Ancient Asia , each claiming kingship and seeking to unite China under their banner. • (
historicity contested)
Kurukshetra War, also called the
Mahabharata or Bharata War (
dating heavily disputed, ranging from 5561 to around 950 BCE), between the
Pandava and
Kaurava branches of the ruling
Lunar dynasty over the throne at
Hastinapura. It is disputed whether this event actually occurred as narrated in the
Mahabharata. •
Hattusili's Civil War (c. 1267 BC) •
Rebellion of the Three Guards (c. 1042–1039 BCE), after the death of
King Wu of Zhou • (
historicity contested) War of
David against
Ish-bosheth (c. 1007–1005 BCE), after the death of king
Saul of the
united Kingdom of Israel. It is disputed whether this event actually occurred as narrated in the
Hebrew Bible. It allegedly began as a war of
secession, namely of Judah (David) from Israel (Ish-bosheth), but eventually the conflict was about the
succession of Saul in both Israel and Judah • Neo-Assyrian war of succession (826–820 BCE), in anticipation of the death of king
Shalmaneser III of the
Neo-Assyrian Empire (died 824 BCE) between his sons
Assur-danin-pal and
Shamshi-Adad • Jin wars of succession (8th century–376 BCE), a series of wars over control of the Chinese feudal
state of Jin (part of the increasingly powerless
Zhou dynasty) • Jin–Quwo wars (739–678 BCE), dynastic struggles between two branches of Jin's ruling house •
Partition of Jin (c. 481–403 BCE), a series of wars between rival noble families of Jin, who eventually sought to divide the state's territory amongst themselves at the expense of Jin's ruling house. The state was definitively carved up between the successor states of
Zhao,
Wei and
Han in 376 BCE. • Zheng war of succession (701–680 BCE), after the death of
Duke Zhuang of
Zheng •
War of Qi's succession (643–642 BCE), after the death of
Duke Huan of Qi •
(debated) Accession of Darius the Great (522 BCE), after the death of
Cambyses II of the
Achaemenid Empire. Scholars debate how Cambyses II died, and how
Darius the Great got into power, because the sources (such as the
Behistun Inscription,
Ctesias and
Herodotus) contradict each other and are unreliable in certain places. What is clear is that there was some power struggle following the death of Cambyses, possibly involving the assassinations of Cambyses and
Bardiya, and coups d'état, that eventually Darius acceded to the throne, and that he had to quell multiple rebellions against his new reign. •
Persian war of succession (404–401 BCE) ending with the
Battle of Cunaxa, after the death of
Darius II of the
Achaemenid Empire •
Warring States period (c. 403–221 BCE), a series of dynastic interstate and intrastate wars during the
Eastern Zhou dynasty of China over succession and territory • War of the Wei succession (370–367 BCE), after the death of
Marquess Wu of Wei. Featuring the . •
Qin's wars of unification (230–221 BCE), to enforce Qin's claim to succeed the Zhou dynasty (which during the
Western Zhou period ruled all the Chinese states), Qin ended in 256 BCE •
Wars of the Diadochi or Wars of Alexander's Successors (323–277 BCE), after the death of king
Alexander the Great of
Macedon • Bithynian war of succession (255–254 BCE), after the death of king
Nicomedes I of Bithynia •
Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BCE), after the surrender and death of emperor
Ziying of the
Qin dynasty; the rival rebel leaders
Liu Bang and
Xiang Yu sought to set up their own new dynasties •
Lü Clan Disturbance (180 BCE), after the death of
Empress Lü of the
Han dynasty ravaged the once great
Seleucid Empire, and contributed to its fall. •
Seleucid Dynastic Wars (157–63 BCE), a series of wars of succession that were fought between competing branches of the Seleucid Royal household for control of the
Seleucid Empire •
(uncertain) Bactrian war of succession (c. 145–130 BCE), after the assassination of king
Eucratides I of the
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, between his sons
Eucratides II,
