The Sengoku period, meaning the age of warring states, was a time of almost continuous civil war in Japan. It began with the Onin War, which wrecked Kyoto and left the shogunate of the Ashikaga family without real authority, so that regional warlords, the daimyo, fought each other for land and power. It saw great social change, as strong vassals overthrew their lords, and castle towns and trade grew up. The arrival of Portuguese traders in the 1540s brought firearms and Christianity to the country. Three men, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, brought the country together step by step, and Tokugawa established a long peace with his shogunate.
Before and after
- from 1464 to 1591Songhai Empire
- 15 May 1464Battle of Hexham
- 28 October 1466Birth of Erasmus
- 13 December 1466Death of Donatello
- from 1467 to 1590Sengoku period
- 1468Death of Johannes Gutenberg
- c. 1469Birth of Vasco da Gama
- 1469Origins of Sikhism
- 15 April 1469Birth of Guru Nanak
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- 537 CEConstruction of Hagia Sophia
- 778 CEConstruction of Kiyomizu-dera
- 802 CEConstruction of Angkor Wat
- from 29 July 1299 to 17 November 1922Ottoman Empire
- 1373Construction of Leaning Tower of Pisa
- 1460Construction of Topkapı Palace
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 15th century.