Shortage of manpower in the Muslim armies causes a change of policy, with non-Arabs now allowed to convert to Islam

Muslim Arabs cross from north Africa into Spain and drive the Visigoths from Toledo

Muslims, arriving from Persia through Baluchistan, occupy the region of Sind in western India

Retreating from the Arab onslaught, the Visigoths establish a kingdom of last resort in the extreme north of Spain, in Asturias

The Muslim advance into France is halted when Charles Martel defeats the Arabs between Poitiers and Tours

A battle at the Talas river, between the Chinese and the Arabs, is a decisive victory for the Arabs

Pepin III, after recovering Byzantine territories in Italy from the Lombards, hands control of the region to the pope in Rome

Charlemagne destroys a great Saxon shrine, the Irminsul - the start of a 30-year campaign against his pagan neighbours in what is now Germany

After two campaigns in Lombardy, Charlemagne establishes himself as king of the Lombards in northern Italy

The monks of Lindisfarne become the first known overseas victims of a Viking raid

The Arabs get a foothold in Sicily and begin a slow process, not complete till AD 965, of squeezing the Byzantines out of the island

Vikings from Norway capture Dublin and establish a Norse kingdom in Ireland

Vikings are by now securely established in the Orkneys, Shetlands and Hebrides, and in much of the Scottish mainlaid down to Loch Ness

A great army of Danes captures York - the first step in the establishment of Danelaw in eastern England

Vikings arrive in Iceland and form a settlement on the site of modern Rejkjavik

Alfred captures London from the Danes, pressing them back into the region of Danelaw where their rule is, for the moment, tolerated

The Magyars, under the leadership of Arpad, establish themselves in Hungary

After years of raiding up the Shannon, the Vikings capture Limerick

Toltecs move into the valley of Mexico from the north and establish a capital city at Tula

The Mayan city of Chichén Itzá is captured by the Toltecs

A Muslim dynasty is established at Gao, on the Niger

Turks from Ghazni, raiding into northwest India, renew the pressure of Islam on the subcontinent

Islam reaches Kanem-Bornu, a joint kingdom encompassing the eastern and western shores of Lake Chad

A Muslim dynasty is established at Kilwa, on the east African coast

Berber tribesmen, the Almoravids, establish a base at Marrakech from which they conquer northwest Africa and move into Spain