This article is about the specific polity Median Empire and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
Was a polity in the Middle East that at its maximal extent spanned from eastern Anatolia to Pakistan. The Medes were conquered by the Achaemenids in 550 BC.
Establishment
January 849 BC: Drangiana was subdued by another Iranian people, the Medes.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Was a war between the Neo-Assyrian Empire and the Median Kingdom, an Assyrian vassal that started a military campaign of expansion under King Pharaortes.
1.1.Conquest of Parthia and Persia
Median King Pharaortes subjugated the Persians and Parthians while still a vassal of the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, and began to conquer other nations of Ancient Iran.
January 659 BC: Pharaortes subjugated the Persians and Parthians while still a vassal of the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, and began to conquer other nations of Ancient Iran.
1.2.Defeat of Media
Median King Pharaortes started a war with Assyria but was defeated and killed by Ashurbanipal, the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
January 652 BC: Phraortes started wars against Assyria, but was defeated and killed by Ashurbanipal, the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. According to Herodotus, Phraortes died in the attack on Assyria, losing the decisive battle against the Scythians, who were allied with the Ayysrians. After this defeat, Medien is said to have fallen under Scythian rule for 28 years.
Military campaign of Median king Cyaxares.
January 624 BC: Cyaxares II, the king of the Median Empire, ended the Scythian rule in Western and Eastern Iran in -625. This marked the restoration of Median control over the territory, consolidating their power in the region.
January 613 BC: In the year 614 B.C. the Medes smashed the kingdom of Assyria in an alliance with Babylonia and destroyed the city of Assur, 612 B.C. the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh also fell.
January 611 BC: It is unclear when Manna arose in the Meded Empire. Assyria fellin - 610, Urartu (Tušpa) around -590.
January 611 BC: Elam, already largely destroyed and subjugated by Assyria, thus became easy prey for the Median dominated Iranian peoples, and was incorporated into the Median Empire.
January 599 BC: Parsua was an ancient tribal kingdom/chiefdom located between Zamua (formerly: Lullubi) and Ellipi. In -600, the territory of Parsua was absorbed into the expanding Median Empire, led by King Cyaxares.
2.1.Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire
Was a war fought between Media and Babylon against the Neo-Assyrian Empire that led to the fall of the latter.
December 615 BC: In October or November 615 BC, the Medes, led by King Cyaxares, invaded Assyria and conquered the region around the city of Arrapha. This marked a significant victory for the Median Empire in their expansion efforts in the region.
January 614 BC: In the year 614 BC the Median Empire defeated Sinsharishkun at the Battle of Tarbisu.
2.1.1.Fall of Assur
The Fall of Assur occurred when the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire fell to Median led forces.
January 613 BC: The Fall of Assur in -614 marked the end of the Neo-Assyrian Empire as the city was conquered by the Median Empire led by King Cyaxares. Assur was a significant city in the Assyrian Empire, serving as its first capital and a major cultural and religious center.
Was a war between the ancient Kingdom of Lydia and the Confederation of the Medes.
January 584 BC: During the main battle on May 28, 585 BC there was a solar eclipse. In superstitious fear, the warriors of both sides stopped the battle, and the kings hastened to make peace, and the Galis River was recognized as the border of both kingdoms. As a result, Media annexed Cappadocia .
Were a series of expansionistic military campaigns by the first Achaemenid ruler Cyrus the Great.
January 549 BC: Carmania was conquered by Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire, in the 6th century BC.
A revolt led by the first Achaemenid ruler Cyrus the Great in which the province of ancient Persis, which had been under Median rule, declared its independence and fought a successful revolution, separating from the Median Empire.
January 549 BC: Cyrus the Great declared the independence of the province of ancient Persis from the Median Empire and established the Achaemenid Empire.
January 549 BC: In 553 BC the Median nobility allied themselves with the Persians, which led to the end of the rule of the Medes in 550 BC. The Medes Confederation was subdued by Cyrus II.
January 714 BC: Cyaxares I was the king of the Median Empire and is considered the founder of a larger confederation in Western Iran. He resided in the capital city of Ekbatana, which was an important political and cultural center during his reign in -715.
January 686 BC: The Kabul valley, located in present-day Afghanistan, was under the rule of the Median Empire, which was a powerful ancient Iranian civilization. The Median Empire was founded by King Deioces and later ruled by King Cyaxares.
January 652 BC: Scythian domination on Media.
January 599 BC: The Kingdom of Kapisa was a state located in what is now Afghanistan during the late 1st millennium AD.
May 585 BC: The war between the Lydians and the Medes was ended in -585 when a solar eclipse, predicted by Thales of Miletus, occurred on May 28. The event was so terrifying to both sides that they quickly made peace up to the border with Lydia, with the territory going to the Median Empire.
January 559 BC: Greek colony established by Phokaia or Miletos 560 BC.
Disestablishment
January 549 BC: Carmania was conquered by Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire, in the 6th century BC.
January 549 BC: Cyrus the Great declared the independence of the province of ancient Persis from the Median Empire and established the Achaemenid Empire.
January 549 BC: In 553 BC the Median nobility allied themselves with the Persians, which led to the end of the rule of the Medes in 550 BC. The Medes Confederation was subdued by Cyrus II.
Selected Sources
Hansen, M. G. / Nielsen, T. H. (2004): An inventory of archaic and classic polities, Oxford University Press, p. 1394
Median Empire