Heliocles I and
Plato •
Third Mithridatic War (73–63 BCE), after the death of king
Nicomedes IV of Bithynia between the
Roman Republic and the
Kingdom of Pontus •
Hasmonean Civil War (67–63 BCE), after the death of queen
Salome Alexandra of
Hasmonean Judea between her sons
Aristobulus II and
Hyrcanus II •
Red Eyebrows and
Lulin Rebellions (17–23 CE), revolts against
Xin dynasty emperor
Wang Mang to restore the
Han dynasty; both rebel armies had their own candidates, however •
Han civil war (23–36),
Liu Xiu's campaigns against pretenders and regional warlords who opposed the rule of the
Gengshi Emperor (23–25) and his own rule (since 25) • Second
Red Eyebrows Rebellion (23–27), after the death of
Wang Mang, against the
Gengshi Emperor, the Lulin rebel candidate to succeed Wang Mang •
War of the Armenian Succession (54–66), caused by the death of Roman emperor
Claudius, after which the rival pretender
Tiridates was installed by king
Vologases I of Parthia, unacceptable to new emperor
Nero • Parthian wars of succession between
Vologases III,
Osroes I,
Parthamaspates,
Mithridates V and
Vologases IV (105–147), after the death of king
Pacorus II of Parthia •
Trajan's Parthian campaign (115–117), the intervention of the Roman emperor
Trajan in favour of Parthamaspates • Chalukya war of succession (c. 609), after the death of king
Mangalesha of the
Chalukya dynasty •
Transition from Sui to Tang (613–628): with several rebellions against his rule going on,
Emperor Yang of Sui was assassinated in 618 by rebel leader
Yuwen Huaji, who put Emperor Yang's nephew
Yang Hao on the throne as puppet emperor, while rebel leader
Li Yuan, who had previously made Emperor Yang's grandson
Yang You his puppet emperor, forced the latter to abdicate and proclaimed himself emperor, as several other rebel leaders had also done. •
Xuanwu Gate Incident (626): with Prince
Li Shimin and his followers assassinating his brothers Crown Prince
Li Jiancheng and Prince
Li Yuanji. About two months later,
Li Yuan (Emperor Gaozu of Tang) abdicated and passed the throne to Li Shimin, who would become known as Emperor Taizong of Tang. •
Sasanian civil war of 628–632 or Sasanian Interregnum, after the execution of shahanshah
Khosrow II of the Sasanian Empire and
Aisha at the
Battle of the Camel. Originally a political conflict on the
Succession to Muhammad, the
First Fitna became the basis of the religious split between
Sunni Islam and
Shia Islam. • The historical
Fitnas in
Islam: •
First Fitna (656–661), after the assassination of caliph
Uthman of the
Rashidun Caliphate between the
Umayyads and Ali's followers (Shiites) •
Second Fitna (680–692; in strict sense 683–685), after the death of caliph
Mu'awiya I of the
Umayyad Caliphate between Umayyads, Zubayrids and Alids (Shiites) •
Third Fitna (744–750/752): a series of civil wars within and rebellions against the
Umayyad Caliphate, starting with the assassination of caliph
Al-Walid II, and ending with the
Abbasid Revolution •
Fourth Fitna (811–813): under the reign of the caliph
Muhammad Al-Amin of the
Abbasid Caliphate •
Fifth Fitna (865–866); after the death of
Al-Muntasir of the Abbasid Caliphate. • War of the Goguryeo succession (666–668), after the death of military dictator
Yŏn Kaesomun of
Goguryeo, see
Goguryeo–Tang War (645–668) •
Jinshin War (672), after the death of
emperor Tenji of
Yamato (Japan) •
Twenty Years' Anarchy (695–717), after the deposition of emperor
Justinian II of the
Byzantine Empire •
Abbasid war of succession (754), after the death of the first
Abbasid caliph As-Saffah. Decisive battle at
Nisibis in November 754. • Rashtrakuta war of succession (c. 793), after the death of emperor
Dhruva Dharavarsha of the
Rashtrakuta dynasty •
Era of Fragmentation (842–1253), after the assassination of emperor
Langdarma of the
Tibetan Empire •
Anarchy at Samarra (861–870), after the
assassination of caliph
Al-Mutawakkil of the
Abbasid Caliphate •
Abbasid civil war or Fifth Fitna (865–866), after the death of caliph
