/year

The 630s

230 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 7th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

630 CE27 entries

  • January – Battle of Hunayn: Muhammad defeats the Bedouin tribe of Hawazin (12,000 men) in a valley, on one of the roads leading to Ta'if (Western Arabia).
  • June 9 – Shahrbaraz is killed and succeeded by Borandukht, daughter of former king Khosrow II. She ascends the throne as 26th monarch of Persia, before being deposed in favour of Shapur-i Shahrvaraz, whose brief reign is then followed by that of her sister Azarmidokht.
  • December 11 – Conquest of Mecca: A Muslim army (10,000 men) marches on Mecca, which surrenders. Muhammad takes the city from the Quraysh

631 CE19 entries

  • The Saxons (Northern Germany) appeal to Dagobert I, against the yearly tribute (500 cows) which they still pay (approximate date).
  • Benjamin I, Coptic patriarch of Alexandria, escapes during the persecutions of his fellow Christians and hides in the monastery of St. Macarius (Upper Egypt).
  • King Edwin of Northumbria refortifies the city walls of York, probably including the building of the so-called Anglian Tower (approximate date).

632 CE31 entries

  • January 27 – An annular eclipse of the sun occurs.
  • June – Abu Bakr (born Abdallah ibn Uthman ibn Amir, better known by his Islamic laqab Al-Siddiq) becomes the Caliph.
  • September – Battle of Buzakha: An Islamic column (6,000 men) under Khalid ibn al-Walid defeats the Apostate rebels under Tulayha, near Ha'il (Saudi Arabia).

633 CE22 entries

  • March 18 – The Arabian Peninsula is united under the central authority of Abu Bakr. This sets the stage for the Islamic conquest of Persia and the fall of the Sassanid dynasty.
  • May – Battle of Walaja: The Rashidun Caliphate army under Khalid defeats the Persians and their Arab Christian allies. The Persian army is at least three times the size.
  • July – Siege of Anbar: A Muslim Arab army under Khalid besieges the fortress city of Anbar. The Persian governor surrenders and is allowed to retire.

634 CE27 entries

  • July 30 – Battle of Ajnadayn: Byzantine forces (90,000 men according to Muslim sources) under Theodore are defeated by the Rashidun Caliphate near Beit Shemesh (modern-day Israel). Heraclius, who is in Emesa, flees to Antioch upon hearing news of the battle's outcome.
  • August 23 – Abu Bakr dies at Medina and is succeeded by Umar I, who becomes the second caliph (khalifah) of the Rashidun Caliphate. During his rule, Umar conquers Syria, Persia, and Egypt in a "Holy War".
  • September 19 – Siege of Damascus: Muslim Arabs under Khalid conquer Damascus as the first major city of the Byzantine Empire. Damascan refugees are given a guarantee of safety to retreat to Antioch.

635 CE19 entries

  • January – Battle of Fahl: The Rashidun army, (30,000 men) under Khalid ibn al-Walid (known as the "Drawn Sword of God"), defeats the Byzantine forces led by Theodore Trithyrius, at Pella in the Jordan Valley (Jordan).
  • Judicaël, high king of Domnonée (Brittany), visits King Dagobert I at his palace in Clichy (northwest of Paris), to promise he will remain under Frankish lordship. The Breton king arrives with gifts, but insults Dagobert by refusing to eat at the royal table.
  • Christian missionaries arrive in China: Alopen, bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East, preaches Nestorian Christianity in the Tang dynasty capital, Chang'an.

636 CE24 entries

  • June 30 – Fifth Council of Toledo: Chintila orders a meeting in the church of St. Leocadia; the bishops accept a decree that only Gothic nobility (with military functions) may be king of the Visigothic Kingdom.
  • August 15–20 – Battle of Yarmouk: In engagements along the Yarmouk River, Muslim forces (25,000 men) of the Rashidun Caliphate, led by Khalid ibn al-Walid, decisively defeat the armies of the Byzantine Empire, effectively completing the Muslim conquest of Syria. It will be regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history, marking the first great wave of Muslim conquests, after the death of Muhammad.
  • November 16–19 – Battle of al-Qādisiyyah: The Muslim Arab army defeats the Persian forces under Rostam Farrokhzād, at Al-Qādisiyyah (Southern Mesopotamia).

637 CE19 entries

  • March – Siege of Ctesiphon: The Rashidun army (15,000 men) under Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas occupies the Persian capital of Ctesiphon, after a two-month siege. King Yazdegerd III flees with the imperial treasure eastward into Media. Muslim forces conquer the Persian provinces as far as Khuzestan (modern Iran).
  • June 24 – Battle of Mag Rath: King Oswald of Northumbria sends troops to Ireland, to assist Domnall Brecc King of Dál Riata in his alliance with King Congal Cáech of Ulaid against Domnall mac Áedo High King of Ireland, during the Irish dynastic wars. Domnall Brecc, Congal and their forces are defeated near Moira. At the Mull of Kintyre (southwest Scotland), Domnall mac Áedo's fleet destroys Domnall Brecc's naval force of Dál Riata.
  • October – Siege of Aleppo: Muslim Arabs under Khalid ibn al-Walid conquer the Byzantine stronghold Aleppo; the large walled city surrenders after a four-month siege. A column of troops under Malik al-Ashtar is sent to take Azaz.

638 CE19 entries

  • March 22 – Year 0 of the Burmese calendar, based on the Chula Sakarat, is also used in the mainland of Southeast Asia.
  • October 12 – Pope Honorius I dies at Rome after a 13-year reign, and is succeeded by Severinus, but the Byzantine emperor Heraclius will delay the new pope's consecration until May 640.
  • December 20 – Pyrrhus I becomes patriarch of Constantinople, after the death of Sergius I. He has been an advocate of Monothelitism and a close friend of Heraclius.

639 CE23 entries

  • January 19 – Dagobert I dies after a 10-year reign as king of all the Franks, in which his realm has prospered. He is succeeded by Sigebert III (age 9), independent ruler of Austrasia, and his half-brother Clovis II (age 2), who becomes king of Neustria and Burgundy. Under the supervision of Pepin of Landen, Mayor of the Palace, the royal treasury is distributed between the two brothers and widowed queen Nanthild (regent on Clovis' behalf).
  • Plague of Emmaus: An epidemic disease which has broken out in Emmaus (Imwas) in Palestine strikes the city and the military camps of the Muslim Arabs, killing most of its population (estimated at 25,000 people) until it subsides in October.
  • Hormuzan, Persian satrap of Susiana (vassal of the Rashidun Caliphate), revolts against the Muslims and raids Mesopotamia. Arab forces under Abu Musa al-Asha'ari destroy Susa in the lower Zagros Mountains.