940s

The **940s** was a decade that started on 1 January 940 and ended on 31 December 949. It is distinct from the decade known as the ***95th decade*** which began on January 1, 941 and ended on December 31, 950.

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## 940

- Saadia Gaon makes his siddur (Jewish prayer book) in Iraq.
- Narita-san Temple is founded in Chiba, Japan.
- The Liao Dynasty stops the rule that a younger sister replace an older sister who died in marriage.

### Births

- Abu'l-Wafa, Iranian mathematician
- Brian Boru, high king of Ireland

### Deaths

- July 20 – Ibn Muqla, Abbasid vizier and calligrapher
- December 25 – Makan ibn Kaki, Dailamite warlord
- Taira no Masakado, leader of the Taira Clan

## 941

- The Rus'-Byzantine War is fought.
- Oda the Severe becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.

### Births

- Charles d'Outremer, son of Louis IV of France
- Brian Bórumha mac Cennétig, High-King of Ireland

### Deaths

- April 21 – Bajkam, commander of commanders of the Abbasid Caliphate

## 942

- The Chavda Kingdom is overthrown in Gujarat, India.
- October 30 – Pope Marinus II succeeds Pope Stephen VIII as the 128th pope.

### Births

- Pampa, Kannada poet in India
- Genshin, Tendai scholar

### Deaths

- King Idwal Foel of Gwynedd
- December 17 – William I of Normandy
- Gaozu of Later Jin, founder of the Later Jin Dynasty in China
- Liu Yan of the Southern Han Kingdom

## 943

- King Constantin II of Scotland retires and becomes a monk.  His cousin Malcolm I of Scotland becomes king.

### Births

- Dayang Jingxuan, a Zen Buddhist monk

### Deaths

- Wang Kon, founder of the Koryo dynasty
- Emperor Liezu of Southern Tang

## 944

- The city of Algiers is (re)founded by the Zirid king Buluggin ibn Ziri.
- Abu Yazid starts a rebellion against the Fatimids in the Aures Mountains.
- The Al-Askari Mosque is built in Samarra.
- King Edmund I of England takes Northumbria from the Vikings.
- Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos is deposed as Byzantine emperor.  It was by his own sons, Stephen Lekapenos and Constantine Lekapenos.

### Births

- Otto, Duke of Burgundy
- Minamoto no Yorimitsu
- Fujiwara no Sukemasa
- Fujiwara no Akimitsu

### Deaths

- Flaithbertach mac Inmainén, abbot of Inis Cathaig, Ireland
- Wilgred of Lindisfarne, Bishop of Lindisfarne
- Abu Mansur Al Maturidi, Muslim theologian
- Ngo Quyen, Vietnamese prefect and general
- Wichmann the Elder, Saxon nobleman
- Donnchad Donn, King of Ireland

## 945

- The Buyid dynasty takes control of Baghdad.
- The Min Kingdom is taken over by the Southern Tang Kingdom.
- Edmund I of England conquers Strathclyde.  He makes an alliance with Malcolm I of Scotland and gives Cumberland and Westmorland to him.
- Lothair II of Italy takes control of Italy.
- Romanos I Lekapenos is overthrown. Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII rules alone.

### Births

- Abbo of Fleury, French monk

### Deaths

- Igor of Kiev
- King Krešimir I of Croatia

## 946

- Eadred I becomes king of England.
- Emperor Murakami becomes Emperor of Japan.
- May 10 – Pope Agapitus II succeeds Pope Marinus II as the 129th pope.

### Deaths

- May 17 – Al Qa'im, second Fatimid caliph.
- May 26 – King Edmund I of England

## 947

- The Later Jin Dynasty falls to the Later Han Dynasty in China.

### Births

- Adelaide of Anjou, daughter of Fulk II of Anjou and Gerberg

### Deaths

- May 18 – Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty
- Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl, Toltec ruler
- Wulfgar of Lichfield, Bishop of Lichfield
- Sexhelm of Lindisfarne, Bishop of Lindisfarne
- Shi Chonggui, last Emperor of China from the Later Jin Dynasty
- Uchtred of Lindisfarne, Bishop of Lindisfarne
- Zoltán of Hungary, Grand Prince of the Magyars

## 948

- The Nri Kingdom is started by Eri.  The kingdom was in what is now Nigeria.
- The Nallur Kandaswamy temple is built.

### Births

- Gang Gam-chan, Korean government official and military commander
- Emperor Jingzong of Liao

### Deaths

- December 16 – Romanos I Lekapenos, Byzantine Emperor
- Gao Conghui
- Gaozu of Later Han

## 949

- The Byzantine Empire starts another expedition against the Emirate of Crete.

### Deaths

- Emperor Yōzei, Emperor of Japan
- Yunmen Wenyan, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk