The world in the 13th century
In the 13th century (1201 to 1300 CE), the timeline shows 206 states, empires and colonies and 129 peoples across 12 regions. The most significant include Republic of Venice, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Empire, Swahili city-states and Holy Roman Empire.
Previous: 12th century Next: 14th century
Events
- Crusaders sack Constantinople, Europe. Knights of the Fourth Crusade and the Venetian fleet storm and loot Constantinople and divide the Byzantine Empire among themselves.
- Temujin proclaimed Genghis Khan, Central and North Asia. A great assembly on the Onon river names Temujin ruler of all the felt-tent peoples, founding the Mongol Empire.
- Magna Carta, Europe. English barons force King John to seal a charter limiting royal power at Runnymede.
- Mongols sack Bukhara and Samarkand, Central and North Asia. Genghis Khan's armies storm the great cities of Transoxiana, killing or deporting much of their populations and destroying the Khwarazmian Empire.
- Battle of Kirina, North and West Africa. Sundiata Keita defeats the Sosso king Sumanguru Kante, founding the Mali Empire, a story still told by griots in the Epic of Sundiata.
- Mongols sack Kiev, Europe. Batu's army storms Kiev, completing the Mongol conquest of the Rus principalities, then strikes Poland and Hungary in 1241.
- Mongols sack Baghdad, Middle East. Hulagu's army storms Baghdad, kills the caliph al-Musta'sim and many thousands of residents, ending the Abbasid caliphate in Iraq.
- Battle of Ain Jalut, Middle East. The Mamluks of Egypt defeat a Mongol army in Galilee, the first major Mongol defeat, and keep the Mongols out of Syria and Egypt.
- The Great Drought, North America. A drought of over 20 years helps drive the Ancestral Puebloans out of Mesa Verde and the Four Corners by 1300.
- Polynesians reach New Zealand, Oceania. Canoes from East Polynesia land in New Zealand, the last major landmass on Earth to be settled by humans.
- Kamikaze wreck the Mongol fleet, East Asia. A typhoon destroys most of Kublai Khan's second invasion fleet off Kyushu, remembered in Japan as the divine wind.
- Mongols invade Pagan, Southeast Asia. Yuan armies invade Burma after earlier clashes, and the Pagan kingdom breaks apart into rival successor states.
- Dai Viet defeats the Mongols, Southeast Asia. Tran Hung Dao repeats Ngo Quyen's stake trap at the Bach Dang River and destroys the Yuan fleet, ending the third Mongol invasion.
- Mongol expedition to Java, Southeast Asia. A Yuan fleet sent to punish Kertanegara is used by Raden Wijaya to crush his rivals and then driven out, and Majapahit is founded.
Central and Southern Africa
- Western Bantu-speaking farmers
- Eastern Bantu-speaking farmers
- Swahili city-states
- Kingdom of Zimbabwe
- Central African forest foragers
- San hunter-gatherers
- Khoekhoe herders
- Bantu farmers of the Congo basin
- Iron Age farmers of South Africa
- Kingdom of Buganda
- Kilwa Sultanate
- Kingdom of Mapungubwe
- East African hunter-gatherers
- Kisalian culture
- Malagasy chiefdoms and trading towns
- Sotho-Tswana chiefdoms
- Nguni chiefdoms
- Ntusi and Bigo culture
North and West Africa
- Ethiopian Empire (Solomonic dynasty)
- Mali Empire
- Mamluk Sultanate
- Makuria
- Kingdom of Benin
- Kanem Empire
- Ife
- Hafsids
- Marinid Sultanate
- Almohad Caliphate
- Zagwe dynasty
- Ayyubid Sultanate
