Mansur sends the general Bektuzun to retake control of Khurasan, which has recently fallen into the possession of the Ghaznavids.

Nishapur is occupied, but Baktuzun is then attacked in 998 by Abu'l-Qasim Simjuri, the ruler of Kuhistan.

Abu'l-Qasim had been persuaded by Fa'iq to strike; the latter fears Bektuzun’s power.

Bektuzun is victorious, but he makes peace with Abu'l-Qasim and heads back to Bukhara.

Otto III and Pope Gregory V had begun the process of reviving the Diocese of Halberstadt after the death, in November 996, of its Bishop, who had been one of the masterminds behind the abolition of the bishopric of Merseburg.

Otto I had established the Diocese in 968 following his victory over the Hungarians in order to Christianize the Polabian Slavs but had been effectively destroyed in 983 with the Great Slav Rising following the death of Otto II in 983.

Stephen and Koppány eventually meet in battle near Veszprém and Stephen, victorious, assumes the role of Grand Prince of the Hungarians.

Stephen's victory has come primarily thanks to his German retinue led by the brothers Pázmány and Hont.

The nearly contemporary deed of foundation of the Abbey of Pannonhalma clearly describes the battle as a struggle between the Germans and the Magyars.

Thus, Stephen has strengthened his power in Transdanubia, but several parts of Hungary still do not accept his rule.

Abul Wafa Buzjani, a Persian astronomer born in about 940 in Buzhgan, (now Torbat-e Jam) in Iran, had in 959 moved to Iraq, where he has studied mathematics and worked principally in the field of trigonometry.

He has written a number of books, most of which no longer exist; also studying the movements of the moon.

The crater Abul Wáfa on the Moon is named after him.

He has devised a wall quadrant for the accurate astronomy measurement of the declination of stars.

He has also introduced the tangent function and improved methods of calculating trigonometry tables and developed novel ways of solving some problems of spherical triangles.

He has established various trigonometric identities and discovered the law of sines for spherical triangles.

Samuel launches a major campaign against the Serbian principality of Duklja in 998 to prevent an alliance between Prince Petrislav and Constantinople.

When the Bulgarian troops reach Duklja, the Serbian prince and his people withdraw to the mountains.

Samuel leaves part of the army at the foot of the mountains and leads the remaining soldiers to besiege the coastal fortress of Ulcinj.

In an effort to prevent bloodshed, he asks Petrislav to surrender.

After the prince refuses, some Serb nobles offer their services to the Bulgarians and, when it becomes clear that further resistance is fruitless, the Serbs surrender.

The Bulgarian troops proceed to pass through Dalmatia, taking control of Kotor and …

…journeying to Dubrovnik.

Although they fail to take Dubrovnik, they devastate the surrounding villages.

The Bulgarian army now attacks Croatia in support of the rebel princes Krešimir III and Gojslav and advances northwest as far as …

…Split, …

…Trogir and …

…Zadar, then …