Al-Muntasir of the
Abbasid Caliphate •
Later Three Kingdoms of Korea (892–936), began when two rebel leaders, claiming to be heirs of the former kings of
Baekje and
Goguryeo, revolted against the reign of Queen
Jinseong of Silla •
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–979), after the deposition (and 908) murder of
emperor Ai of Tang,
ending the Tang dynasty. Subsequent decades witnessed widespread warfare between various warlords who claimed to have succeeded or restored the Tang dynasty. • Pratihara war of succession (c. 910–913), after the death of king
Mahendrapala I of the
Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty • (947)
after the death of Emperor Taizong of Liao (
Liao dynasty) •
Buyid war of succession (949–979), after the death of emir
Imad al-Dawla of the
Buyid dynasty •
Anarchy of the 12 Warlords (966–968), after the death of King
Ngô Quyền of Vietnam • Samanid war of succession (961–962), after the death of emir
Abd al-Malik I of the
Samanid Empire between his brother
Mansur (supported by Fa'iq) and his son Nasr (supported by
Alp-Tegin). Alp-Tegin lost, but managed to establish an autonomous governorship in
Ghazni, where his son-in-law
Sabuktigin founded the
Ghaznavid dynasty in 977. •
Buyid war of succession (983–998), after the death of emir
'Adud al-Dawla of the
Buyid dynasty •
Afghan War of Succession (997–998), after the death of emir
Sabuktigin of the
Ghaznavids • Khmer war of succession (c. 1001–1006/11), after the death of king
Jayavarman V of the
Khmer Empire between
Udayadityavarman I (r. 1001–1002),
Suryavarman I (r. 1002/6–1050) and
Jayavirahvarman (r. 1002–1010/11) • Afghan war of succession (1030), after the death of Sultan
Mahmud of Ghazni • Afghan War of Succession (1041), after the death of sultan
Mas'ud I of Ghazni •
Seljuk war of succession (1063), after the death of Sultan
Tughril, founder of the
Seljuk Empire •
Seljuk war of succession (1072–1073), after the death of sultan
Alp Arslan of the
Seljuk Empire. Decided at the
Battle of Kerj Abu Dulaf. •
Seljuk War of Succession (1092–1105), after the death of Sultan
Malik Shah I of the
Seljuk Empire • Seljuk war of succession in Iraq (1131–1134?), after the death of
Mahmud II, the Seljuk sultan of Baghdad •
Seljuk war of succession in Iraq and Persia (1152–1159), after the death of
Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud, the Seljuk sultan of Baghdad and Hamadan •
Hōgen Rebellion (1156),
Heiji Rebellion (1160) and
Genpei War (1180–1185), after the death of
emperor Konoe of Japan, between clans over control of the imperial family •
Pandyan Civil War (1169–1177): king
Parakrama Pandyan I and his son
Vira Pandyan III against Kulasekhara Pandya of Chola •
War of the Antiochene Succession (1201–1219), after the death of Prince
Bohemond III of Antioch •
Cilician war of succession ( 1219–1221), after the death of king
Leo I of Armenian Cilicia •
War of the Lombards (1228–1243), after the death of Queen
Isabella II of Jerusalem and Cyprus • Ayyubid war of succession (1238–1249), after the death of Sultan
Al-Kamil of the
Ayyubid dynasty •
Toluid Civil War (1260–1264), after the death of great khan
Möngke Khan of the
Mongol Empire between
Ariq Böke and
Kublai Khan •
Berke–Hulagu war (1262), a proxy war of the Toluid Civil War;
Hulagu supported
Kublai,
Berke supported
Ariq Böke. •
Kaidu–Kublai war (1268–1301/4), continuation of the Toluid Civil War caused by
Kaidu's refusal to recognise
Kublai Khan as the new great khan • Chagatai wars of succession (1307–1331), after the death of khan
Duwa of the
Chagatai Khanate • War between
Taliqu and
Kebek (1308–1309?), after the death of khan
Könchek of the Chagatai Khanate •
Pandya Fratricidal War (c. 1310–?), after the death of king
Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I of the
Pandya dynasty • Golden Horde war of succession (1312–1320?), after the death of khan
Toqta of the
Golden Horde •
War of the Two Capitals (1328–1332), after the death of emperor
Yesün Temür of the
