1006
Supernova SN 1006 blazes in southern sky
Astronomers from Egypt to China to Switzerland recorded a new star in Lupus so bright that objects cast shadows by its light and men read at midnight by its glow. Modern physicists studying the remnant call it the brightest stellar event in recorded human history. The Egyptian astronomer Ali ibn Ridwan left the most detailed account, noting the star's brilliance exceeded a quarter of the moon's light.
Ghana Empire dominates West African gold trade
At Kumbi Saleh, the Soninke rulers of the Ghana Empire presided over a court where dogs wore golden collars and guards bore gilded shields. By controlling the Bambuk gold fields and taxing every salt caravan crossing the Sahara, the empire had become the wealthiest state in sub-Saharan Africa, its gold reaching mints from Cordoba to Cairo.
Qarakhanids conquer Buddhist Khotan
After decades of intermittent warfare, Turkic Qarakhanid forces overwhelmed the last Buddhist kingdom on the Silk Road's southern branch. Khotan's monasteries and libraries were destroyed, ending a thousand years of Buddhist civilization in the Tarim Basin. The conquest completed the Islamization of Central Asia's great caravan routes from Kashgar to Samarkand.
Sriwijaya burns its rivals
The Malay maritime empire in Sumatra attacked the Javanese kingdom of Medang, burning its capital and killing King Dharmawangsa at a wedding feast. Sriwijaya's thalassocracy, controlling the Strait of Malacca, would dominate Southeast Asian trade for another two centuries before its decline. The destruction of the Javanese court was so complete that the island's center of power shifted permanently eastward, eventually giving rise to the Majapahit dynasty.