873

Year 873 (DCCCLXXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * Carloman, son of King Charles the Bald, is hauled before a secular court and condemned to death – for plotting against his father. He is blinded, but avoids imprisonment by escaping to the East Frankish Kingdom, where his uncle, Louis the German, gives him protection.
 * Al-Andalus: The city of Toledo (modern Spain) rises up for a second time against Umayyad rule, due to ethnic tensions over two years.

Britain

 * The Danish Great Heathen Army, led by the Viking leaders Halfdan and Guthrum, attack Mercia and capture the royal centre at Repton (Derbyshire). The Vikings establish an encampment with a U-shape ditch, on the south bank of the River Trent and spend the winter there.

Abbasid Caliphate

 * Azugitin, Abbasid caliph Al-Mu'tamid appointed Azugitin as governor of Mosul with deputies.
 * Muhammad ibn Ali al-Armani, was killed at the Caliphate - Byzantine border in 873.
 * Muhammad ibn Tahir, Muslim governor of Khorasan, is overthrown by the Saffarids, led by Ya'qub ibn al-Layth, who conquer the capital, Nishapur. Khorasan is annexed to their own empire in eastern Persia. The Tahirid Dynasty falls.

China

 * August 15 – Emperor Yi Zong (Li Cuī) dies after a 13-year reign. He is succeeded by his 11-year-old son Xi Zong, as ruler of the Tang Dynasty. During his reign, a widespread failure of the agricultural harvest leads to famine (which causes people to resort to cannibalism) and agrarian rebellions.

Births

 * Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, was the founder of the Isma'ili Fatimid Empire, the only major Shi'a caliphate in the 10th century history, and the eleventh Imam of the Isma'ili faith (d. 934)
 * Abu Yazid, Kharijite Berber leader (d. 947)
 * Ahmad al-Muhajir, Muslim imam (d. 956)
 * Al-Tabarani, Muslim hadith scholar (d. 970)
 * Fujiwara no Sadakata, Japanese poet (d. 932)
 * Ordoño II, king of Galicia and León (d. 924)

Deaths

 * July 8 – Gunther, archbishop of Cologne
 * August 1 – Thachulf, duke of Thuringia
 * August 15 – Yi Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 833)
 * Al-Kindi, Muslim philosopher and polymath
 * Du Cong, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 794)
 * Ecgberht I, king of Northumbria
 * Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Muslim scholar and physician (b. 809)
 * Ivar the Boneless, Viking leader (approximate date)
 * John III, Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch
 * Kang Chengxun, general of the Tang Dynasty
 * Lethlobar mac Loingsig, king of Ulaid (Ireland)
 * Malik ibn Tawk, Muslim governor
 * Muhammad ibn Ali al-Armani, Muslim general
 * Rodrigo, Asturian nobleman
 * Rodulf Haraldsson, Viking leader
 * Shinshō, Japanese Buddhist monk (b. 797)
 * Vímara Peres, Asturian nobleman
 * Wei Baoheng, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty