600 C.E - 1450 C.E

The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born and lived in Mecca. Became known as a prominent merchant, and as an impartial and trustworthy arbiter of disputes. Muhammad began receiving revelations at the age of 40. The key themes of his messages in Mecca were the oneness of God and the rejection of polytheism, generosity towards the poor and the needy, kind treatment and emancipation of slaves, and the equality between men and women before God. Some of his peers respected his words and became his followers. Many others, including tribal leaders, opposed, ridiculed and eventually boycotted his clan, and Muhammad and his followers were harassed, assaulted, tortured and forced into exile.

The Sui Dynasty was a short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by Southern and Northern Dynasties, unified China for the first time after over a century of north-south division. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty.

Founded by Emperor Wen of Sui, the Sui Dynasty capital was at Chang'an (which was renamed Daxing). His reign saw the reunification of Southern and Northern China and the construction of the Grand Canal. Emperors Wen and Yang undertook various reforms including the Equal-field system, which was initiated to reduce the rich-poor social gap that resulted in enhanced agricultural productivity, as well as government centralisation and reforms, creating a new model of governance after centuries of division. The Three Departments and Six Ministries system was officially instituted, coinage was standardized and re-unified, defense was improved and the Great Wall expanded. Buddhism was also spread and encouraged throughout the empire, uniting the varied peoples and cultures of China.

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire. The dynasty was interrupted briefly by the Second Zhou Dynasty when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, becoming the only Chinese empress regnant, ruling in her own right.

The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Islamic caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was centered on the Umayyad dynasty hailing from Mecca. The Umayyad family had first come to power under the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan but the Umayyad regime was founded by Muawiya ibn Abu S
ufyan, long-time governor of Syria, after the end of the First Muslim Civil War in 661. Syria remained the Umayyads' main power base thereafter, and Damascus was their capital. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests.

Kingdom of ancient Korea that in AD 668 consolidated other polities on the Korean peninsula under the Unified Silla dynasty. Silla emerged as a full-fledged kingdom in the 6th century. In a unique military corps, was organized; allied with Tang-dynasty. Adopted a Chinese bureaucratic structure, but its aristocracy was never replaced by a bureaucratic class based on merit. Silla art before unification shows a tendency toward abstraction; postunification art reflects Tang naturalism.

Period of Japanese history during which the emperor resided in Nara. The capital city was modeled on the capital of Tang-dynasty China, Chang'an, from whom the Japanese borrowed extensively in this period. Buddhism, which had entered Japan a little more than a century earlier, rose in popularity, and many temples and statues were commissioned. The Chinese writing system was introduced and modified by the Japanese allowing two official histories and the earliest Japanese poetry collections to be produced. The Taiho Code, was based on Chinese law, and the Chinese equal-field system of land distribution, though no longer rigorously enforced, continued to remain in effect.

The second of the two great Sunnite dynasties of the Islamic Caliphate. The 'Abbasids took their name from an uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, al-'Abbas, whose descendants formed one of several groups agitating for change under the Umayyad dynasty. The Umayyad enforcement of a brand of Arab chauvinism, wherein non-Arab Muslims were relegated to a lower status, led to a revolution in which the 'Abbasids claimed the Caliphate and enforced a more universal community of believers. This was symbolized by their movement of the caliphal capital from Damascus to Baghdad, an area closer to the geographic centre of the empire and nearer the Persian hinterland. Under their rule, Islamic culture flourished, new heights in philosophy and science were attained, and the period was widely seen as the “golden age” of the Islamic world. During that time, however, the Caliphate's authority slowly began to erode as regional power centres developed throughout the empire.

Charlemagne regularized the central administration and implemented more direct influence on local affairs through expanded use of the written word. He developed special agents to investigate imperial affairs. These agents also taught the local officials what was expected of them and reported to the court on local conditions. Charlemagne also issued royal orders, capitularies, that informed local officials of royal intent and guided them in their actions in matters relating to public order. He promoted commerce, education, and building by implementing educational reform, importing scholars, and establishing interest in history, architecture, and literature. The capital, Aachen, became the cultural center of Carolingian learning and art.

Heian periods is a gradual decline of Chinese influence which, nevertheless, remained strong. Many of the imported ideas were gradually "Japanized". In order to meet particular Japanese needs, several governmental offices were established in addition to the government system which was copied after the Chinese model, for example. In the arts too, native Japanese movements became increasingly popular. The development of the Kana syllables made the creation of actual Japanese literature possible. Several new Buddhist sects that were imported from China during the Heian period, were also "Japanized".

When King Jayavarman II moved a Khmer settlement to Siem Reap province and the settlement became an administrative centre of Khmer empire. During the reign of King Suryavarman II, in which Angkor Wat temple was built, the Chams from Champa from the East began armed incursions and sacked Angkor. Following the death of King Suryavarman II and the Cham invasion, Angkor is invaded and ransacked by the Thais, based in western part of the Khmer Empire. These Thai army forces had been employed by the Khmer King to repel the Cham invaders. Thereafter, again and again, the Chams and the Thais invaded and ransacked Angkor.