Yuan dynasty •
Disintegration of the Ilkhanate (1335–1353), after the death of il-khan
Abu Sa'id of the
Ilkhanate • Chagatai wars of succession (1334–1347), after the deposition and killing of khan
Tarmashirin of the
Chagatai Khanate. As a result, the Chagatai Khanate effectively split into
Transoxania in the west, and
Moghulistan in the east. •
Nanboku-chō period or Japanese War of Succession (1336–1392), after the ousting and death of
emperor Go-Daigo of Japan •
Trapezuntine Civil War (1340–1349), after the death of emperor
Basil of Trebizond •
Tughlugh Timur's invasions of Transoxania (1360–1361), after the assassination of
Amir Qazaghan of
Transoxania • Ottoman war of succession (1362), after the death of sultan
Orhan between şehzade (prince)
Murad I, şehzade Ibrahim Bey (1316–1362; governor of
Eskişehir) and
şehzade Halil. Murad won and executed his half-brothers Ibrahim and Halil, the first recorded instance of
Ottoman royal fratricide. •
Forty Years' War (1368–1408) after the death of king
Thado Minbya of
Ava; the war raged within and between the Burmese kingdoms of Ava and Pegu as the successors of the
Pagan Kingdom • Tran war of succession (1369–1390), after the death of king
Trần Dụ Tông of the
Trần dynasty • Delhi war of succession (1394–1397), after the death of Sultan
Ala ud-din Sikandar Shah of the
Tughlaq dynasty (
Delhi Sultanate) • (1398–1400), after king
Taejo of Joseon appointed
his eighth son as his successor instead of
his disgruntled fifth, who rebelled when he learnt that his half-brother was conspiring to kill him (see also
History of the Joseon dynasty § Early strife) •
Jingnan Rebellion (1399–1402), after the death of the
Hongwu Emperor of the
Ming dynasty •
Regreg War (1404–1406), resulting from succession disputes after the death (1389) of king
Hayam Wuruk of the
Majapahit Empire •
Timurid wars of succession (1405–1507): •
First Timurid war of succession (1405–1409/11), after the death of Amir
Timur of the
Timurid Empire • Second Timurid war of succession (1447–1459), after the death of sultan
Shah Rukh of the Timurid Empire • Ottoman war of succession (1421–1422/30), after the death of sultan
Mehmed I of the
Ottoman Empire between his younger brother
Mustafa Çelebi, his oldest son
Murad II, and his second-oldest son
Küçük Mustafa • During the
Siege of Thessalonica (1422–1430), a Turkish pretender (known as "Pseudo-Mustafa") claiming to be Mustafa Çelebi was supported by the Byzantines •
Gaoxu rebellion (1425), after the death of the
Hongxi Emperor of the Chinese
Ming dynasty • (July–September 1441), after the assassination of shogun
Ashikaga Yoshinori of Japan. Not to be confused with the
Kakitsu uprising that happened simultaneously. • (1453), after the death of king
Shō Kinpuku of the
Ryukyu Kingdom, between the king's son Shiro (志魯, also
Shiru, Chinese
Shilu) and his younger brother Furi (布里, also
Buri, Chinese
Buli). •
Sengoku period (c. 1467–1601) in Japan •
Ōnin War (1467–1477), after the 1464 abdication of
Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan in favour of
Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado, as well as the
imminent succession of shōgun
Ashikaga Yoshimasa of Japan • Aq Qoyunlu war(s) of succession (1470s–1501), after the death of shahanshah
Uzun Hasan of the
Aq Qoyunlu state
Early Modern Asia were often overthrown by their sons, who then fought to the death against each other (
takht ya takhta). defected to the British during the
Battle of Plassey, being made the new nawab of Bengal as a reward. • Khandesh war of succession (1508–1509), after the death of Sultan Ghazni Khan of the
Farooqi dynasty (Sultanate of
Khandesh) •
Trần Cao rebellion (1516–1521), after the deposition of emperor
Lê Tương Dực of the
Lê dynasty of
Đại Việt by the spring of 1516 military coup • Northern Yuan war of succession (1517–15??), after the death of khagan
Dayan Khan of the
Northern Yuan dynasty •
Negara Daha war of succession (c. 1520), between
Suriansyah of Banjar (alias Prince Samudera) and his uncle •
