16th century BC
← 17th century BC 15th century BC →
What happened around the world
Asia
- c. 1500 BC Composition of the Rigveda — Hymns to the gods become Hinduism's oldest text
- c. 1500 BC Earliest domestic chickens — Rice and millet fields lure jungle fowl into human company
Oceania
- c. 1500 BC Emergence of the Lapita culture — Pottery-making seafarers set out to settle Oceania
Who ruled
- China: dynasties
- Shang 1600 BC – 1046 BC