Directory

647 CE

Jindeok becomes queen of the Korean kingdom of Silla after the death of Queen Seondeok. Self-proclaimed emperor Gregory the Patrician is killed during the Arab invasion at Sufetula. Africa returns to imperial allegiance after his death, but the foundation of Byzantine rule is fatally undermined. A stone tower astronomical observatory (named Cheomseongdae) at Gyeongju is constructed in Silla (South Korea) around this time.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Taizong establishes a Chinese military government to pacify the former territory of Xueyantuo, which extends to the Altai Mountains in the west.source

Conflict & Security

  • Arab–Byzantine War: An Arab army (20,000 men) under Abdullah ibn Sa'ad invades the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa. It conquers Tripolitania and the city of Sufetula, 150 miles (240 km) south of Carthage.source
  • Self-proclaimed emperor Gregory the Patrician is killed during the Arab invasion at Sufetula. Africa returns to imperial allegiance after his death, but the foundation of Byzantine rule is fatally undermined.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty sends a Chinese mission to study Indian techniques of sugar manufacturing, at Bihar in the Ganges Valley.source

Religion & Belief

  • Hilda of Whitby, age 33, is persuaded by Aidan, bishop of Lindisfarne, to enter the monastic life at Hartlepool Abbey (Northumbria).source

Science & Discovery

  • A stone tower astronomical observatory (named Cheomseongdae) at Gyeongju is constructed in Silla (South Korea) around this time.source

Births

  • Itzamnaaj B'alam II, ruler of Yaxchilan (d. 742)source
  • Al-Abbas ibn Ali, Muslim martyr (d. 680)source

Deaths

  • Emperor Harsha, ruler of northern India, dies after a 41-year reign. His kingdom disintegrates into smaller states.source
  • Felix of Burgundy, bishop of Dunwich (or 648)source
  • Jindeok becomes queen of the Korean kingdom of Silla after the death of Queen Seondeok.source
  • Gregory the Patrician, Exarch of Africasource
  • Li Baiyao, Chinese official and historian (b. 564)source
  • Seondeok, queen of Silla (Korea)source
  • Yang Shidao, chancellor of the Tang dynastysource
  • Harsha, emperor of Harsha (India)source
  • Æthelburh of Kent, queen of Northumbriasource
  • Xiao Yu, prince of the Liang dynasty (b. 574)source
  • Gao Shilian, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (b. 576)source