Crisis of the Sixteenth Century (1521–1597), after the overthrow and murder of king
Vijayabahu VI of
Kotte during the
Vijayabā Kollaya. The three sons of his first wife had conspired to kill him to prevent his designated heir, their stepbrother from his second wife, to ascend to the throne. Although they managed to kill their father, they soon began fighting each other over the division of the kingdom of Kotte into three parts. At the same time, the
Kingdom of Kandy seized the opportunity to reassert its independence. The Portuguese began intervening in the war in the 1540s in pursuit of commercial concessions and ultimately inherited the reunited Kingdom of Kotte (excluding Kandy) in 1597. • Gujarati war of succession (1526–1527), after the death of sultan
Muzaffar Shah II of the
Gujarat Sultanate •
Lê–Mạc War (1527/33–1592), after the deposition and execution of puppet-emperor
Lê Cung Hoàng by general
Mạc Đăng Dung, who proclaimed himself the emperor of his own new
Mạc dynasty.
Lê dynasty loyalists revolted, and in 1533 enthroned
Lê Trang Tông. • (1536), after the death of daimyo
Imagawa Ujiteru of the
Imagawa clan (controlling the
Suruga Province of Japan) • Mughal war of succession (1540–1552), between the brothers
Humayun and
Kamran Mirza about the succession of their already 10 years earlier deceased father, emperor
Babur of the Mughal Empire •
Burmese–Siamese War (1547–1549), after the death of king
Chairachathirat of
Ayutthaya, followed by a
succession crisis involving two coups and royal assassinations of kings
Yotfa and
Worawongsathirat • Safavid war of succession (1576–1578), after the death of Shah
Tahmasp I of Persia • Mughal war of succession (1601–1605), in advance of the death of emperor
Akbar of the Mughal Empire • Siamese war of succession (1610–1611), after the death (murder?) of king
Ekathotsarot of the
Ayutthaya Kingdom •
Karnataka war of succession (1614–1617), after the death of emperor
Venkatapati Raya of the
Vijayanagara Empire •
Jaffna war of succession (1617–1621; last phase of the
Portuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom), after the death of king
Ethirimana Cinkam (Parasasekaran VIII) of the
Jaffna Kingdom • Mughal war of succession (1627–1628), after the death of emperor
Nuruddin Salim Jahangir of the Mughal Empire • Siamese war of succession (1628–1629), after the death of King
Songtham of the
Ayutthaya Kingdom •
Mataram war of succession (1645–1648), after the sudden death of
Sultan Agung of Mataram. To prevent succession disputes from challenging his legitimacy, Agung's son Amangkurat I (crowned with heavy military security in 1646) launched many pre-emptive strikes (assassinations, massacres and battles) to eliminate potential rivals to the throne, including many noblemen and military leaders such as Tumenggung Wiraguna and his whole family (1647). This led his younger brother, Prince Alit (patron of the Wiraguna family), to attempt to overthrow him by attacking the royal palace with the support of Islamic clerics (ulema) and devout Muslims in 1648. Still, they were defeated, and Alit was slain in battle. Two days later, Amangkurat I committed a
Massacre of the ulema and their families (about 5,000–6,000 people) to secure his reign. •
Mughal war of succession (1657–1661), after grave illness of emperor
Shah Jahan of the Mughal Empire. •
Mughal war of succession (1707–1709), after the death of emperor
Aurangzeb of the Mughal Empire • Mughal war of succession (1712–1720), after the death of emperor
Bahadur Shah I of the Mughal Empire •
Marava War of Succession (1720–1729), after the death of Raja
Raghunatha Kilavan of the
Ramnad estate •
Persian or Iranian Wars of Succession (1725–1796) • Safavid war of succession (1725–1729), after a
Hotak invasion and the imprisonment of Shah
Sultan Husayn of
Safavid Persia • Afsharid war of succession (1747–1757), after the death of Shah
Nadir Shah of
Afsharid Persia • Zand War of Succession (1779–1796), after the death of
