founds the Ayubbid dynasty
1172: the Almohads conquer Andalucia from the Almoravids and move the capital to Sevilla
1174: Saladin takes Damascus from the Syrian ruler
1175: the Ghaznavid state is absorbed into the Ghurid empire, which is also Turkic-speaking
1176: Byzanthium is defeated by the Turks of Rum at Myriokephalon
1187: Saladin retakes Palestine and Jerusalem
1192: Saladin signs an armstice with King Richard I of England tha grants the Christians a small kingdom outside Jerusalem
1193: Saladin's brother Malik Adil becomes sultan of Egypt and Syria
1194: the Seljuqs conquer Anatolia
1194: the last Persian Seljuq ruler dies and Seljuq power collapses in Iran
1195: Alfonso VIII of Castilla is defeated by the Almohads at Alarcos
1196: the Marinid dynasty takes over Morocco
1200: the sufist Ibn Arabi preaches pantheism (only god exists)
1200: Ali ad-Din Muhammad becomes shah of the Khwarizm/Khwarezmian empire that extends from Uzbekistan to Persia
1212: the Christian kings of Spain defeat the Almohads at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
1220: the Mongols invade Transoxania (Bukhara and Samarkand) and Iran/Persia
1228: the Hafsid dynasty takes over Tunisia
1241: Batu's younger brother Shayban raids Hungary and then splits, establishing the Shaybanid Horde
1243: the Mongols conquer the Seljuk Rum state in Anatolia
1248: Ferdinand III of Castilla conquers Sevilla, capital of the Almohads, and the Almohads are left with the state of Granada
1249: the Mamlukes defeat the French in Egypt and capture the king of France
1249: the Mamlukes of Egypt are ruled by a woman Shajar al-Durr, the wife of the former sultan, but the Syrians under al Nasir reject her authority and declare their independence and obtain Jerusalem
1250: the Alhambra is built in Granada
1252: the Ayubbid dynasty in Egypt is overthrown by the Mamluks (Turkish "military slaves")
1256: Hulagu's Mongol army destroy the Assassins' castles
1258: Hulegu's Mongols destroy the Abbasid caliphate of Baghdad (killing 800,000 people including the last Abbasid caliph), conquer Persia, Mesopotamia and Syria and establish an Ilkhanate with capital in Baghdad
1259: the Mamluk commander Muzaffar Sayf-al-Din Kutuz/Qutuz seizes power in Egypt after Shajar is murdered
1260: Kutuz's Mamluks led by general al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars defeat the Christian army of the Mongols at the battle of Ain Jalut and annex Syria
1260: Kutuz is assassinated and succeeded by his general al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars as leader of Mamluk Egypt that turns Egypt-Syria into the most powerful Islamic state
1262: Berke's Mongols ally with Baybars' Egypt against Hulegu's Mongols
1263: the Mongol leader Hulegu assumes the title of "Ilkhan" as ruler of Persia
1269: collapse of the Almohad dynasty in Algeria and rise of the Marinids in Morocco
1271: prince Edward of England allies with Abaka's Mongols but they are defeated by Baybars' Mamluks
1274: the Persian astronomer Nasir Al-Din Tusi builds the Maraghah observatory
1279: Qalaun succeeds Kutuz as leader of Mamluk Egypt
1282: the new Shaybanid khan Uzbek converts the Shaybanid horde to Islam and his horde becomes known as the Uzbeks
1291: the last Christian stronghold in Palestine (Acre) falls to the Mamluks
1294: Kublai Khan dies and the empire fragments in khanates, one of them being the Ilkhanate, descendants of Hulegu, with capital in Tabriz
1295: Ghazan, the Ilkhan, converts to Islam, and the Ilkhanate becomes a sultanate
1300: Ibn Taymiyya criticizes sufism
1301: Osman founds the Ottoman dynasty in Anatolia
1301: Shaykh Safi al-Din, founder of the Safavid dynasty, founds a sufi order in Azerbaijan
1313: warlord Uzbek leads a group of Islamic Mongols in Central Asia
1326: the Ottomans led by Orhan take Bursa and make it their capital
1331: the Ottomans conquer Nicaea
1335: Abu Said dies and the Ilkhanate disintegrates
1342: Shaybanid khan Uzbek dies
1350: Ibn Battuta travels from Tangier to China
1350: the Sheybanid horde (southeast of the Urals) renames itself Uzbek
1354: the Ottomans occupy Gallipoli, first outpost in Europe
1361: the Ottomans led by Murad I conquer Adrianopole, change its name to Edirne and make it their capital
1362: Murad succeeds Orhan as sultan of the Ottomans
1365: the turkic-speaking Timur overthrow the Chaghatai khanate and conquers Iran (Persia), the old Ilkhanate, establishing his capital in Samarkand
1389: the Ottomans defeat Serbia at the battle of Kosovo but the Serbs kill Murad
1393: the Ottomans, under Murad's son Bayazid I, conquer Bulgaria and Wallachia
1393: Ottoman sultan Bayezid I, son of Murad, besieges Constantinople
1400: Timur lays siege to Damascus
1402: Timur defeats the Ottomans at Ankara and captures Ottoman sultan Beyazid I who dies in captivity
1413: Timur's empire collapses and the Ottomans, led by Bayazid's son Mehmet I, recover their terroritories
1439: Ottomans under Murad II annex Serbia
1440: Ottomans under Murad II besiege Belgrade
1444: Ottomans under Murad II defeat the crusaders at the battle of Varna
1444: Muhammad/Mehmet II succeeds Murad II
1451: Muhammad Shaybani becomes the khan of the Uzbeks
1453: the Ottoman Turks under Mehmet II capture Constantinople/Byzantium and rename it Istanbul
1460: the Ottomans conquer Greece and Serbia
1461: the Ottomans conquer Trebizond
1462: Vlad IV of Walachia is defeated by the Ottomans sultan Mehmet II
1465: end of the Marinid dynasty in Morocco, replaced by the Wattasids
1466: part of the Golden Horde splits off to form the Khanate of Astrakhan, that rules over Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan
1468: the Kazaks split from the Uzbeks, who become Shaybanid with capital in Bukhara (descendants of Shayban, grandson of Genghis Khan)
1475: the world's first coffee shop, "Kiva Han", opens in Istanbul
1479: Venezia loses most of her territories along the Aegean Sea to the Ottomans
1481: Mehmet II dies and is succeeded by BAyazid II
1488: Moroccans invade the African kingdom of Mali
1492: the Christian kingdoms reconquer all of Spain
1492: the Ottoman Empire gives asylum to the Sephardic Jews expelled from the Christian kingdoms of Spain
1497: Babur, a descendant of both Genghis Khan and Timur, becomes the ruler of Ferghana and founds the Mughal (Mogul) dynasty
1500: the Uzbeks cross the Syr Darya river and enter Transoxiana
1501: Shah Ismail I (a 14-year old boy from the northwest who claims to be a descendant of the 12th imam) unites Iran/Persia and most of Afghanistan, founds the Safavid dynasty with capital in Isfahan and declares Shiism as the state religion
1505: the Shaybanid Horde (Uzbeks) under Muhammad Shaybani expel the Timurids from Transoxiana and capture Samarkand
1506: the Uzbek Shaybanids capture Bukhara (Uzbekistan) and Herat (Afghanistan), bringing to an end the Timurid dynasty
1510: the Uzbek khan Muhammad Shaybani dies in battle against the Safavids at Merv
1511: the Marinid dynasty collapses in Morocco and is succeeded by the Sadid synasty
1512: Selim I become Ottoman sultan
1514: the Ottomans of Selim I defeat Shah Ismail I Safavid army at Chaldiran (Iran/Persia) thereby conquering Arabia
1514: the first book in Arabic (a book of Christian prayers) is published in Italy
1516: the Ottomans of Selim I defeat the Mamluks and annex Syria, Palestine, Egypt and western Arabia (end of the Mamluk empire)
1520: Selim dies and Suleyman becomes the ruler of the Ottoman empire
1521: the Ottomans under Suleyman capture Belgrade
1522: Babur captures Afghanistan
1522: the Ottomans under Suleyman capture Rhodos
1526: Babur captures Delhi and founds the Mogul empire in India
1526: the Hungarian army is defeated at the battle of Mohacs by the Ottomans of Suleyman and Hungary is partitioned between the Ottoman Empire and the Hapsburgs, with Hungary proper under Ottoman occupation, Transylvania as a Turkish protectorate and Slovakia is annexed by the Hapsburg Monarchy
1529: the Ottomans besiege Wien (Vienna)
1534: the Ottomans capture Baghdad
1538: Abdullah Shaybanid II expands the Shaybanid (Uzbek) empire and moves the capital to Bukhara
1549: Muhammad al-Shaikh conquers Wattasid Morocco
1550: the mosque of Sultan Syleyman in Istanbul
1555: the Ottoman empire conquers Mesopotamia from the Safavid empire with the Peace of Amasya
1566: Suleyman dies
1571: the Ottomans conquer Cyprus from Venezia
1571: in the battle of Lepanto an army formed by the Pope, Spain, Venezia and Genova destroys the Ottoman navy, thus halting Ottoman expansion in the Mediterranean
1574: the Hafsid dynasty collapses in Tunisia and is replaced by the Ottomans
1578: Peace reached between Spain and Ottoman empire
1580: Ottoman sultan Mourad III and Felipe II of Spain sign a treaty dividing spheres of influence in the Mediterranean
1587: Safavid king Shah Abbas I creates a gunpowder-based military force
1591: Morocco under Ahmad al-Mansur captures the Kingdom of Songhai (Timbuktu) at the battle of Tondibi
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1598: Abdullah Shaybanid II of the Uzbeks dies and the Astrakhanid dynasty inherits power in Transoxiana, retaining the capital at Bukhara
1619: the Shaybanid (Uzbek) khan Yalangtush Bahador begins construction of the Sher Dor madrasa in Samarkand's Registan
1623: the Safavids capture Baghdad from the Ottomans
1628: the Sadid dynasty collapses in Morocco and is succeeded by the Alawis
163#: the Oyrats conquer the Kazaks
1638: the Ottomans capture Baghdad from the Safavids
1646: the Uzbeks begin construction of the Tilla Kari madrasa in Samarkand's Registan
1665: Sabbatai Sevi is recognized by the Jews of Palestine as the Messiah but is then forced by the Ottoman sultan to convert to Islam
1682: beginning of the Hundred Year War between the Hapsburg monarchy and the Ottoman empire
1683: the Ottomans besiege Vienna again but are defeated by a Polish-Lithuanian army and their decline begins
1686: the Ottomans are ejected from Budapest
1687: the Parthenon of Athens is destroyed in an explosion
1699: the Ottomans lose Hungary to the Holy Roman Empire ("Treaty of Carlowitz")
1672: the Alawi sultan Mawlay Ismail of Morocco reforms government
1722: Mahmoud Khan, an Afghan chieftain, revolts against the Safavids, invades Iran/Persia and captures Isfahan, thus ending the Safavid dynasty
1727: first printing press in the Islamic world (IStanbul)
1729: Iranian/Persian general Nadir Shah expels the Afghans
1729: the first book is published in the Ottoman empire (the first book ever published in a Muslim country)
1731: Russians help the Kazaks against the Oyrats and de facto annexes Kazakstan
1738: Iranian/Persian general Nadir Shah invades India and captures Delhi
1740: the Astrakhanid dynasty collapses and Uzebkistan and Turkmenistan are absorbed into Iran/Persia
1747: Nadir Shah is assassinated and Iran/Persia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan disintegrate
1747: Ahmad Shah Duran, the Afghan commander of Nadir's bodyguard, proclaims himself the ruler of Afghanistan with capital in Kandahar and founds the Durrani dynasty
1749: the Ibadis establish the kingdom of Oman, run by the Al Bu Said dynasty
1750: Abd Wahab preaches in Arabia a return to Ibn Hanbal (strict obedience to the Koran and the Hadith)
1756: the Sabah family seizes power in Kuwait, a principality of the Ottoman empire
1760: Abd Wahab allies with Muhammad Ibn Saud of Diriyya and founds the Saudi state in Arabia
1768: Ottoman-Russian war
1774: The Russians defeat the Ottomans and obtain cities of the Black Sea and Caucasus, the first tiime that the Ottoman Empire loses Muslim subjects to a Christian power
1776: Timur Shah Durrani moves the Durrani capital from Kandahar to Kabul
1787: The Ottomans declare war on Russia, with Sweden supporting the Ottomans and Austria supporting Russia
1792: Russia defeats the Ottomans and obtains Southern Ukraine
1793: the Ottoman sultan Selim III proclaims the "new order"
1794: Agha Mohammad Qajar of a Turkic tribe unifies Iran (Persia), Uzebkistan and Turkmenistan and founds the Qajar dynasty
1798: Napoleon attempts to conquer Egypt from the Ottomans
1801: Thomas Jefferson orders the bombing of the barbary states of Algiers, Morocco, Tunis and Tripoli after Yusuf Karamanli, the ruler of Tripoli, demands ransom from the USA
1804: Serbia's Karageorge leads an uprising against the Ottoman Empire
1805: Mehemet Ali, an Albanian Turk, becomes the Ottoman governor of Egypt
1804: Muslim Wahabis of the Saudi state capture Mecca and Medina
1808: the Serbs revolt against the Ottomans
1808: Ottoman emperor Mahmud II launches western-style reforms
1811: Ottoman governor Mehemet Ali destroys the Mamluk army and seizes control of Egypt, but the Egyptian rulers maintain power on Sudan
1812: the Russians defeat the Ottomans and annex Bessarabia
1815: Second Serbian uprising against the Ottomans
1821: Greece begins an independence war against the Ottomans
1822: Egyptian ruler Mehemet Ali conquers Sudan on behalf of the Ottoman empire
1823: Egyptian ruler Mehemet Ali conquers Crete
1823: Ottoman Empire and Iran sign a peace treaty defining their borders
1824: Riyadh is made capital of the Saudi kingdom
1827: France, Britain and Russia help the Greek uprising against the Ottomans, the fleet of the Ottomans and of Mehemet Ali is sunk at Navarino, and the expansion of Ali's Egyptian empire is halted
1828: Iran (Persia) loses the Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan) to Russian
1829: Russia defeats the Ottomans and helps Serbia and Greece become independent
1830: the Serbs declare the independent state of Serbia
1830: France occupies Algiers
1833: at the end of the independence war, Greece is granted independence from the Ottoman empire but France, Britain and Russia force it to accept 17-year old Otto I of Bavaria as its king
1833: Egyptian ruler Mehemet Ali conquers Syria from the Ottoman Empire
1838: England and the Ottoman Empire sign a trade treaty
1839: the port of Aden in Arabia is occupied by the British
1839: Britain fails to invade the Durrani kingdom (Afghanistan)
1841: the Ottoman empire signs the Straits convention
1847: France invades all of Algeria
1853: In the Crimean war Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire fight Russia (the first major war in which Christian countries side with a Muslim country)
1856: Russia's Black Sea fleet is destroyed but the the Ottoman empire loses the Crimean War and the treaty of Paris gives the Ottomans a protectorate over Moldavia, Wallachia and Serbia
1858: collapse of the Mogul empire in India
1860: Muslims in Lebanon and Syria riot against the wealthier Christians
1860: Spain invades Morocco
1861: Tunisia proclaims the first constitution of the Arab world, granting civil rights and rights to foreigners and Jews to own land
