Alcuin upholds the orthodox doctrine at the…

Japanese emperor Kammu, irritated at Buddhist priestly intrusion into state affairs, decides, in 794, to move the capital from Nara to …

…Heian-kyo (in the center of the present-day city of Kyoto).

Reasons cited for this move include frequent flooding of the rivers that had promised better transportation; disease caused by the flooding, affecting the empress and crown prince; and fear of the spirit of the late Prince Sawara.

The kingdom of Nan Zhao allies with China in about 794 in their long war against the Tibetans.

Cosmas of Maiuma, a renowned hymn writer, dies in 773 or 794 in great old age, leaving a number of “kanons.”

Umayyad Raids Against the Kingdom of Asturias (794 CE)

In 794 CE, the Umayyad generals Abd al-Malik and Abd al-Karim ibn Abd al-Wàhid ibn Mughith, acting under Emir Hisham I, launch a series of annual campaigns against the northern Christian kingdoms, targeting Álava, Old Castile, and Asturias.

That same year, they penetrate deep into Asturias, reaching its capital, Oviedo, which they sack. King Alfonso II of Asturias is forced to flee, prompting him to initiate diplomatic contacts with Charlemagne, seeking Frankish support against the Muslim threat.

Objectives of the Raids

Rather than aiming to annihilate the northern Christian kingdoms, these Umayyad expeditions serve multiple strategic purposes:

• Plundering northern Christian territories,
• Reasserting Cordovan military dominance,
• Deterring rebellious Andalusian garrisons and lords prone to breaking away, and
• Undermining the strength of the Kingdom of Asturias and the Basques.

These raids reinforce Umayyad authority in Al-Andalus, demonstrating the military reach of Córdoba while ensuring that neither internal nor external enemies challenge its dominance unopposed.

Offa has extended Mercia's power over Kent and Sussex, defeated King Cynewulf of Wessex, and married off his daughters to the kings of Northumbria and Wessex.

During the late seventh and eighth centuries, East Anglia had continued to be overshadowed by Mercian hegemony until, in 794, Offa of Mercia has the East Anglian king Æthelberht beheaded and takes control of the kingdom for himself.

The golden age of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey begins to draw to a close in the late eighth century, as Northumbrian monasteries become vulnerable to Viking raids, with Monkwearmouth-Jarrow itself being attacked in 794.

The Frankish forces have from 791 warred against the Avars, who control the central Danube valley.

Charles, unsuccessful in tracking down and crushing the enemy after four years of campaigning, returns to his base at Regensburg to strengthen his forces on the eastern frontier.

The Pratihara holdings in Gujarat have declined under the two successors of Nagabhata I as the Rashtrakutras deal them a succession of military defeats and nibble away at their territory.

Malik ibn-Arias dies in Medina in 795, having produced the first legal digest of the Sharia.