Important Dates (dates CE unless otherwise indicated)

Unit One

• 651 CE: fall of Sasanian Empire (Zoroastrians) to Arabs (Muslims)
• 1200 BCE: approximate start of 450-year power vacuum in eastern Mediterranean region, resulting in rise of Israel, Judah, and other small states
• ca. 800 BCE - ca. 200 BCE: Axial Age
• 586 BCE: destruction of first Jewish temple in Jerusalem
• 70 CE: destruction of second Jewish temple in Jerusalem
• 1492: Jews expelled from Spain
• 30 CE: approximate date of Jesus' death in Jerusalem (and resurrection, according to his followers)
• 313: Edict of Milan, making Christianity a legal religion in the Roman Empire
• 1054: Great Schism between Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church
• 1517: start of Protestant Reformation
• 622: Hijra of Muhammad and his followers to Medina; Year 1 in Muslim calendar
• 680: martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali at Battle of Karbala
• 1453: Ottoman Turks (Muslims) capture Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire (Christian)
• 1492: Granada, last Muslim stronghold in Al-Andalus (Iberian Peninsula), captured by Christians

Unit Two: Instead of specific dates, for Unit Two you should know the order in which important developments within a single religious tradition occur.

• Bahai: the Bab, Bahaullah
• Jainism: Parshva, Mahavira
• Buddhism: Siddhartha Gautama, Great Schism, Zen, 14th Dalai Lama
• Hinduism: Rig Veda, sramana movement, Bhagavad Gita, bhakti traditions
• Sikhism: Guru Nanak, Gugu Gobindh Singh, Guru Granth Sahib
• Chinese religions (general): Shang dynasty, beginning of Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Period, Han dynasty
• Confucianism: Confucius, Mengzi, Zhu Xi
• Daoism: Laozi, Zhuangzi