1861: an autonomous region is created in Lebanon
1861: Abdul Aziz ascends to the throne of the Ottoman Empire and inaugurates Western-style reforms
1862: Ismail, a successor of Muhammad Ali, becomes the ruler of Egypt
1862: Otto I is deposed by the Greeks and replaced by a son of the Danish king
1866: the Ottoman protectorates of Moldavia and Wallachia unite in the federation of Romania
1868: Russia invades Uzbekistan
1869: Egypt opens Ferdinand de Lesseps' Suez canal
1875: The British government purchases shares in the Suez Canal, borrowing money from the Rothschilds
1875: Bosnians rebel against the Ottomans
1876: Bulgarians rebel against the Ottomans and Serbia declares war on the Ottoman Empire, with help from Russian volunteers
1876: Ottoman emperor Abdul Aziz dies
1876: the Ottoman constitution is proclaimed
1878: Russia defeats the Ottomans and the Congress of Berlin hands Cyprus to Britain and Bosnia to Austria, grants Montenegro, Serbia, and Romania independence and grants Bulgaria broad autonomy
1879: Britain invades Afghanistan which becomes, de facto, a British colony
1881: France occupies Tunisia
1881: Persia loses Turkmenistan to Russia
1885: Sudan expels Egypt
1885: the Ottoman provinces of Bulgaria unite and become de-facto independent
1885: Jews from central and eastern Europe emigrate to Palestine
1888: the Convention of Constantinople declares the Suez Canal neutral and guarantees passage during war or peace
1889: work begins on the Baghdad railway, meant to link Berlin to the Gulf via Istanbul
1889: Ottoman army and navy officers organize the Committee of Union and Progress (the "Young Turks")
1894: 100,000 Armenians are killed by Kurds following the orders of sultan Abdulhamid II
1897: Jews of Palestine led by Theodor Herzl at Basel (Switzerland) call for the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine (first Zionist Congress)
1898: the Ottoman protectorate grants autonomy to Crete
1898: Britain occupies Sudan
1900: Christians constitute 26% and Muslims constitute 12% of the world's population
1902: Abdul al-Aziz, at the head of a bedouin army, conquers Riyad and begins to unite south of Arabia (both through military action and marriage with 20 women) under the puritanical Wahabi Islamic order
1902: Egypt inaugurates the Aswan dam
1905: Constitutional revolution in Iran
1906: First democratically elected parliament in Iran
1907: France invades southern Morocco
1907: Britain and Russia sign a treaty dividing Iran into respective spheres of influence
1908: the "Young Turks" stage a revolution and depose sultan Abdulhamid II of the Ottoman empire
1908: Crete, taken from the Ottomans, unites with Greece
1908: the first oil well is drilled in the Middle East (Iran) by a British company
1908: Austria annexes the Ottoman provinces Bosnia and Herzegovina
1908: Romania and Bulgaria declare their independence from the Ottoman empire
1909: Tel Aviv is founded as a Hebrew speaking Jewish city
1911: Russia invades the northern provinces of Iran
1912: Italy takes Libya and the Dodecanese islands from the Ottoman Empire
1912: a Balkan League of Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece declares war on the Ottoman Empire and drives the Ottomans almost entirely out of Europe ("Balkan war"), with Greece almost doubling in size
1913: the Ottoman protectorate of Crete is incorporated in Greece
1913: a triumvirate (minister of war Enver, interior minister Talat, Istanbul governor Jemal) rules the Ottoman empire
1914: the Ottoman Empire enters World War I in an alliace with Germany and Austria
1914: there are 85,000 Jews in Palestine
1914: Cyprus is annexed by Britain after four centuries of Ottoman rule
1914: Egypt becomes a British protectorate
1915: the Ottoman empire massacres 1.2 millions of Armenians
1915: the Ottoman empire massacres 500,000 Assyrians between 1915 and 1920
1915: Britain recognizes the kingdom of the Saudis in south Arabia
1916: the Ottoman empire slaughters 350,000 Greek Pontians and 480,000 Anatolian Greeks between 1916 and 1923
1916: Husayn (Hussein), sharif of Mecca (north Arabia) and founder of the modern Hashimite dynasty, leads a revolt against the Ottoman Empire, while Britain and France secretely agree to divide the Arab lands of the Ottoman empire
1917: the "Balfour Declaration" by the British government promises a Jewish homeland in Palestine
1917: Exodus of Jews from Egypt to British Palestine
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1918: the Ottoman Empire is defeated in World War I
1918: Britain takes control of Iraq and Transjordan
1918: Yemen becomes independent from the Ottomans under Yahya, the imam of the Zaydis
1919: Afghanistan gains independence from Britain under Khan Amanullah
1919: France claims Syria and Lebanon
1919: Greece attacks Turkey (Ottoman Empire) to regain control of the old Byzantine territories, and Turkey retaliates by massacring tens of thousands of Greek and Armenian Christians in its territories
1920: France defeats Arab troops at Maysalun And General Gouraud's French mandate rule is installed over Syria
1920: Palestine becomes a British protectorate
1920: Syrian-born ex-Ottoman official Sati al-Husri preaches Arab nationalism
1921: the British install Abdullah, fourth son of Sharif Hussein of the Hashemite dynasty, as kind of Transjordan
1921: general Reza Khan seizes power in Iran with a coup and becomes war minister
1922: Egypt declares its independence from Britain under Fuad I and a secular constitution is proclaimed to create a parliamentary monarchy
1922: Turkey wins the war against Greece and 1.5 million Greeks leave Anatolia
1922: the British install Faisal, third son of Sharif Hussein, brother of Abdullah of Transjordan, as king of the newly created state fo Iraq
1922: Syria and Lebanon become French protectorates
1922: Britain receives a mandate from the League of Nations to create a homeland for the Jews in Palestine, which starts large-scale Jewish immigration from Europe
1923: Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) abolishes the Ottoman empire, declares Turkey a republic, replaces the Arabic script with the Latin alphabet, outlaws the Islamic veil for women, and moves the capital from Istanbul to Ankara
1925: Reza Khan appoints himself as Shah of Persia, the Qajar dynasty ends and the Pahlavi dynasty begins
1926: Abdul al-Aziz ibn Saud conquers north Arabia from the Hashemites and proclaims himself king of Hejaz and Nejd
1927: oil fields are discovered near Kirkuk in Iraq and king Faisal grants oil rights to the British
1927: Turkey grants women the right to coeducation
1927: The "Brotherhood" ("Ikhwan") stages a rebellion against king Saud in Arabia
1928: Hassan Al-Banna creates "Al-Ikhwan Al-Moslemoon" (Muslim Brotherhood) in Egypt, a quasi-monastic movement that advocates for the entire Arab world a fundamentalist Islamic society like the one created by the Wahabites in Saudi Arabia and therefore advocates rebellion against the westernized Egyptian government
1929: hundreds of people die in clashes between Arabs and Jews in Palestine
1929: Afghanistan's government of Khan Amanullah introduces antireligious and pro-western laws but is overthrown and Mohammed Nadir Shah seizes power
1930: King Saud of Hejaz (Arabia) defeats the "Brotherhood" ("Ikhwan")
1932: Iraq becomes independent under the rule of King Faisal
