January 30 – The "
March Across the Belts" (Tåget över Bält), Sweden's use of winter weather to send troops across the waters of the
Danish straits at a time when winter has turned them to ice, begins. Within 17 days, Sweden's King Karl X Gustav leads troops across the ice belts to capture six of Denmark's islands as Swedish territory.
February 5 – Prince Muhi al-Din Muhammad, one of the sons of India's Mughal, Emperor
Shah Jahan, proclaims himself Emperor after Jahan names Muhi's older brother,
Dara Shikoh, as regent, and departs from
Aurangabad with troops.
March 8 (February 26
OS) – The peace between
Sweden and Denmark-Norway is concluded in
Roskilde by the
Treaty of Roskilde, under which Denmark is forced to cede significant territory. This leads to Sweden reaching its territorial height during its time as a
great power.
April–June
April 15 – In India, the
Battle of Dharmat is fought in the modern-day state of
Madhya Pradesh between rival claimants to the throne of the
Mughal Empire. Prince Muhi al-Din Muhammad, the son of the Emperor
Shah Jahan, leads 30,000 men in a triumph over 22,000 troops led by
Jaswant Singh of Marwar and
Ratan Singh Rathore. Despite heavy losses, with more than 11,000 casualties, Prince Muhi, who has adopted the name
Aurangzeb, continues toward
Samugarh and
Agra and captures the throne at the end of July.
August 5 – Just six months after winning territory from
Denmark-Norway in war and subsequent treaty, Sweden's King Charles X Gustav declares
a second war against Denmark. By August 11, the King's troops have surrounded Denmark's capital,
Copenhagen, while the Swedish Navy blocks the harbor to prevent the city from being resupplied, and begins bombardment.
October 7 – The Netherlands enters the Dano-Swedish War to come to the rescue of Denmark, sending a 45-ship fleet from
Vlie.
October 29 – The 45-ship fleet of the Netherlands arrives at Denmark and begins its counterattack on Sweden's army and navy with three squadrons.
November 6 – The
Mexican Inquisition carries out the execution, by public burning, of 14 men convicted of homosexuality, while another 109 arrested are either released or given less harsh sentences.
November 8 (October 29 old style) – The
Battle of the Sound takes place between the navies of the Dutch Republic (with 41 warships) and of Sweden (with 45) at the
Øresund, a
strait between Denmark and Sweden's newly-acquired territory, the former Danish island of
Scania. The Dutch Republic is successful at breaking the Swedish Navy's blockade of Copenhagen, and Sweden is forced to retreat, bringing an end to the attempted conquest of Denmark.
November 23 – The elaborate funeral of
Lord Protector of England
Oliver Cromwell (who had died on September 3 and was buried at Westminster Abbey two weeks later) is carried out in
London. A little more than two years later (in January 1661), his body will be disinterred and his head severed and placed on a spike.
December 11 –
Abaza Hasan Pasha, an Ottoman provincial governor who is attempting to depose the Grand Vizier, wins a battle at the Turkish city of
Ilgin, defeating loyalist forces led by Murtaza Pasha. The victory is the last for the rebels. Two months later (February 16, 1659) Abaza Hasan is assassinated after being invited to peace negotiations by the loyalists.
December 20 – Representatives of the Russian Empire and the Swedish Empire sign the
Treaty of Valiesar at the Valiesar Estate near
Narva, part of modern-day
Estonia. In return for ceasing hostilities between the two empires in the
Second Northern War, Russia is allowed to keep captured territories in
Livonia (part of modern-day
Latvia) for a term of three years.
^"killing". Oxford Reference. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
^Brems, Hans (June 1970). "Sweden: From Great Power to Welfare State". Journal of Economic Issues. 4 (2, 3). Association for Evolutionary Economics: 1–16.
doi:
10.1080/00213624.1970.11502941.
JSTOR4224039. A swift and brilliantly conceived march from Holstein across the frozen Danish waters on Copenhagen, by Karl X Gustav in 1658, finally wrests Bohuslin, Sk'ane, and Blekinge from
Denmark-Norway. Denmark no longer controls both sides of Oresund, and Swedish power is at its peak.