1238
Kingdom of Sukhothai founded in Siam
Two Thai chieftains, Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao and Pho Khun Pha Mueang, overthrew the Khmer governor at Sukhothai and declared an independent Tai kingdom. A century of Khmer dominance on the central Chao Phraya plain was ending; a distinctly Thai civilization was beginning. Under King Ramkhamhaeng a generation later, Sukhothai would develop the Thai alphabet and establish Theravada Buddhism as the state religion.
Mongols sack Vladimir-Suzdal
Vladimir, the grandest city of northern Rus, fell in February to Mongol siege engines. The bishop and royal family burned in the cathedral where they had taken refuge. Prince Yuri II died a few weeks later at the Sit River, his army shattered on snow-covered ground. The sack of Vladimir destroyed the political center of northeastern Rus and left the region's surviving princes scrambling for Mongol favor.
James I of Aragon captures Valencia
After a two-year siege, the Aragonese king entered the walled port and celebrated mass in its chief mosque. Valencia would become a Christian kingdom in union with Aragon, its irrigation canals inherited and its Moorish peasantry left to work them under new overlords. The Tribunal de las Aguas, a water court James inherited from the Muslims, still meets every Thursday outside Valencia's cathedral.
Singhasari kingdom rises in Java
Ken Arok, a figure of mixed legend and history, founded the kingdom of Singhasari in eastern Java after a series of assassinations and coups that read like a Javanese Game of Thrones. His dynasty would expand Javanese influence across the archipelago and eventually give birth to the Majapahit empire. The kraton at Singhasari drew on both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, blending them into a distinctly Javanese court culture.