720 CE
Caliph Umar II is poisoned by a servant, and dies in Aleppo (Syria) after a 3-year reign. He is succeeded by his cousin Yazid II. Muslim forces under Al-Samh begin the prolonged siege of Carcassonne, a fortified Visigothic town located in the Languedoc-Roussillon. Umayyad conquest of Transoxiana: The first Turgesh attack on Muslim-Arabs in Transoxiana leads to the siege and relief of the Umayyad garrison at the fortress of Qasr al-Bahili, near Samarkand (or 721).
Conflict & Security
- Umayyad conquest of Gaul: Governor Al-Samh continues his campaign; he makes Narbonne the capital city of Muslim Septimania (Southern France), and uses it as a base for razzias. King Ardo is killed, and becomes the last ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania. Some Visigoths refuse to adopt the Muslim faith, and flee north to Aquitaine. This marks the end of the Visigothic Kingdom.source
- The Umayyad Caliphate reaches its greatest extent in Spain, controlling all of it except a small region in the north controlled by the Kingdom of Asturias.source
- The Third Tikal-Calakmul War begins.source
- Muslim forces under Al-Samh begin the prolonged siege of Carcassonne, a fortified Visigothic town located in the Languedoc-Roussillon.source
- Umayyad conquest of Transoxiana: The first Turgesh attack on Muslim-Arabs in Transoxiana leads to the siege and relief of the Umayyad garrison at the fortress of Qasr al-Bahili, near Samarkand (or 721).source
Exploration & Expansion
- Contact between the Welsh Church and Yvi of Brittany is the last known link between two Celtic countries. After this, each nation goes its own separate way (approximate date).source
- The Egyptians wage the Bashmurian revolts against the foreign Arab rulers. Egyptians establish a semi-independent region in the Nile Delta with Bashmur as the capital.source
Religion & Belief
- King Ine of Wessex builds a stone church at Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset (approximate date).source
Technology & Infrastructure
- In the Chinese capital of Chang'an, the walls of a gated city ward collapse during the night, which unexpectedly forms a large pool out in the open. This is most likely caused by a sinkhole created when ground water eroded the limestone bedrock beneath. As a consequence of this, more than 500 homes are destroyed (approximate date).source
Science & Discovery
- A second series of gravitational interactions with Saturn, the second since 1664 BC, once again force the Centaur (minor planet) Chiron into a new orbit, shifting it from orbiting in the edges of the Solar System to orbiting near the inner regions.source
Crime & Justice
- Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, former governor of Iraq, revolts and is defeated at Basra, by Umayyad forces under Al-Abbas ibn al-Walid and Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik. He is arrested and later executed.source
Culture & Society
- Summer – Emperor Leo III secures the Byzantine frontier, by inviting Slavic settlers into the depopulated districts of the Thracesian Theme (western Asia Minor). He undertakes a set of civil reforms, and reorganizes the theme structure in the Aegean region. Leo's 2-year-old son Constantine V is associated on the throne, and married to Tzitzak, daughter of the Khazar ruler (khagan) Bihar.source
- The Nihon Shoki (日本書紀), one of the oldest history books in Japan, is completed under the editorial supervision of Prince Toneri, and with the assistance of Ō no Yasumaro.source
Births
Deaths
- February 10 – Caliph Umar II is poisoned by a servant, and dies in Aleppo (Syria) after a 3-year reign. He is succeeded by his cousin Yazid II.source
- Odile of Alsace, Frankish abbess (approximate date)source
- Aubert of Avranches, Frankish bishopsource
- Xue Ne, general of the Tang dynasty (b. 649)source
- Umar II, Muslim caliph (b. 682)source
- Muhammad ibn Marwan, Muslim general (or 719)source
- Ardo, king of the Visigoths (or 721)source
- Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, Muslim governor (b. 672)source
- Fujiwara no Fuhito, Japanese statesman (b. 659)source
- Jamila, Arabian qiyan-courtesan singersource
- Tariq ibn Ziyad, Muslim general (b. 670)source
- Yeh Fa-shan, Daoist wonder-worker (b. 631)source