646

Events

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Arab-Byzantine War: Alexandria is recaptured by the Muslim Arabs, after a Byzantine attempt (see 645) to retake Egypt fails, ending nearly 1,000 years of rule by Greco-Roman states in the city.
• Gregory the Patrician, Byzantine exarch of Africa, begins a rebellion against Constans II, and proclaims himself emperor; the revolt finds broad support among the populace.

Arabian Empire

• Caliph Uthman ibn Affan founds the city of Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) on the coast of the Red Sea. He establishes a port for Muslim pilgrims making the required Hajj to Mecca.

Africa

• Battle of Nikiou: The Rashidun army (15,000 men) under Amr ibn al-'As defeats a smaller Byzantine force, near the fortified town of Nikiou (Egypt).
• Amr ibn al-'As builds fortifications in Alexandria and quarters a strong garrison in the vicinity, which twice a year is relieved from Upper Egypt.

China

• Summer – Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty destroys the Xueyantuo state, during the campaign against the Xueyantuo (Central Asia).

Japan

• Emperor Kōtoku makes a decree about the policies of building tombs. He discontinues the old customs of sacrificing people in honor of a dead man, and forbids ill-considered rituals about purgation.
• A Great Reform edict changes Japan's political order. It will lead to the establishment of a centralized government with Kōtoku ruling from his palace, Naniwa Nagara-Toyosaki Palace, in Osaka.

By topic

Religion

• Xuanzang completes his book Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, which later becomes one of the primary sources for the study of medieval Central Asia and India.

Births

• Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, Muslim Caliph (d. 705)
• Gudula, Frankish saint
• Li Sujie, prince of the Tang dynasty (d. 690)
• Sun Guoting, Chinese calligrapher (d. 691)
• Tonyukuk, military leader of the Göktürks (approximate date)

Deaths

• January 17 – Sulpitius the Pious, bishop of Bourges
• January 19 – Liu Ji, chancellor of the Tang dynasty
• unknown dates
  • Gallus, Irish missionary (approximate date)
  • Manuel, Armenian eunuch and general
  • Zhang Liang, general of the Tang dynasty

References

Sources

References

1. Charles George Herbermann. (1913). "The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church". Universal Knowledge Foundation.