Around the 9th century, theIgbo people of what is now southernNigeria developed bronze casts ofhumans,animals, andlegendary creatures. These bronzes, which were used as vessels, amulets, pendants, and sacrificial tools, are among the earliest made bronzes ever found in Nigeria. Most items were part of a burial of a nobleman culture in the northern part of theIgboland.
Britain experienced a great influx ofViking peoples in the 9th century as theViking Age continued from the previous century. The kingdoms of theHeptarchy were gradually conquered by the Danes, who set up Anglo-Saxon puppet rulers in each kingdom. This invasion was achieved by a huge military force known as theGreat Heathen Army, which was supposedly led byIvar the Boneless,Halfdan Ragnarsson, andGuthrum. This Danish army first arrived in Britain in865 inEast Anglia. After conquering that kingdom, the army proceeded to capture the city ofYork (Jorvik) and establish the kingdom ofJorvik. The Danes went on to subjugate the kingdom ofNorthumbria and to take all but the western portion ofMercia. The remaining kingdom ofWessex was the only kingdom of theHeptarchy left.Alfred the Great managed to maintain his kingdom ofWessex and push back the Viking incursions, relieving the neighbouring kingdoms from the threat of the Danes following his famous victory over them at theBattle of Ethandun in878. Alfred re-establishedAnglo-Saxon rule over the western half ofMercia, and theDanelaw was established which separatedMercia into halves, the eastern half remaining under the control of the Danes.
Ireland was also affected by the Viking expansion across theNorth Sea. Extensive raids were carried out all along the coast and eventually, permanent settlements were established, such as that ofDublin in841. Particular targets for these raids were the monasteries on the western coast of Ireland, as they provided a rich source for loot. On such raids theVikings set up impermanent camps, which were calledlongphorts by the Irish—this period of Viking raids on the coasts of Ireland has been named the longphort phase after these types of settlements. Ireland in the 9th century was organised into an amalgam of small kingdoms, calledtuatha. These kingdoms were sometimes grouped together and ruled by a single, provincial ruler. If such a ruler could establish and maintain authority over a portion of these tuatha, he was sometimes granted the title ofHigh King.
Scotland also experienced significant Viking incursions during the 9th century. The Vikings established themselves in coastal regions, usually in northern Scotland, and in the northern islands such asOrkney andShetland. The Viking invasion and settlement in Scotland provided a contributing factor in the collapse of the kingdoms of thePicts, who inhabited most of Scotland at the time. Not only were the Pictish realms either destroyed or severely weakened, the Viking invasion and settlements may have been the reason for the movement ofKenneth MacAlpin, the king ofDál Riata at that time. The kingdom ofDál Riata was located on the western coast of Scotland, and Viking incursions destroyed it after the death of its previous king,Áed mac Boanta in 839, according to theAnnals of Ulster. This may have caused the new king, MacAlpin, to move to the east, and conquer the remnants of the Pictish realms. MacAlpin became king of the Picts in 843 and later kings would be titled as theKing of Alba orKing of Scots.
Art in the 9th century was primarily dedicated to the Gospel and employed as basic tools of liturgy of the Roman Orthodox Church. Thousands of golden art objects were made: Sacred cups, vessels, reliquaries, crucifixes, rosaries, altarpieces, and statues of the Virgin and Child or Saints all kept the flame of western art from dying out. Architecture began to revive to some extent in the West by the 9th century, taking the form of Church facilities of all kinds, and the first castle fortifications since Roman times began to take form in simple "moat and bailey" castles, or simple "strong point" tower structures, with little refinement.
Borobudur was likely founded around 800.[5] This corresponds to the period between 760 and 830, the peak of theSailendra dynasty in central Java,[6] when it was under the influence of theSrivijayan Empire. The construction has been estimated to have taken 75 years and been completed during the reign ofSamaratungga in 825.[3][4]
827–902:Aghlabids established emirate (province) inSicily and subsequently raids Southern Italy.
841:Dublin is founded on the east coast of Ireland by theVikings.
842: Samaale becomes chief of the Hashiyah clan and launches the conquest of Somalia. This paves the way for Hashiyic colonisation of the Peninsular, displacing the native Cushitic peoples of Somalia
846: 11,000Saracen Arab squadrons from Africa, with 500 horses, desecrateChristian shrines inRome, including the tombs and basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul.
860:Balaputra, the maharaja ofSuvarnadvipa and the ruler of Srivijaya, constructs the Buddhist temple and monastery inNalandaIndia, on the land given by King Devapaladeva. of Pala in Benggala, according to theNalanda inscription.[9]
895/896: The year of theMagyars arrival inPannonia. This year is widely accepted as the beginning of the Hungarian "Landtaking".
899: King Alfred the Great of Wessex, First King of The English, dies.
900: The oldest text discovered in thePhilippines—an acquittance document inOld Javanese—is inscribed on a copperplate inLuzon. The acquittance took place on 21 April 900[11] and involved several aristocrats and high-ranking officials from kingdoms within the islands of Luzon, Mindanao, and Java. The document is currently called theLaguna copperplate inscription.
^abPaul Michel Munoz (2007).Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Singapore: Didier Millet. p. 143.ISBN978-981-4155-67-0.
^"Succession of the Carolingian Empire, 843 CE".Cmunce.org. Columbia Model United Nations Conference and Exposition. Archived fromthe original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved24 December 2014.The year is 843 C.E., and the Carolingian Empire has reached the peak of its expansion, covering more territory in Western Europe than any other dynasty since the Roman Empire.
