Year 646 ( DCXLVI ) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar . The denomination 646 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events [ edit ]

By place [ edit ]

Byzantine Empire [ edit ]

• 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 [ edit ]

• 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 [ edit ]

• 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 . ^[1]

China [ edit ]

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

Japan [ edit ]

• Emperor K?toku 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 K?toku ruling from his palace, Naniwa Nagara-Toyosaki Palace , in Osaka .

By topic [ edit ]

Religion [ edit ]

• 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 [ edit ]

• 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 Gokturks (approximate date)

Deaths [ edit ]

• January 17 – Sulpitius the Pious , bishop of Bourges ^[2]
• January 19 – Liu Ji , chancellor of the Tang dynasty
• unknown dates
  • Gallus , Irish missionary (approximate date)
  • Zhang Liang , general of the Tang dynasty

References [ edit ]

Sources [ edit ]