- Amazigh (Berber) tribes
- Cushitic-speaking pastoralists
- Medjay, Blemmyes and Beja nomads
- Sahelian cereal farmers
- West African yam and oil palm farmers
- Chadic-speaking farmers
- Sao culture
- Coptic Christians
- Saharan camel nomads (Sanhaja and Tuareg)
- Jenne-Jeno (Middle Niger towns)
- Kingdom of Nri
- Alodia
- Hausa city-states
- Arab tribes of Sudan
- Kingdom of Gao
- Takrur
- Ajuran Sultanate
- Sultanate of Shewa
- Zayyanids
- Ifat Sultanate
- Sosso Kingdom
Europe
- Republic of Venice
- Byzantine Empire
- Holy Roman Empire
- Ottoman Empire
- Kievan Rus
- Gaelic Ireland
- Papal States
- Kingdom of Scotland
- Republic of Genoa
- Kingdom of Portugal
- Kingdom of Bohemia
- Grand Duchy of Lithuania
- Kingdom of Naples
- Kingdom of Hungary
- Kingdom of Norway
- Kingdom of Denmark
- Kingdom of Sweden
- Kingdom of England (Norman and Plantagenet)
- Republic of Florence
- Crown of Aragon
- Kingdom of Poland (Piast)
- Novgorod Republic
- Kingdom of France (Capetian)
- Kingdom of Castile
- State of the Teutonic Order
- Crown of Castile
- Grand Duchy of Moscow
- Golden Horde
- Emirate of Granada
- Second Bulgarian Empire
- Kingdom of Sicily
- Angevin Empire
- Sami people
- Baltic Finnic tribes
- Basques (Vascones)
- Baltic tribes
- San Marino
- County of Flanders
- Kingdom of Gwynedd
- Andorra
- Bavaria (Wittelsbach)
- Monaco
- County and Duchy of Savoy
- Kingdom of Navarre
- Kingdom and Duchy of Brittany
- Earldom of Orkney
- Volga Bulgaria
- Kingdom of Sicily (island)
- Old Swiss Confederacy
- County of Toulouse
- Margraviate of Brandenburg
- Venetian Crete
- Republic of Pisa
- Lordship of Ireland
- Duchy of Austria
- Terra Mariana (Livonia)
- Icelandic Commonwealth
- Kingdom of Leon
- Banate and Kingdom of Bosnia
- Duchy of Normandy
- Despotate of Epirus
- Principality of Tver
- Principality of Achaea
- Genoese Gazaria
- Cumans (Kipchaks)
- Vladimir-Suzdal
- Galicia-Volhynia
- Kingdom of Serbia
- Almohad al-Andalus
- Principality of Wales
- Latin Empire
- Grand Principality of Serbia
Middle East
- Byzantine Empire
- Ottoman Empire
- Abbasid Caliphate
- Zaydi Imamate of Yemen
- Kingdom of Georgia
- Mamluk Sultanate (Syria)
- Sultanate of Rum
- Kingdom of Jerusalem
- Khwarazmian Empire
- Zengids
- Ayyubid Sultanate
- Ilkhanate
- Arab Bedouin tribes
- Kurdish tribes and emirates
- Sharifate of Mecca
- Bavandids
- Shirvanshahs
- Oghuz Turkmen nomads
- Kingdom of Imereti
- Kingdom of Hormuz
- Nabhani dynasty
- Alania
- Artuqids
- Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
- Empire of Trebizond
- Karamanids
- Rasulids
- County of Tripoli
- Principality of Antioch
- Nizari Ismaili state
- Empire of Nicaea
South Asia
- Chola Empire
- Ahom Kingdom
- Delhi Sultanate
- Hoysala Empire
- Kakatiya dynasty
- Seuna Yadava dynasty
- Pandya dynasty (second empire)
- Ghurid dynasty
- Munda-speaking peoples
- Tibeto-Burman hill peoples
- Vedda people
- Kingdom of Mewar
- Pashtun tribes
- Kingdom of Manipur
- Kingdom of Marwar
- Zamorins of Calicut
- Dimasa Kachari Kingdom
- Malla dynasty of Nepal
- Paramara dynasty
- Chandela dynasty
- Jaffna Kingdom
- Eastern Ganga dynasty
- Soomra dynasty
- Lohara dynasty
- Chaulukya dynasty
- Kingdom of Polonnaruwa
- Sena dynasty
- Kartid dynasty
- Dambadeniya kingdom
- Mamluk dynasty of Delhi
- Khalji dynasty
Central and North Asia
- Mongol Empire
- Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho
- Kara-Khanid Khanate
- Golden Horde
- Cuman-Kipchak confederation
- Khwarazmian Empire
- Chagatai Khanate
- Kara-Khitai
- Yukaghir peoples
- Chukchi, Koryak and Itelmen peoples
- Evenki and Even reindeer herders
- Khanty, Mansi and Samoyedic peoples
- Buryats
- Turkmen tribes
- Sakha (Yakuts)
- Yenisei Kyrgyz
- Punuk culture
- Kereit, Naiman, Tatar and Merkit tribes
- Khamag Mongol
East Asia
- Yuan dynasty
- Goryeo
- Western Xia
- Southern Song
- Kamakura shogunate
- Jin dynasty (Jurchen)
- Mongol Empire (north China)
- Formosan Austronesian peoples
- Qiang peoples
- Ainu
- Jurchen tribes
- Guge kingdom
- Tibetan era of fragmentation
- Dali Kingdom
- Sakya rule in Tibet
- Eastern Xia
Southeast Asia
- Srivijaya
- Khmer Empire
- Majapahit Empire
- Champa
- Lan Na
- Pagan Kingdom
- Hanthawaddy Kingdom
- Ly dynasty
- Sukhothai Kingdom
- Kediri Kingdom
- Tran dynasty
- Singhasari
- Philippine Negrito foragers
- Orang Asli (Semang and Senoi)
- Dayak peoples of Borneo
- Langkasuka
- Kutai Martadipura
- Sunda Kingdom
- Shan States
- Tondo
- Barangay chiefdoms
- Haripunjaya
- Tai muang chiefdoms
- Gowa Sultanate (Makassar)
- Rajahnate of Cebu
- Samudera Pasai Sultanate
- Dharmasraya (Melayu)
- Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagaing
North America
- Mississippian culture
- Thule culture
- Ancestral Puebloans
- Dorset culture
- Pacific Northwest peoples
- Mogollon culture
- Hohokam
- Pueblo peoples (Hopi, Zuni, Rio Grande)
- Norse Greenland
- Cahokia
- Unangan (Aleut) peoples
- Dene (Northern Athabaskan) peoples
- Chumash
- California peoples (Ohlone, Miwok, Pomo, Tongva)
- Fremont culture
- Caddo confederacies
- Cree peoples
- Numic peoples (Shoshone, Paiute, Ute)
- Beothuk
- Fort Ancient culture
- Oneota culture
- Plains Village tradition
- Mandan and Hidatsa villages
- Natchez
- Moundville
Mesoamerica and Caribbean
- Taíno chiefdoms
- Chibchan chiefdoms (Costa Rica and Panama)
- Mixtec kingdoms
- K'iche' kingdom
- Casas Grandes (Paquimé)
- Mayapan
- Guayabo de Turrialba
- Greater Nicoya cultures
- Cholula
- Gran Coclé chiefdoms
- Diquís culture
- Yaqui, Mayo and Raramuri peoples
- Island Caribs (Kalinago)
- Lucayan Taíno
- Chichimeca peoples
- Zapotec city-states (Zaachila, Mitla)
- Trincheras tradition
- Huastec (Teenek) peoples
- Nicarao chiefdom
- Totonac (Cempoala)
- Tepanec state (Azcapotzalco)
South America
- Tupi-Guarani peoples
- Mapuche
- Marajoara culture
- Muisca Confederation
- Chimú kingdom (Chimor)
- Fuegian canoe peoples (Yaghan, Kawésqar)
- Jê peoples
- Patagonian peoples (Tehuelche, Selk'nam)
- Quimbaya culture
- Tairona
- Cañari
- Arawakan peoples of the Amazon
- Carib peoples of the Guianas
- Guaraní
- Charrúa
- Diaguita
- Manteño-Huancavilca culture
- Santarém culture (Tapajó)
- Sicán (Lambayeque)
- Chincha kingdom
- Chancay culture
- Upper Xingu garden cities
- Aymara kingdoms (Colla, Lupaca)
- Chanka confederation
- Kingdom of Cusco
Oceania
- Aboriginal Australian peoples
- Papuan farmers and foragers
- Tu'i Tonga Empire
- Saudeleur dynasty
- Archaic Māori (moa-hunter period)
- Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples
- Uninhabited
- Torres Strait Islanders
- Island Melanesian societies
- Fijian chiefdoms
- Eastern Micronesian islanders
- Samoan chiefdoms
- Hawaiian chiefdoms
- Society Islands chiefdoms
- Latte period Chamorro
- Rapa Nui society