1932: Abdul al-Aziz ibn Saud changes name to his kingdom from Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd to Saudi Arabia
1932: Iraq enacts antisemitic laws
1932: A USA company (Socal) discovers oil in Bahrein
1933: King Faisal of Iraq dies and his son, King Ghazi I, ascends to the throne
1933: Nadir Shah is assassinated and his son Zahir Shah becomes king of Afghanistan
1935: Reza changes Persia's name to Iran
1935: Turkey grants women the right to vote
1936: Fuad dies and his son Farouk becomes king of Egypt
1936: Arabs revolt against British rule in Palestine (first "intifada")
1938: oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait by a USA company
1939: all Arab countries supply only 5% of the world's oil
1939: King Ghazi of Iraq dies in a car accident while he is preparing an invasion of Kuwait, and is succeeded by the regent Abd al Ilah
1941: during World War II, Britain and the Soviet Union invade Iran and Reza is forced to abdicate in favor of his son Reza Pahlavi II
1941: Iraqi prime minister Rashid Ali Al-Gaylani stages a pro-nazi military coup
1941: the Ba' ath Party is founded in Damascus by Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din Bitar with the mission to unify the whole Arab world in one Arab country
1941: Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi, son of Reza Shah Pahlevi, ascends to the throne of Iran when his father is deposed by British and Soviet troops for collaborating with the nazis
1943: Shukri al-Kuwatli leads Syria to independence from the French
1943: Syria and Lebanon declare independence from France
1945: several thousand Algerians are killed by France during pro-independence riots in Constantine
1945: The League of Arab States is formed by the independent Arab countries (Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen)
1946: Jewish terrorists, led by Menachem Begin, bomb and destroy the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the British military and civilian headquarters
1946: Transjordan becomes independent and changes name to Jordan
1946: Britain and the Soviet Union withdraw from Iran
1947: 800,000 Arabs live in Palestine
1947: the United Nations orders a partition of Palestine in a Jewish state (Israel), an Arab state and an international zone around Jerusalem
1948: on the same day that Israel declares its independence, five Arab countries attack Israel from all sides (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq)
1948: the Yemeni imam Yahya is assassinated and is succeeded by his son Ahmad
1949: an exodus of Palestinians and prime minister David Ben-Gurion's ethnic cleansing cause a decrease in the population of Arabs within the borders of Israel to 170,000 and the creation of Palestinian refugee camps outside the borders of Israel
1949: a military coup terminates the parliamentary system in Syria
1950: the Israeli government airlifts approximately 110,000 Jews from Iraq to Israel
1950: Turkey holds the first multi-party elections
1951: Mohammad Mossadegh becomes prime minister of Iran and nationalizes the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
1951: Following persecutions, the population of Jews in Iraq declines from 150,000 (1948) to 6,000 (1951)
1952: a military coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser removes King Faruk and founds the republic of Egypt
1952: Turkey joins NATO
1952: members of the Muslim Brotherhood assassinate King Abdullah in Jerusalem and King Hussein becomes the new king of Jordan
1952: Libya proclaims its independence
1953: the USA's and the British secret services engineer a coup to remove Iran's prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh, and the USA replaces Britain as the main player in the Middle East
1953: Mohammed Daoud is appointed prime minister of Afghanistan
1954: Algerian exiles in Egypt create the Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN) and start the independence war against France
1954: Nasser arrests the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, including their philosopher Sayyid Qutb
1955: Palestinian fedayeen begin operating from across the border bringing terror into Israel
1955: Oil accounts for 2/3rds of traffic in the Suez Canal
1956: Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal, thereby becoming the father of Arab nationalism and moving the Arab world into the Soviet sphere
1956: in retaliation for guerrilla attacks sponsored by Egypt, Israel declares war to Egypt (second war) and invades the Sinai and the Gaza strip, while France and Britain seize the Suez canal
1956: France withdraws from Morocco, and King Mohammed assumes power
1956: the first concrete building is built in Dubai
1956: France withdraws from Tunisia, and Habib Bourguiba becomes its first president
1956: Britain grants Sudan full independence
1958: inspired by Gamal Abdel Nasser, Iraqi officers led by brigadier Abdul-Karim Qassem overthrow the Hashimite monarchy and proclaim a republic
1959: a USA company discovers oil in Libya
1960: the oil developing countries (mainly Arabs) found the OPEC
1960: Cyprus becomes independent under president Makarios
1961: in Iraq a Kurdish rebellion under the leadership of Mustafa al-Barzani is brutally repressed
1961: Nasser of Egypt launches a program of "Arab socialism"
1961: Tunisian and French forces fight after France refuses to close military bases in Tunisia
1961: Kuwait becomes independent under the protection of Britain
1961: Morocco's King Mohammed dies and is succeeded by Hassan II
1962: Saudi Arabia abolishes slavery
1962: Christians in the south of Sudan begin a civil war
1962: Algeria is declared independent after the deaths of about 100,000 French and about 1,000,000 Algerians and the exiled leader Ben Bella becomes its first president
1962: the shah Reza Pahlevi of Iran introduces a series of reforms (including women's suffrage) called "white revolution"
1962: Yemeni imam Ahmad dies and army officers seize power and form the republic of North Yemen, supported by Egyptian troops
1963: in a military coup the Baath Party seizes power in Syria, outlaws all other parties and embarks in a Soviet-style program of nationalization
1963: Mohammed Daoud is removed as prime minister of Afghanistan by king Zahir Shah
1963: Israeli prime minister Ben Gurion resigns
1963: in a military coup the Baath Party seizes power in Iraq
1964: the Palestine Liberation Organization is created in Cairo with the mission to destroy the state of Israel and liberate Palestine
1965: Houari Boumedienne seizes power in Algeria
1965: During a wave of political and economic reforms, king Zahir Shah of Afghanistan grants free elections
1965: members of the Muslim Brotherhood try to assassinate Nasser of Egypt
January 1965: the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan is founded (the Communist Party)
1966: the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Sayyid Qutb, is hanged in Egypt
1966: the British withdraw from Aden and marxists take over (South Yemen)
1967: After Egypt expels UN peacekeepers from the Sinai and closes the Red Sea to Israeli ships, and Arab countries ammass troops at the Israeli border, Israel attacks and wins a third war against the Arabs, and occupies the lands of the Palestinians (Gaza Strip and West Bank)
1967: Egypt withdraws from Yemen
1968: the British withdraw from the Gulf and the United Arab Emirates are created
