The 10th century was the period from 901 (CMI) through 1000 (M) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the last century of the 1st millennium. In China the Song dynasty was established. The Muslim World experienced a cultural zenith, especially in al-Andalus under the Caliphate of Córdoba and in the Samanid Empire under Ismail Samani. Additionally, there was a cultural flourishing for the Byzantine Empire and the First Bulgarian Empire. The Medievalist and historian of technology Lynn White said that "to the modern eye, it is very nearly the darkest of the Dark Ages ... if it was dark, it was the darkness of the womb". Similarly, Helen Waddell wrote that the 10th century was that which "in the textbooks disputes with the seventh the bad eminence, the nadir of the human intellect". Caesar Baronius famously described it as the Iron Century, because it was ‘iron in its harshness and in its sterility of goodness', while Lorenzo Valla gave it the similar name "Age of Lead and Iron". Events c. 950: The beginning of the Medieval Warm Period. Africa The Christian Nubian kingdom reaches its peak of prosperity and military power (see Early history of Sudan). c. 909: The Fatimid Caliphate arises in Kabylie, Kutama Tribe. c. 948: The Nri Kingdom in what is now Southeastern Nigeria starts. c. 980: Al-Azhar University is established in Cairo by the Fatimid dynasty. Americas Collapse of the central lowland Maya civilization. Post-Classic Maya period begins. Chichen Itza becomes a regional capital on the Yucatán Peninsula Rise of the Toltecs in Mexico Golden age of the Ancestral Puebloans (Pueblo II Era) The Mississippian culture begins in present-day Southern United States 987: Ah Mekat Tutul Xiu unified Uxmal, Mayapan, and Chichen Itza founding The League of Mayapan. Asia Buddhist temple construction commences at Bagan, Burma Seafarers and merchants from Champa had contacts with Brunei and Ma-i. 907: Zhu Quanzhong deposes Emperor Ai of Tang and establishes a new Later Liang dynasty. 907: Sumbing volcano erupts, according to Rukam inscription. 907: King Balitung creates the Mantyasih inscription containing the list of Mataram kings, moves the capital from Mamratipura to Poh Pitu, and expands Prambanan temple. 910: Parantaka I of the Chola Dynasty drives out the Pandyan from southern India into Lanka (now Sri Lanka), which he also eventually conquers. 914: The Warmadewa dynasty rules Bali. 919: the first use of gunpowder in battle occurs with