What happened in the 8th century

World21

• AD 708The Bulgarians defeat Justinian II at the Battle of Anchialus. An Arab Umayyad army under Muhammad ibn al-Qasim invades Sindh in northern India.
• AD 711Tariq ibn Ziyad crosses the Straits of Gibraltar. With the creation of Al-Andalus, most of the Iberian Peninsula is conquered by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and beginning almost eight centuries of Muslim rule.
• AD 712Caliphate campaigns in India Arab Expansions halted.
• AD 713Death of Dajian Huineng, sixth and last Patriarch of Chán Buddhism.
• AD 717Siege of Constantinople. The Bulgarians and the Byzantines decisively defeat the invading Arabs, thus halting the Arab advance toward Europe.
• AD 731Bede completes his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People).
• AD 740Battle of Akroinon. Byzantines win their first large-scale victory in a pitched battle against the Arabs.
• AD 748The Chinese Buddhist monk Jian Zhen writes in his Yue Jue Shu of the international sea traffic coming to Guangzhou, ships from Borneo, Persia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and others bringing tons of goods.
• AD 751Arabian armies defeat Chinese Tang dynasty troops in the Battle of Talas, in the high Pamirs near Samarkand, and conquer Central Asia completely.
• Estimated century in which the poem Beowulf is composed.
• The first Serbian state is formed at the beginning of the century.
• Mid 8th century – papermaking introduced from China to Arabs.
• Iron horseshoes came into common use around 770.
• AD 775Death of caliph al-Mansur and he was succeeded by al-Mahdi.
• AD 781Marriage of Abbasid princess Zubaidah and Harun al-Rashid. The Xi'an Stele is erected in China.

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Japan3

• AD 701The Taihō Code is enacted in late Asuka period Japan.
• AD 710Empress Genmei moves the capital to Heijō-kyū (present day Nara), initiating the Nara period of Japan.
• AD 794Emperor Kanmu moves the capital to Heian-kyō (present day Kyoto), initiating the Heian period of Japan.

Europe16

• AD 705Justinian II is forced to give the title Caesar of Byzantium to the Bulgarian Emperor Tervel. The Byzantine Empire begins to pay annual tributes to Bulgaria.
• AD 712Liutprand, King of the Lombards begins his reign (until 744).
• AD 713Treaty of Tudmir, signed between Abd al-'Aziz, the commander of Muslim troops invading Spain, and Theodemir, the Christian king of a southern region in Spain.
• AD 726Byzantine Emperor Leo III the Isaurian destroys the icon of Christ above the Chalke Gate in the capital city of Constantinople, beginning the first phase of the Byzantine Iconoclasm.
• AD 732Battle of Tours. Near Poitiers, France, leader of the Franks Charles Martel and his men defeat a large army of Moors under the governor of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, who is killed during the battle. The Battle of Tours halts the advance of Islam into Western Europe and establishes a balance of power between Western Europe, Islam and the Byzantine Empire.
• The first European triangular harp designed by the Picts of Scotland.
• An account of Buddha's life is translated into Greek by Saint John of Damascus, and widely circulated to Christians as the story of Barlaam and Josaphat.
• Heavy plow in use in the Rhine valley.
• Horse collar in use in Northern Europe in 8th or 9th century — perhaps introduced from Asia.
• AD 757King Offa of Mercia becomes dominant ruler in England.
• AD 772Charlemagne invades what is now northwestern Germany, battling the Saxons for more than thirty years and finally crushing their rebellion, incorporating Saxony into the Frankish Empire and the Christian world.
• AD 787The Empress Irene of Athens convenes the Seventh Ecumenical Council, ending the first phase of Byzantine Iconoclasm.
• AD 792Battle of Marcelae. The Bulgarian victory over the Byzantines marks the end of the half-century political instability in Bulgaria.
• AD 793The first written account of a Viking raid carried out on the abbey of Lindisfarne in northern England.
• AD 793The Frisian–Frankish wars come to an end with the last uprising of the Frisians.

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Asia16

• AD 705Overthrow of Empress Wu Zetian, the reign of China's first and only sole-ruling empress ends.
• c. AD 712Metropolitan episcopal see is established by the Church of the East in Chinese capital of Chang'an.
• AD 712Emperor Xuanzong reigned, the time was considered one of China's high points.
• AD 716Sanjaya ascends the throne to be the first king of the Mataram kingdom.
• AD 732The Sanjaya dynasty is founded around this time according to the Canggal inscription.
• AD 742For the municipal census of the Tang-dynasty Chinese capital city Chang'an and its metropolitan area of Jingzhou Fu (including small towns in the vicinity), the New Book of Tang records that in this year there were 362,921 registered families with 1,960,188 persons.
• Pattadakal, Chalukya architecture.
• The Chinese Buddhist monk Yi Xing applies a clockwork escapement mechanism to operate and rotate his astronomical celestial globe.
• The height of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, China is extended by 5 stories.
• mid-8th century - Great Wild Goose Pagoda at Ci'en Temple, Xi'an, Shanxi, is rebuilt.
• c. mid-8th century - Camel Carrying a Group of Musicians, from a tomb near Xi'an, Shanxi, is made. Tang dynasty. It is now kept at Museum of Chinese History, Beijing.
• AD 752The Hindu Mataram kingdom flourishes and declines. (to 1045)
• AD 755The An Shi Rebellion devastates China during the mid Tang dynasty.
• AD 760The construction of the famous Indonesian Buddhist structure Borobudur began, probably as a non-Buddhist shrine.
• AD 778Kalasan temple constructed, according to the Kalasan inscription.

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Middle East18

• AD 705Death of Arab caliph Abd al-Malik, his succession by his nominated heir and elder son al-Walid.
• AD 715Death of al-Walid I and he was succeeded by his brother Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik.
• AD 717Death of caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik and his succession by his cousin and nominated heir Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz.
• AD 720Death of caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz and succession of his cousin Yazid II on 4 February 720.
• AD 720The uprising of the Egyptians against the Umayyad Arab rule in Egypt, which led to the beginning of the Bashmurian revolts that lasted 112 years.
• AD 724Death of caliph Yazid II and he was succeeded by his brother and nominated heir Hisham.
• AD 743Death of Arab caliph Hisham and succession of his nephew and heir Al-Walid II.
• AD 744Assassination of Al-Walid II, Succession of Yazid III to the Caliphal throne on 17 April 744.
• AD 744Death of Yazid III and his succession by his brother and nominated heir Ibrahim ibn al-Walid. On 4 December Ibrahim was forced to Abdicate in favour Marwan II.
• AD 750The last Umayyad Caliph Marwan II (744–750) is overthrown and executed by the first Abbasid Caliph, Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah. The Caliphate is moved to Baghdad which would later develop into a centre of trade and culture. The Ghana Empire begins in western Africa.
• The Buddhist Jataka tales were translated by an Persian translator—from Persian into Syriac and Arabic—under the title “Kalilag and Damnag”.
• AD 754Death of Abbasid caliph al-Saffah and ascension of caliph al-Mansur to Arab Caliphate.
• AD 785Death of Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi and succession of al-Hadi on 24 July 785. The Tang dynasty begins landing regular maritime missions on the coast of East Africa, cutting out middlemen Arab sea merchants.
• AD 786Death of Abbasid caliph al-Hadi and ascension of caliph Harun al-Rashid.
• AD 800Rule of Aghlabids as an autonomous province of Caliphate in North Africa, with their capital at Tunis.

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Latin America4

• AD 711Palenque is conquered by Toniná.
• AD 738Quiriguá declares independence from Copan
• Classical Maya civilization begins to decline.
• Height of the Classic period in pre-Columbian Maya civilization history.

Oceania1

• The Kombumerri burial grounds are founded.