1968: the pro-Soviet faction of the Ba'ath Party seizes power in Iraq and appoints Ahmed Hasan al-Bakr president and Saddam Hussein in charge of internal security
1969: colonel Muhammar Qaddafi becomes dictator of Libya after a successful coup
1969: Jaafar Nimeiri seizes power in Sudan
1969: Yassir Arafat becomes leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization
1970: Egyptian president Nasser dies and is succeeded by his deputy Anwar Sadat
1970: Hafez Assad, leader of the military wing of the Ba'ath Party, overthrows the president of Syria
1970: Palestinian terrorists bomb airplanes and other facilities in Europe
1970: King Hussein of Jordan orders a massive expulsion of Palestinians ("black september")
1970: Arafat, settles in Beirut, Lebanon
1971: the Gulf States (Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrein) become independent
1971: seven Gulf emirates federate as the United Arab Emirates under president Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi
1972: Iraq nationalizes the oil industry
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1972: Palestinian terrorists kill 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics
1973: Egypt and Syria attack Israel (fourth war), but Israel wins again
1973: For the first time oil producers set the price of oil without negotiating with oil companies
1973: the OPEC (mainly Arab) countries impose an oil embargo on the western world in retaliation for the Israeli victory
1973: Mohammed Daoud seizes power in Afghanistan with a coup with help from the communists
1973: El-Ouali leads a group of Sahrawi (Western Saharan) students to form the "Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro", or Polisario, fighting for independence from Spain
1974: Turkey invades half of Cyprus to protect the rights of the Turkish population from the Greek majority
1974: French premier Chirac visits Iraq to negotiate the sale of nuclear technology
1974: the Kurdish Worker's Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan or PKK) is founded in Turkey to establish an independent Kurdish state in predominantly Kurdish southeast Turkey
1975: Iraqi troops massacre thousands of Kurdish civilians and rebels after collecting them in "dar al-fana" ("houses of annihilation")
1975: Mohammed Daoud removes the communists from the Afghan government
1975: Spain withdraws from Western Sahara, Morocco invades Western Sahara and the Polisario proclaims the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and begins an independence war against Morocco
1975: Christian and Muslim sects start a civil war in Lebanon
1976: Houari Boumedienne declares Algeria a socialist state
1976: Syria sends troops into Lebanon
1978: Ali Abdallah Saleh is appointed president of North Yemen
April 1978: Mohammed Daoud is toppled by a communist coup in Afghanistan and the leader of the Communist Party, Nur-Mohammed Taraki, is appointed president with vice-presidents Babrak Karmal and Hafizullah Amin, and political purges kill more than 10,000 people in 18 months
1979: the shah Reza Pahlevi is overthrown by the Islamic Revolution and Iran becomes a theocratic republic led by the ayatollah Khomeini with a strong anti-USA posture
1979: Egypt and Israel sign a peace treaty
1979: Saddam Hussein seizes power in Iraq and begins a ruthless dictatorship
March 1979: The Soviet Union bombs pro-democracy rebels in Afghanistan, killing more than 10,000 people
September 1979: Amin overthrows Taraki in Afghanistan
December 1979: Soviet troops invade Afghanistan, kill Amin and install Babrak Karmal as president
1979: Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum becomes ruler of Dubai and turns it into a major financial hub
1980: "mujaheddin" and volunteers from the Arab world, led by Saudi scion Osama bin Laden, organize the resistance against the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan
1980: Christians constitute 30% and Muslims constitute 18% of the world's population
1980: Khomeini declares the last friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as an international day of struggle against Israel and for the liberation of Jerusalem
1980: Abdullah Ocalan leads the PKK in an armed struggles against the Turkish government
1980: Iraq (Saddam Hussein) attacks Iran (Khomeini)
1980: Iraqi ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Sadr, leader of Iraq's first Shiite political party, is assassinated by Saddam Hussein's regime
1980: Berbers demonstrate against Arab domination in Algeria ("Spring of Kabyle")
1980: Mohammad Najibullah becomes the head of the Afghan secret police (KHAD) that creates concentration camps and liquidates thousands of political enemies
1981: Egyptian president Sadat is assassinated by a radical Muslim organization and is succeeded by Hosni Mubarak
1982: Assad orders the bombing of Hama, one of Syria's major cities, for 27 days, killing more than 20,000 people
1982: the Hezbollah is founded by a radical shiite group with the mission of creating an Iranian-style Islamic republic in Lebanon
1982: Fahd bin 'Abdulaziz, 11th son of the founder of the Saudi kingdom, ascends to the throne
1983: Christian leader John Garang leads the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) in a new civil war against the Sudanese government
1983: a ferry sinks in the Nile, Egypt, and kills 357 people
1983: Iraq uses chemical weapons against Iranian troops
1985: Iraq develops an offensive biological weapons program
1985: Hezbollah suicide commandos organized by Iran blow up the US and French barracks killing 241 marines and 58 French soldiers
1985: Nimeiri is deposed in Sudan
1985: Israel raids the PLO headquarters in Tunis, killing 60 people
Sep 1985: Saudi Arabia announces an increase in oil production that causes a fall in the price of oil
1986: USA planes bomb Libya trying to assassinate Qaddafi
May 1986: Babrak Karmal is replaced as president of Afghanistan by Mohammad Najibullah, appointed by the Soviet Union
1987: Palestinians in the occupied territories begin an uprising against Israeli occupation (first "intifada")
1987: 402 people die when Saudi police clash with shia pilgrims in Mecca
1987: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali overthrows Habib Bourguiba in Tunisia
1987: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, backed by donors in the Gulf states, creates the civilian and military organization Hamas in Gaza, with the goal to drive Israel out of the Middle East and establish an Islamic state
1988: a missile fired by a USA warship downs an Iranian civilian plane and kills all 290 passengers aboard
1988: terrorists backed by Libya blow up a Pan Am plane over Scotland killing 259 people probably on behalf of Iran
1988: the war between Iraq and Iran that has cost about one million lives ends with no winner
1988: Iraq uses chemical weapons against Kurds (Halabja massacre)
1988: Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan, creates Al Qaeda, a worldwide alliance of (mainly Arab) fundamentalist militants, based on the teachings of Mohammad ibn Abd al-Wahab
1988: Saad Eddin Ibrahim founds the Ibn Khaldun Center in Egypt to promote democracy in the Arab world
February 1989: the Soviet Union withdraws from Afghanistan (1.3 million Afghans and 12 thousand Soviet soldiers have died, five million Afghans have fled the country)
1989: a ceasefire is signed between Morocco and the Polisario
