652

By place

Europe

• King Rothari dies after a 16-year reign, and is succeeded by his son Rodoald as king of the Lombards.

  Britain

• King Penda of Mercia invades Bernicia, and besieges King Oswiu at Bamburgh, in North East England.

  Arab Empire

• Arab–Byzantine War: An Arab fleet under Abdullah ibn Sa'ad defeats the Byzantine fleet off the coast of Alexandria.
• Siege of Dongola: A Rashidun army under Abdullah ibn Sa'ad besieges Dongola in the Kingdom of Makuria.
• Uthman ibn Affan establishes a treaty between the Christian Nubians and the Muslims in Egypt, that lasts for six centuries.
• Abdel al Rahman ibn Awf, companion of Muhammad, frees 30,000 slaves at his death.

  Asia

• The registers of population are prepared in Japan. Fifty houses are made a township, and for each township there is appointed an elder. The houses are all associated in groups of five for mutual protection, with one elder to supervise them one with another. This system prevails until the era of World War II.
• The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is constructed in Chang'an, during the Tang Dynasty. It is completed in the same year, during the reign of Emperor Gao Zong.