Born ThenLife in the 10th century
Be born somewhere between 900 and 999, weighted by real births, and live five lives from that year on.
The numbers
The world had about 295 million people around the middle of the 10th century. Life expectancy at birth was near 25 years, mostly because so many children died; people who reached adulthood often lived into their fifties or sixties. About 3% could read and 7% lived in towns. Most births happened in North India (16%), South China (12%), South India and Sri Lanka (9%), North China (9%), West Africa (5%).
All numbers before 1800 are modelled from long-run population and life-expectancy estimates by region. How it works
What happened
- Indian Ocean slave trade 700–1799
- Abbasid prosperity (Islamic Golden Age) 786–1000
- Viking raids 793–1066
- Classic Maya collapse 800–950
- Norse settlement of Iceland 874–930
- Song dynasty commercial revolution 960–1270
- Chola expansion 985–1070