1989: Hassan al-Turabi seizes power with a coup and becomes Sudan's Islamist philospher and dictator, intent on building a pure Islamic society
1989: Khomeini dies and is succeeded by Ali Khameini
1989: Dutch businessman Frans van Anraat is arrested in Italy at the request of the USA for selling thousands of tons of chemicals that Saddam Hussein's Iraq used to build chemical weapons
1990: Iraqi troops (Saddam Hussein) invade Kuwait and are repelled by an international coalition (including most Arab countries) led by the USA
1990: 1,426 pilgrims die in a stampede in Mecca
1990: the last Christian leader to fight Syria and the Muslims in Lebanon surrenders, the civil war ends and Lebanon remains under Syrian occupation
1990: Yemen and Aden are unified under Ali Abdullah Saleh
1990: the Iraqi army has 1.4 million soldiers, the fourth largest in the world after the Soviet Union, the USA and China
1990: Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum dies and is succeeded by his son Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum as ruler of Dubai
1991: Saudi Arabia expels Osama bin Laden for his anti-government stance
1991: a ferry capsizes in Egypt killing 464 people
1992: the Mujahideen guerrillas dislodge the communist regime from Afghanistan
1992: The Algerian army, led by general Khaled Nezzar, cancels national elections won by Abassi Madani's Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) and seizes power, while the military wing of the Islamic Salvation Front begin a guerrilla campaign, supported by Iran
1994: the Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin signs an agreement to start a peace process with Arafat's Palestinian Authority, which is granted the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
1994: Hamas and the Islamic Jihad movement begin a series of suicide terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians
1994: 270 pilgrims die in a stampede in Mecca
1995: Israeli prime minister Rabin is assassinated by a Jewish fundamentalist
1995: Kurdish terrorists carry out their first suicide bombing
1996: Osama bin Laden calls for worldwide attacks on USA citizens, including civilians, while his commandos spread around the world, from Somalia to the USA
September 1996: with help from Osama bin Laden, the Taliban militia, inspired by the writings of Sayyid Qutb and the teachings of Mohammad ibn Abd al-Wahab, dislodges the mujahedin government from Afghanistan, executes Mohammad Najibullah and installs one of the most fundamentalistic Muslim governments in the world
1996: former BBC employees launch "Al Jazeera", the first pan-Arab satellite news channel (from Qatar)
1996: Saddam Hussein foils a coup by Iyad Allawi, who has to flee Iraq
1996: Hundreds of prisoners are killed by police in a jail of Tripoli, Libya, after they stage a protest
1997: Mohammad Khatami, a moderate, is elected president of Iran, but the ayatollahs still control the army
1997: Iranian cleric Hoseyn Ali Montazeri criticizes Ali Khameini's dictatorship and is placed under house arrest
1997: 340 pilgrims die in a fire at Mina, Saudi Arabia
1997: Islamic terrorists affiliated to Ayman al-Zawahiri attack foreigners in Cairo and Luxor, Egypt, killing 62 people
1998: terrorists affiliated with Osama bin Laden blow up the USA embassies in Kenya and Tanzania
1998: the USA bombs Sudan for helping terrorists and Afghanistan's camps where Osama bin Laden trains his militants
1998: Emile Lahoud is appointed president of Lebanon
1999: Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the candidate of general Khaled Nezzar, is elected president of Algeria after all other candidates withdraw or are disqualified
1999: the Islamic rebels enter peace talks with the Algerian government after 150,000 people have been killed in the civil war
1999: Abdullah Ocalan is captured by the Turkish government
1999: King Hussein of Jordan dies and is succeeded by his son Abdullah
1999: Morocco's king Hassan II dies and is succeeded by his son Mohammed VI
1999: Umar al-Bashir has Turabi arrested in Sudan
1999: a raid on a Teheran student dormitory by Iranian police and right-wing vigilantes triggers student riots
2000: Assad of Syria dies and is succeeded by his son Bashir
2000: Saad Eddin Ibrahim is arrested by Egypt and the Ibn Khaldun Center is shut down
2000: a second "intifada" is started after Israeli-Palestinian negotiations break down
2000: 70% of Palestinian children interviewed by the Arab psychologist Fadal Abu-Hin want to become martyrs
2000: Iranian reformist leader Saeed Hajjarian is almost killed in an assassination attempt
Oct 2000: The "Dubai Internet City" opens in the United Emirates
2001: the Islamic government of Afghanistan destroy the century-old Buddha statues of Bamiyan
2001: Algerian suicide bombers kill Ahmad Shah Mas'ud, the leader of the anti-Taliban resistance (Northern Alliance)
2001: the Sudanese government arrests several leaders of the Islamist party (Popular National Congress), including its leader Hassan al-Turabi
2001: Youstol Dispage Fromscaruffi dies
2001: suicide bombings in several Israeli cities are carried out by Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon retaliates with bombings, assassinations and invasions
Sep 2001: The military leader of the Northern Alliance, Ahmed Shah Masood/Mas'ud/ Massoud, is killed by Algerian suicide bombers
2001: in retaliation for Osama bin Laden's terrorism, the USA invades Afghanistan, removes both the Taliban and Al Qaeda from power, and installs Hamid Karzai as president
2001: the Gulf states of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) pledge to adopt a unified currency
2002: The Sudanese government and the Christian rebels of the SPLA sign a ceasefire agreement
2002: the Kurdish independence movement PKK changes name to "Kurdish Freedom and Democracy Congress" (KADEK)
2003: the Islamic-oriented "Justice and Development Party" (AK Party) wins elections in Turkey and Recep Tayyip Erdogan becomes the country's prime minister
2003: George W Bush orders the invasion of Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein
2003: 34 people die in a suicide bombing attack on westerners in Riyahd, Saudi Arabia
2003: 41 people die in a suicide bombing attack on westerners in Casablanca, Morocco, carried out by members of Al Qaeda's affiliate Salafia Jihadia
2003: Hamas and Al-Aqka Brigades unleash five suicide attacks within 48 hours in Israel the day after the first meeting between Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas
2003: students demonstrate in Teheran against the Iranian regime, helped by USA-based television stations and by radio stations run by Iranian exiles
2003: militias of cleric Al-Sadr kill rival cleric Majeed Al-Khoei who just returned from his exile in Iran
2003: Darfur rebels demanding autonomy launch attacks against the Sudanese government
2003: hundreds of people are killed in terrorist attacks in Iraq
2003: 17 people die in a suicide bombing attack on foreign Arab workers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2003: terrorists attack an Italian peacekeepers' base in Nasiriya, Iraq
2003: bombs in synagogues kill 25 people in Istanbul, Turkey
2003: bombs against western institutions kill 58 people in Istanbul, Turkey
2003: The Egyptian government allows the Ibn Khaldun Center, founded in 1988 by Saad Eddin Ibrahim to promote democracy in the Arab world, to reopen/a>>/> (Near International)
