683

By place

Britain

• King Sighere of Essex dies after a 19-year joint reign. His brother Sæbbi becomes the sole ruler of Essex until his death in 694.

  Arabian Empire

• Siege of Mecca: The Umayyad army led by Husayn ibn Numayr al-Sakuni besieges Mecca, during which the Kaaba catches fire and is burned down.
• Uqba ibn Nafi, Arab general, is ambushed and killed near Biskra. His Muslim army evacuates the city of Kairouan in Tunisia, and withdraws to Barca.
• November 14 - Caliph Yazid I dies at Damascus, after a 3-year reign marked by civil war. He is succeeded by his son Muawiya II as ruler of the Umayyad Caliphate.

  Asia

• December 27 - Emperor Gao Zong dies at Luoyang, age 55, after a 34-year reign in which he expanded the Chinese Empire by acquiring Korea as a vassal state.
• Emperor Tenmu decrees a reform in Japan; copper coins must be used instead of silver coins. Three days later he issues a decree to allow the continued use of silver.
• Prince Ōtsu, son of Tenmu, attends to matters of State for the first time.
• Sri Vijaya is founded by Sri Jayanasa in Sumatra

  Mesoamerica

• Pacal the Great, ruler of the Maya state of Palenque, dies after a 68-year reign. He is buried in the Temple of the Inscriptions. He was the longest-reigning monarch in the world until Louis XIV broke that record in 1711, almost 1028 years later and remained the longest-reigning monarch in the Americas until Elizabeth II broke that record in 2020, almost 1337 years later

  By topic

Religion

• Seaxwulf, bishop of Mercia, founds All Saints' Church at Brixworth.
• June 28 - Pope Leo II dies at Rome 10 months after being consecrated.