640s

Millennium:	1st millennium
Centuries:	6th century – 7th century – 8th century
Decades:	610s 620s 630s – 640s – 650s 660s 670s
Years:	640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649
Categories:	Births – Deaths – Architecture Establishments – Disestablishments

This is a list of events occurring in the 640s, ordered by year.

By place

Europe

• Tulga succeeds his father Suinthila as king of the Visigoths.
• The French city of Lille is founded by Lyderic.
• At request of Porga of Croatia, one of the first known princes (Croatian: knez) of Dalmatian Croatia to Emperor Heraclius for Christian teachers, Pope John IV (640–642) sent Christian teachers and missionaries to the Croatian Provinces.

Africa

• July 6 – The Battle of Heliopolis is fought between Arab Muslim armies and the Byzantine Empire.

Asia

• Emperor Taizong's campaign against Xiyu states, or the Western Regions in the Tarim Basin, commences in this year, as the Tang Dynasty Chinese commander Hou Junji captures Gaochang to solidify Chinese rule in Central Asia.

By topic

Religion

• May 28 – Pope Severinus succeeds Pope Honorius I as the 71st pope.
• December 24 – Pope John IV succeeds Pope Severinus as the 72nd pope.

By place

Europe

• Chindaswinth deposes Tulga, and becomes king of the Visigoths.

Byzantine Empire

• February 11 – Byzantine Emperor Heraclius dies. He is succeeded by his sons Constantine III and Heracleonas, but Constantine III dies after few months. The Byzantine people suspected that he has been poisoned by Heracleonas, and deposes him. Constans II, son of Constantine III, becomes emperor.

Africa

• November 8 – Alexandria is formally surrendered to Amr ibn al-As by a treaty.
• Caesarea surrenders to the Arabs.
• The city of Fostat (later Cairo) is founded in Egypt.

By place

Europe

• August 5 – In the Battle of Maserfield, Penda, king of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald, king of Bernicia.
• Batbayan succeeds Kubrat as ruler of the Bulgars (approximate date).

Africa

• Arabs under 'Amr ibn al-'As conquer Alexandria.

Asia

• Battle of Nehawand: Arabs conquer Persia.
• Empress Kōgyoku ascends to the throne of Japan.
• Yeon Gaesomun seizes power over the Goguryeo kingdom and places King Bojang on the throne.
• Emperor Taizong of Tang issues a decree throughout China that increases the punishment for men who deliberately inflict injuries upon themselves (most commonly breaking their own legs) in order to avoid military conscription. This decree is an effort to eradicate this practice that has grown as a trend since the time of the rebellion against the Sui Dynasty.

By topic

Arts and sciences

• The earliest surviving dated Arabic papyrus, PERF 558, and the earliest known Arabic text with diacritical marks is written.

Religion

• November 24 – Pope Theodore I succeeds Pope John IV as the 73rd pope.
• A monastic settlement is founded in Hampshire, England, which later becomes Winchester Cathedral.

By place

Europe

• Rothari, King of the Lombards, issues the Lombard law code.

Africa

• Arab armies win their first North African victory in Tripoli.

Asia

• Peroz III, the son of the last Sassanid king of Persia, flees to Tang Dynasty China.
• A Chinese Tang ambassador is sent to the North Indian Empire.
• When the Chinese prefectural government officials travel to the Tang Dynasty's capital of Chang'an in this year to give the annual report of the affairs in their districts, Emperor Taizong of Tang discovers that many have no proper quarters to rest in, and are renting rooms with merchants. Therefore, Emperor Taizong orders the government agencies in charge of municipal construction to build every visiting official his own private mansion in the capital.

By place

Asia

• The Tang dynasty of China begins the invasion of Goguryo.
• Uthman Ibn Affan succeeds Umar as caliph.

By place

Byzantine Empire

• The Byzantines recapture Alexandria from the Arabs.

Asia

• In Japan, Naka no Ōe no Ōji and Nakatomi no Kamatari assassinate Soga no Iruka and his father, Soga no Emishi (Isshi Incident).
• The reign of Empress Kōgyoku of Ancient Japan ends. Emperor Kōtoku ascends to the throne. Naka no Ōe no Ōji is made Crown Prince.
• Supporters of Prince Shōtoku gain supremacy in Japan.
• Furubito no Ōe no Ōji plots rebellion, and is killed by Naka no Ōe no Ōji in Yoshino.
• Goguryeo general Yang Manchun resists the Emperor Taizong of Tang.

By topic

Art

• Giant Wild Goose Pagoda at Ci'en Temple, Xi'an, Shanxi, is first erected. Tang Dynasty.

By place

Byzantine Empire

• Alexandria is recaptured by the Arabs after a Byzantine attempt to retake Egypt fails, ending nearly 1,000 year of Greaco-Roman civilization in Egypt.

China

• The Xueyantuo state is destroyed by the Chinese Tang Dynasty, ending Emperor Taizong's campaign against Xueyantuo.

Japan

• An edict of the Taika Reforms is promulgated in 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. He forbids ill-considered rituals about purgation. He also issues an edict about the abolishment of laborers, the foundation of ranks and local government policies.

By place

Asia

• A stone tower astronomical observatory named Cheomseongdae is constructed in Silla (southern Korea) around this time.

North Africa

• The first Muslim invasion of the Exarchate of Carthage led by Abdallah ibn Sa'ad of the Rashidun Caliphate. Muslims defeat and kill the local Byzantine governor Gregory the Patrician at the Battle of Sufetula.

By topic

Religion

• Pope Theodore I excommunicates patriarch Paul II of Constantinople.

Literature

• The Book of Jin is compiled in China during the Tang Dynasty. Its chief editor is the Chancellor Fang Xuanling, who dies in this year as well.

By place

Europe

• Reccaswinth succeeds his father Chindaswinth as king of the Visigoths.

Asia

• Arabs conquer Cyprus
• Soga no Kurayamada no Ishikawa Maro is killed by Naka no Ōe no Ōji.

By topic

Religion

• July 5 – Pope Martin I succeeds Pope Theodore I as the 74th pope.
• The Lateran Council of 649, convoked by Pope Martin I, strongly condemns Monothelitism