2003: Qaddafi of Libya admits a broad program of weapons of mass destruction and accepts to destroy it in return for an end to USA sanctions
2003: Jordanian terrorist Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi begins a campaign of terror in Iraq
2003: Abdolmalek Rigi founds the Sunni terrorist group Jundullah to fight against the Iranian regime
2004: dozens of Iraqi Kurds are killed by suicide bombers of the Muslim militant group Ansar al-Islam (affiliated with Al Qaeda)
2004: Dubai begins construction of Burj Dubai, the tallest skyscraper in the world
2004: 251 pilgrims die in a stampede at Mina, Saudi Arabia
2004: the USA calls for Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon
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2004: 244 people die in a A stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia
2004: Hamid Karzai wins free democratic elections in Afghanistan
2004: a train accident kills 295 people in Iran
2004: Iran's ayatollahs outlaw most of the opposition candidates so that parliamentary elections are won by the conservative party
2004: 181 Shia Muslims die in terrorist attacks in Karbala and Baghdad (Iraq) during the yearly holy festival
2004: 50 Shias die in terrorist attacks in Basra Baghdad (Iraq)
2004: in one year, about 300,000 bodies have been found buried in mass graves, victims of Saddam Hussein's regime
2004: Arab militias (JAnjaweed militias led by Sheik Musa Hilal) carry out massive atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region
2004: Sudan and John Garang's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) sign a peace deal, ending a civil war that cost the lives of two million people
2004: former exile Iyad Allawi is named prime minister of Iraq by the USA
2004: terrorists attack a compound for foreigners in the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Khobar killing 22 people
2004: car bombs set by Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorists and by Saddam Hussein loyalists explode in several cities of Iraq killing hundreds of civilians
2004: the USA and Britain admit that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction (which was the reason to invade Iraq)
2004: Islamic fundamentalists kill 16 people in Algeria
2004: Arafat dies and is replaced by Muhammad Abbas as chairman of the PLO
2004: Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan dies and his son Khalifa ibn-Zayed succeeds him as president of the United Arab Emirates
2004: Iran is accused by the USA of trying to build a nuclear weapon and accepts to stop enriching uranium
2004: the first "Democratic Forum for Arab Women" is held in Yemen
2004: Sudanese government and southern rebel sign a peace deal, and ex-rebel leader John Garang becomes Sudan's vice-president
2004: Arafat dies in France, of causes that are kept secret (probably AIDS), and is replaced by Muhammad Abbas as chairman of the PLO, who wins the first multi-party elections in Palestine
2004: Dubai International Capital is established as the foreign investment arm of Dubai
2004: a Shiite rebellion led by Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi erupts in Yemen (the Houthis), that will kill thousands over the next four years
2004: Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the UAE dies and is succeeded by his son Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
2004: The Zaydis of North Yemen begin an insurrection under the leadership of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi
2005: Muhammad Abbas wins the first democratic elections in Palestine and restarts peace negotiations with Israel
2005: the first democratic elections in Iraq are won by an alliance of Shiite parties (48%), followed by an alliance of Kurdish parties (26%) and by the party of prime minister Allawi (14%)
2005: a car bomb kills former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, who opposed Syrian occupation of the country, and street demonstrations force the resignation of the Syria-installed government
2005: car bombs and suicide bombers kill hundreds of Iraqis every month
2005: the Iraqi parliament elects a Shiite, Ibrahim Jaafari, prime minister, and a Kurd, Jalal Talabani, president
2005: Egyptian archeologists discover the funerary complex at Hierakonpolis, dating from 3600 BC
2005: Syrian troops leave Lebanon
2005: the Gulf states of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) meet in Bahrein to discuss a unified currency and a free trade zone with the USA
2005: more than 8,000 people are killed in Iraq by suicide bombings, car bombings and shootings in the first six months of 2005
2005: Newsweek magazine reports that guards at Guantanamo desecrated the Quran, a news that sparks deadly riots in Afghanistan and anti-USA protests in many Islamic countries
2005: a suicide bombing kills more than 20 people in an Afghan mosque
2005: Hundreds of thousands of people (mainly from Asia) are still sold into slavery in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar
2005: The opposition wins the first free elections in Lebanon since the civil war and Fouad Siniora, Rafik Hariri's right-hand man, becomes the new prime minister
2005: Anti-USA conservative politician Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (a former member of the Revolutionary Guard) wins presidential elections in Iran, refuses to dismantle Iran's nuclear program and calls for the destruction of Israel
2005: suicide bombers kill 83 people at the tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt
2005: riots caused by an increase in the price of gasoline kill more than 30 people in Yemen
2005: Sudanese vice-president and former rebel leader John Garang dies in a helicopter crash
2005: King Fahd of Saudi Arabia dies and is replaced by his half brother Prince Abdullah
2005: the price of oil jumps from $35 at the beginning of the year to an all-time record of $67 a barrel
2005: Kurdish rebels in Turkey call off the 1999 truce and begin an offensive against Turkish soldiers
2005: 965 shia pilgrims die in a stampede at Baghdad, Iraq
2005: Israel withdraws from the Gaza strip after 38 years of occupation
2005: thousands are arrested after riots erupt in Morocco-occupied Western Sahara
2005: a campaign of bombings targets anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon
2005: suicide bombers kill dozens of people in Afghanistan
2005: Ghazi Kenaan, Syria's interior minister, who effectively controlled Lebanon for two decades, "commits suicide"
2005: Iraqi suicide bombers affiliated with Abu Musib al-Zarqawi kill 57 people in three Amman hotels
2005: Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon founds a new centrist party
2005: Russia sells "defense" missiles to Iran
2005: Lebanese anti-Syrian politician Gibran Tueni is killed by a car bomb
2005: Dutch businessman Frans van Anraat is jailed for selling thousands of tons of chemicals that Saddam Hussein's Iraq used to build chemical weapons
2005: More than 1,400 people are killed in Afghanistan, the worst toll since the USA ousted the Taliban
2006: A suicide bomber kills ten people in southern Afghanistan
2006: 362 Muslim pilgrims are killed in a crush during the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia
2006: terrorist group Hamas, famous for suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians, wins the first multi-party elections in Palestine and its leader Ismail Haniya becomes the new prime minister
2006: Muslims riot worldwide because a Danish newspaper published cartoons of Mohammed
2006: in the first Israeli elections after prime minister Sharon suffered a stroke, his new party Kadima becomes the biggest party and Ehud Olmert the new prime minister
2006: a ferry capsizes in Egypt killing about 1,000 people
2006: Sunni terrorists in Iraq blow up the golden dome of Samarra's Al-Askareyya Shrine
2006: two terrorists are killed in Saudi Arabia before they could detonate bombs against the Abqaiq oil complex
2006: young Kurds riot in Turkey
2006: in march alone, 1313 Iraqi civilians are victims of sectarian violence
2006: bombs kill 23 people at the tourist resort of Dahab, Egypt
Mar 2006: Sunni militants kill 22 people in Iran's Baluchi region
2006: Nouri al-Maliki forms a government of national unity in Iraq
2006: Abu Musib al-Zarqawi is killed in Iraq
2006: in response to an incursion by Hezbollah militants, Israel invades southern Lebanon killing more than 1,000 Lebanese civilians while Hezbollah kills 116 Israeli soldiers and 43 Israeli civilians
2006: the opposition wins parliamentary elections in Kuwait
2006: 21 people die in a car bomb attack on a market in southern Afghanistan
2006: Israeli forces withdraw from Lebanon without having destroyed Hezbollah
2006: Taliban militants adopt the suicide attacks used by insurgents in Iraq and launch 78 suicide bombings across Afghanistan in the first nine months, killing close to 200 people
2006: Muslims riot worldwide against anti-Islamic comments made by Pope Benedict
2006: Lebanese Christian politician Pierre Gemayel is assassinated
2006: more than 350 Palestinians are killed in internal fighting in Gaza after Israel withdraws
2006: Saddam Hussein is executed in Iraq for the crimes committed by his regime
2006: 34,452 Iraqi civilians are killed in 2006
2006: Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum dies and is succeeded by his brother Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as ruler of Dubai
2006: the Sunni group Jundullah kills 21 members of the security forces on a highway outside Zahedan, Iran
Feb 2007: Sunni militants kill 11 people in Iran's Baluchi region
2007: the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) renames itself as Al Qaeda In The Maghreb and begins a campaign of terrorist attacks in Algeria
2007: Hamas and Fatah fight in the streets of Gaza
2007: Hamas militants shoot rockets at Israel
2007: Lebanon's militant group Fatah Islam kills 23 soldiers in clashes in Tripoli's Palestinian refugee camp
2007: a bomb kills 6 people in Ankara, Turkey
2007: More than 2,300 people die in insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan in the first five months of 2007
2007: Former British prime minister Tony Blair is appointed Middle Eastern envoy on behalf of the USA, Russia, the UN and the EU
2007: the USA accuses Iran of helping insurgents kill USA soldiers in Iraq
2007: seven western tourists are killed by a suicide bomber in Yemen
2007: more than 200 Turkish soldiers are killed by Kurdish separatists of the PKK that use Iraq as a base
2007: more than 100 NATO soldiers are killed by Taliban in Afghanistan during the first seven months of 2007
2007: the Taliban unleash a campaign against schools in Afghanistan that kills 147 students and teachers, and closes 590 schools out of the 680 that the USA has built
2007: the Taliban carry out more than 140 suicide attacks
2007: the price of oil reaches an all-time record of $83 a barrel
2007: Following the killing of a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader, Kurdish separatists kill scores of soldiers in Turkey at the border with Iraq
2007: Al Qaeda carries out more than 30 suicide bombings per month in Iraq
2007: Al Qaeda bombs kill 62 people in Algiers
2007: Iraqis have suffered from 667 suicide attacks since may 2005
2008: Shiite Muslim rebels led by Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi attack a Sunni mosque and kill 18 people
2008: Islamists win elections in Kuwait/a>>/>
june 2008: oil price hits $139 a barrel
july 2008: 15 people are killed by bombs of Kurdish separatists in Istanbul, Turkey
august 2008: more then 3,700 people are killed in fighting in Afghanistan in the first eight months of 2008
sep 2008: NATO killed 3,200 civilians in Afghanistan from 2005 to mid 2008
sep 2008: Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, facing a corruption scandal, is forced to resign, and is replaced by Tzipi Livni
sep 2008: Islamic extremists led by Said Ali al-Shihri kill 16 people in Sana, Yemen, during an attack on the USA embassy
sep 2008: Having repaired relations, Condy Rice becomes the first USA secretary of state to visit Libya since 1953
sep 2008: A car bomb kills 17 people in Syria
2008: Fouad Ali El Himma founds the anti-Islamist Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) in Morocco
Dec 2008: the price of oil plunges to $34 per barrel amid the world recession
Dec 2008: An Israeli invasion of Hamas-controlled Gaza kills more than 1,300 Palestinians, including 252 children
Dec 2008: A suicide bomber of the anti-Iranian group Jundaliah kills four people in Iran
Dec 2008: Arab countries lose 2.5 trillion dollars in the global financial crisis of 2008
Dec 2008: 2,000 civilians are killed in Afghanistan during 2008, 39% killed by NATO
Apr 2009: Tareq al-Fadhi, a former jihadist in Afghanistan, joins the secessionist movement of South Yemen
May 2009: Iran blames the Sunni group Jundullah for a suicide attack on a mosque of Zahedan that kills 25 people
May 2009: A USA air strike on Granai (in the western district of Bala Baluk) kills 147 Afghan civilians
Jun 2009: Saad Hariri's governing pro-Western coalition wins parliamentary election in Lebanon
Jun 2009: supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi protest against rigged elections in Iran won by incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Jun 2009: Islamic extremists kill nine European tourists in Yemen
Jun 2009: As the deadline approaches for the USA to withdraw troops from Iraqi cities, a spate of terrorist attacks kills hundreds of Iraqis
Aug 2009: About 600 people are killed in Iraq by sectarian violence in the two months since USA troops withdrew from cities
Aug 2009: Hamas attacks radical cleric Abdul-Latif Moussa's al-Qaeda-linked group Jund Ansar Allah, killing 13 people
Aug 2009: Show trials of opposition leaders are broadcast live on television in Iran in the biggest purge since the founding of the Islamic Republic
Sep 2009: almost 100 people are killed in a air raid by the Yemeni government against a Shiite refugee camp in Adi
Sep 2009: The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology opens in Saudi Arabia
Oct 2009: There are more than 100,000 NATO troops (including about 68,000 USA soldiers) in Afghanistan alongside 200,000 Afghan soldiers fighting less than 25,000 Taliban
Oct 2009: 42 people including several members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards are killed in a suicide bombing in the Baluchi region by Sunni group Jundallah
Dec 2009: Saudi Arabia bombs Houthis in the north of Yemen, killing more than 70 people
Dec 2009: The government of Yemen claims to have killed 34 al-Qaida members
2009: Between august and october suicide bombers of Al-Qaeda affiliate "Islamic State of Iraq" kill hundreds of people in Iraq
Also see a timeline of the modern Middle East