Chinese prefectural government officials travel to Chang'an in 643 to give the annual report of the affairs in their districts.

Emperor Taizong discovers that many have no proper quarters to rest in, and are renting rooms with merchants.

Therefore, Taizong orders the government agencies in charge of municipal construction to build every visiting official his own private mansion in the capital.

In this year also, Taizong commissions artist Yan Liben to paint in the Lingyan Pavilion the life-size portraits of 24 government officials to commemorate their service and contributions to the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

Prince Yamashiro and his family commit suicide when their home is attacked by Soga no Iruka, the son of the powerful court noble Soga no Emish, in 643.

Some scholars believe Yamashiro to have been the famous poet-scholar Sarumaru no Taifu, about whom nearly nothing is known.

The horde that Kurt's son Asparukh leads into Bessarabia (between the Dniester and Prut rivers) is the fifth product of the breakup of Great Bulgaria.

Xuanzang, after crossing the Karatoya, goes east to the ancient city of Pragjyotishpur (modern Guwahati) in the kingdom of Kamarupa (modern Assam) at the invitation of its king Kumar Bhaskara Varman, who, though he is a Hindu of the Brahmin caste, nevertheless patronizes Buddhism.

The people of Kamarupa worship the Devas and do not believe in Buddhism.

The Deva-temples are some hundreds in number and the various systems have some myriads of professed adherents.

The few Buddhists in the country perform their acts of devotion in secret.

The pilgrim-monk learns from the people that to the east of the country is a series of hills that reach as far as the borders of China.

The inhabitants of these hills are akin to the "Man of the Lao".

Later, the king escorts Xuanzang back to ...

...Kannauj, at the request of king Harshavardhana, who is an ally of Kumar Bhaskara Varman, to attend a great Buddhist council here that is attended by both the kings, as well as eighteen other monarchs and thousands of pilgrims.

A Chinese embassy attends on the invitation of Emperor Harsha.

Xuanzang turns southward and travels to Andhradesa to visit the famous viharas at Nagarjunakonda and …

…Amaravathi, where he stays to study 'Abhidhammapitakam'.

He observes that there are many viharas at Amaravati and some of them are deserted.

The inquisitive Xuanzang, after spending years in North India, proceeds in 643 to Kanchi, the imperial capital of the Pallavas and a strong center of Buddhism.

Rothari, King of the Lombards, promulgates a collection of Lombard laws—closely related to those of the Saxons, Anglo-Saxons, and North Germans—in his Edict of 643, notable for its clear systematization and exactness of expression.

The first codification of Lombard law (written in Latin), the edict guarantees rights only for Lombard subjects.

Maurikios Chartoularios names himself dux of Rome and revolts against exarch Isaac (Exarchate of Ravenna).

He declares Rome's independence from the Exarchate and from the Empire itself.

Emperor Heraclius had demanded in 638 that the newly elected Pope, Severinus, sign his assent to the Ecthesis, a document which defined monotheletism as the official imperial form of Christianity.

When Severinus refused, Heraclius had in turn refused to recognize him as Pope, and had sent his chartoularios (secretary) Maurikios to Rome to obtain the Pope’s agreement to the Ecthesis.

After his arrival, Maurikios, with the support of the local Roman militia, had occupied the Lateran and plundered the papal palace.

The Exarch Isaac had also rushed to Rome and seized the Lateran treasure for the emperor, although he and Maurikios have retained a significant portion for themselves.

As a result, for almost two years Severinus had been denied access to his office.

Maurikios, now the dux of Rome, attempts to repeat his successful action in 643, but this time he is determined to not share any of the plunder with anyone.

He revolts against Isaac, and declares Rome’s independence from the Exarchate and from the emperor, Constans II.

In response, Isaac dispatches his magister militum Donus, who crushes the revolt.

Maurikios seeks sanctuary in the church of Saint Maria ad Praesepe, but he is dragged from the church and sent in chains to Ravenna and beheaded.