1021 CE
On one of his habitual night rides in the outskirts of Cairo, the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah disappears, most likely assassinated by disaffected palace factions, apparently involving his sister, Sitt al-Mulk. On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of al-Hakim, kept secret for six weeks, is announced, along with the succession of his son, al-Zahir li-i'zaz Din Allah. On the same day, al-Hakim's designated heir, Abd al-Rahim ibn Ilyas, is arrested in Damascus and brought to Egypt. The last evidence of indigenous Christian and non-Arabophone culture in Tripolitania (modern Libya) is seen.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
- Abd al-Aziz al-Mansur, a grandson of the prominent Andalusian figure Almanzor begins his rule in Taifa of Valencia, a Moorish kingdom in Al-Andalus (modern Spain), ushering in a period of relative stability and prosperity that will last until 1061. Taifa of Valencia gained its independence from the Caliphate of Córdoba in 1010.source
Conflict & Security
- November – Emperor Henry II conducts his fourth Italian military campaign. He crosses the Brenner Pass with a 60,000-strong army, and reaches Verona, where he receives Lombard levies. Henry proceeds to Mantua and then into Ravenna, to spend Christmas there.source
- Emperor Rajendra Chola I extends his influence of the Chola Empire to the banks of the Ganges River (North India) and invades Bengal.source
- Battle of Shirimni, the Byzantine Empire under Basil II defeats the Kingdom of Georgia under Giorgi I at Shirimni, at the Lake Palakazio, modern Lake Çıldır, Turkeysource
- Hovhannes-Smbat III, King of the Armenian kingdom of Ani, is attacked by his younger brother Ashot IV, and loses much power to him, becoming concurrent king of outlying territories.source
- Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni appoints Malik Ayaz to the throne, making Lahore (modern Pakistan) the capital of the Ghaznavid Empire.source
- Senekerim-Hovhannes Artsruni, Armenian king of Vaspurakan, surrenders his kingdom to the Byzantine Empire. In return, he receives Sebasteia and becomes governor of Cappadocia.source
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
- February 13 – On one of his habitual night rides in the outskirts of Cairo, the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah disappears, most likely assassinated by disaffected palace factions, apparently involving his sister, Sitt al-Mulk.source
Health & Medicine
- The Chinese capital city of Kaifeng has some half a million residents by this year. Including all those present in the nine designated suburbs, the population is over a million people.source
Births
Deaths
- February 13 – Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, Fatimid caliph (b. 985)source
- March 5 – Arnulf, French archbishop and illegitimate son of Lothair IIIsource
- March 16 – Heribert, archbishop of Cologne (b. c. 970)source
- March 26 – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of al-Hakim, kept secret for six weeks, is announced, along with the succession of his son, al-Zahir li-i'zaz Din Allah. On the same day, al-Hakim's designated heir, Abd al-Rahim ibn Ilyas, is arrested in Damascus and brought to Egypt.source
- July 7 – Fujiwara no Akimitsu, Japanese bureaucrat (b. 944)source
- August 17 – Erkanbald, German abbot and archbishopsource
- August 29 – Minamoto no Yorimitsu, Japanese nobleman (b. 948)source
- Hamza ibn 'Ali ibn-Ahmad, founding leader of the Druzesource
- Shams al-Dawla, Buyid emir of Hamadan (Iran)source
- Mac Cú Ceanain, king of Uí Díarmata (Ireland)source
- Liu Mei, Chinese official and general (approximate date)source
- Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani, Fatimid scholar and philosophersource
- Trilochanapala, king of the Kabul Shani dynastysource
- Fujiwara no Yoshikane, Japanese nobleman (b. 957)source