K xxx Encyclopedia of Hinduismc. 850
¶ Birth of Manikkavacakar, Tamil Shaivite saint.c. 880
¶ Birth of Nammalvar (c. 880–930), greatest of
Alvar saints. His poems shape beliefs of south-
ern Vaishnavites to the present day.c. 900
¶ Birth of Matsyendranatha, exponent of the Nath
sect emphasizing kundalini yoga practices.950
¶ Birth of Kashmiri Shaivite guru Abhinavagupta
(950–1015).960
¶ Chola king Vira, after having a vision of Shiva
Nataraja, commences enlargement of the Shiva
temple at Chidambaram, completed in 1250
c.e.1001
¶ Turkish Muslims invade Afghanistan and the
Punjab, the first major Muslim conquest in
India.c. 1010
¶ Tirumurai, Tamil devotional hymns of Shaivite
saints, is collected as an anthology by Nambian-
dar Nambi.1025
¶ Chola ruler Rajendra I sends victorious naval
expeditions to Burma, Malaysia, and Indonesia.1077
¶ Birth of Ramanuja (1077–1157) of Kanchi-
puram, Tamil philosopher-saint of Sri Vaish-
navite sect.1106
¶ Birth of Basavanna (1106–1167), founder and
guru of the Virashaiva sect.c. 1130
¶ Birth of Nimbarka (c.1130–1200), Vaishnavite
teacher of Vedanta. Birth of Sekkilar, author
of Periya Puranam, epic hagiography of the 63
Tamil Shaivite saints.c. 1150
¶ Khmer ruler completes Angkor Wat temple
(in present-day Cambodia), the largest Hindu
temple in Asia.1197
¶ Birth of Ananda Tirtha Madhva (1197–1276),
venerable Vaishnavite dualist philosopher.c.1200
¶ Birth of Gorakhnath, famous Nath yogi.
¶ All of North India is now under Muslim
domination.1230 to 1260
¶ Temple to the Sun (Surya) is constructed at
Konarak, Orissa.c. 1300
¶ Birth of Lalleshvari (c. 1300–1372)^ of Kashmir,
Shaivite renunciant and mystic poet. She con-
tributes significantly to the Kashmiri language.1336
¶ Vijayanagara empire (1336–1646) of South
India is founded.1398/9
¶ Tamerlane (Timur) invades India with 90,000
cavalry and sacks Delhi (1398) and Haridvar, a
Ganges pilgrimage town (1399).i-xL-hindu-fm.indd xxx 12/14/06 1:02:39 AM