Karim Khan of
Zand Persia •
Carnatic Wars (1744–1763), territorial and succession wars between several local, nominally independent princes in the
Carnatic, in which the
British East India Company and
French East India Company mingled •
First Carnatic War (1744–1748), part of the
War of the Austrian Succession between, amongst others, France on the one hand, and Britain on the other •
Second Carnatic War (1749–1754), about the succession of both the
nizam of Hyderabad and the
nawab of Arcot •
Third Carnatic War (
nl) (1756–1763), after the death of nawab
Alivardi Khan of
Bengal; part of the global
Seven Years' War between amongst others France on the one hand and Britain on the other • Maratha war of succession (1749–1752), after the death of Maharaja
Shahu I of the
Maratha Empire •
Burmese war of succession (1760–1762), after the death of king
Alaungpaya of the
Konbaung dynasty •
War of the Sumbawan Succession (1761/2–1765), after the deposition of sultana I Sugiratu Karaeng Bontoparang (alias , the wife of sultan , who died in 1758) of the . The war raged between the newly council-elected sultan Hasan al-Din (alias Hasanuddin, the Datu of Jarewe) and the council chief the Nene Rangan on the one hand (later supported by Balinese troops from Lombok), and (the Datu of Taliwang) and Mille Ropia on the other hand (later supported by
Dutch East India Company (VOC) forces). The VOC defeated and captured Hasan al-Din and installed Jalaluddin as the new sultan in February 1764, but upon gathering more information decided that Hasan al-Din was the rightful sultan after all, and reinstalled him. •
Anglo-Maratha Wars (1775–1819): wars of succession between
peshwas, in which the British intervened, and conquered the
Maratha Empire •
First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782), after the death of peshwa
Madhavrao I; pretender
Raghunath Rao invoked British help, but lost •
Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805), pretender
Baji Rao II, son of Raghunath Rao, triumphed with British help and became peshwa, but had to surrender much power and territory to the British •
Third Anglo-Maratha War, also Pindari War (1816–1819), peshwa Baji Rao II revolted against the British in vain; the Maratha Empire was annexed . • Banjarmasin war of succession (1785–1787), after the death of Sultan Tahhmid Illah I of the
Sultanate of Banjar(masin). The
Dutch East India Company (VOC) intervened in 1786 in favour of Pangeran Nat(t)a (known by many other names), and upon victory he had to cede part of his territory to the VOC. • Kurnool war of succession (1792–?), after the death of nawab Ranmust Khan of
Kurnool between his sons Azim Khan (supported by the Nizam of Hyderabad) and Alif Khan (supported by the Sultan of Mysore)
Modern Asia •
Afghan Wars of Succession (1793–1834?), after the death of emir
Timur Shah Durrani of Afghanistan •
First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842), British–Indian invasion of Afghanistan under the pretext of restoring the deposed emir
Shah Shujah Durrani •
Pahang Civil War (1857–1863), after the death of Raja
Tun Ali of Pahang •
Later Afghan War of Succession (1865–1870), after the death of emir
Dost Mohammed Khan of Afghanistan • The
Dutch East Indies Army's
1859–1860 Bone Expeditions dealt with a war of succession in the
Sulawesi kingdom of
Bone • In the
Second Bone War (1858–1860), the Dutch supported pretender Ahmad Sinkkaru' Rukka against queen Besse Arung Kajuara after the death of her husband, king Aru Pugi • The
Banjarmasin War (1859–1863), after the death of Sultan Adam. The Dutch supported pretender Tamjid Illah against pretender
Hidayat Ullah; the latter surrendered in 1862. •
Third and Fourth Larut Wars (1871–1874), after the death of Sultan Ali (r. 1865–1871) of
Perak •
Nauruan Civil War (1878–1888), after the crown chief was fatally shot during a heated discussion, shattering the existing federation of tribes and triggering a war between two tribal factions == Europe ==