| 500 BCE | Confucian philosophy gives a low status to trade and foreigners. |
| 500 BCE | Siddhartha Gautama starts Buddhism on India/Nepal border. |
| 326 BCE – 323 BCE | Alexander The Great, Lord of Asia, conquers as far east as Sogdiana and Ferghana in Uzbekistan. |
| 206 BCE | Start of China’s Han Dynasty, ends 220 CE |
| 146 BCE – 51 BCE | Ambassador Zhang Qian explores Central Asia for Han Emperor and establishes Silk Road trade. |
| 30 BCE | Queen Cleopatra dies, Egypt becomes a Roman Provence |
| 324 | Roman Emperor Constantine founds Constantinople and the Byzantium Empire. Th focus for the development of world civilisations shifts to Asia. |
| 410 | Fall of Rome to the Visigoths |
| 618-907 | China’s Tang Dynasty |
| 622 | Prophet Muhammed establishes Islam. |
| 832 | Bagdad House of Wisdom starts 300 years of Islamic scientific leadership. |
| 1070 | Doomsday Book Published. |
| 1095-1099 | First Crusade restores Anatolia to Byzantium from the Seljuk Turks. |
| c1111 | Al-Ghazali’s “The Revival of the Religious Science” puts faith above science & is adopted by Sunnis & by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th C. – halts scientific enquiry. |
| 1206-1368 | Genghis Khan (1206-1227) founds Mongol Empire, which in 1241 destroy half of Hungary. |
| 1271-1295 | Marco Polo’s voyages. |
| 1258 | Sacking of Baghdad by Mongols and end of Abbasid Caliphate. |
| 1325-1354 | Explorer Ibn Battuta visits all Muslim lands & writes a travel book. |
| 1326-1644 | China’s Ming Dynasty |
| 1370-1507 | Timurid Empire, Timur reigned 1370–1405. |
| 1405-1433 | Admiral Zheng He’s treasure ships are the world’s most powerful navy. |
| 1453 | Fall of Constantinople to Ottomans. |
| 1492 | Christopher Columbus discovers South America. |
| 1498 | Vasco da Gama reaches India. |
| 1526-1707 | Mughal Empire founded by Babur. By1605 empire extends to most of India. |
| 1543 | Nicholas Copernicus marks start of the “European Scientific Revolution”. |
| 1547 | Ivan the Terrible becomes first Tsar of Russia. |
| 1588 | England defeats Spanish Armada. |
| 1600 | Limited Stock English East India Company (EIC) formed. |
| 1602-1682 | Dutch EIC exports 6 million items of Chinese porcelain to Europe. |
| 1620 | Voyage of the Pilgrim Fathers in the Mayflower. |
| 1632-1653 | Shah Jahan, 5th Mughal ruler, builds Taj Mahal. |
| 1700,1721 | Britain’s Calico Acts ban import of cotton textiles. |
| 1744-1767 | The period when Clive of India was in India and establishing British dominance. |
| 1775-1783 | American War of Independence. |
| 1893-1896 | Britain’s Opium Wars trigger China’s Century of Humiliation. |
| 1893 | The end of “The Great Game” sees Afghanistan linked to China via the Wakhan Corridor to provide a buffer between Russia and British India. |