The Battle of Talas in 751 was a conflict between the Arab Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Tang Dynasty for control of the Syr Darya. The Chinese army was defeated following the routing of their troops by the Abbasids on the bank of the Talas River. Events Pippin the Short is elected as king of the Franks by the Frankish nobility, marking the end of the Merovingian and beginning of the Carolingian dynasty. ... Taraz (formerly Zhambyl or Dzhambul) is a city and a center of the Zhambyl oblysy in Kazakhstan. ... Abbasid Caliphate (Abbasid Khalifat) and contemporary states and empires in 820. ... China under the Tang Dynasty (yellow) and its sphere of influence Capital Changan (618–904) Luoyang (904-907) Language(s) Middle Chinese Religion Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism Government Monarchy Emperor  - 618-626 Emperor Gaozu  - 684, 705-710 Emperor Zhongzong  - 684, 710-712 Emperor Ruizong  - 904-907 Emperor Ai History  - Li... For information about all peoples of Iran, see Demographics of Iran; for Central Asian Persians, see Tajiks. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Goguryeo was an ancient kingdom located in the northern Korean Peninsula and southern Manchuria. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Duan Xiushi was a Tang commander in the Battle of Talas. ... The Qarluq (Karluk) were originally a nomadic turkic tribe based on the transoxania steppes (roughly east and south of the Aral Sea) in Central Asia. ... Mercenary (disambiguation). ... The Arab Empire at its greatest extent The Arab Empire usually refers to the following Caliphates: Rashidun Caliphate (632 - 661) Umayyad Caliphate (661 - 750) - Successor of the Rashidun Caliphate Umayyad Emirate in Islamic Spain (750 - 929) Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in Islamic Spain (929 - 1031) Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258... Abbasid Caliphate (Abbasid Khalifat) and contemporary states and empires in 820. ... China under the Tang Dynasty (yellow) and its sphere of influence Capital Changan (618–904) Luoyang (904-907) Language(s) Middle Chinese Religion Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism Government Monarchy Emperor  - 618-626 Emperor Gaozu  - 684, 705-710 Emperor Zhongzong  - 684, 710-712 Emperor Ruizong  - 904-907 Emperor Ai History  - Li... Syr Darya (also known as Syrdarya or Sirdaryo) is a river in Central Asia. ... The Talas River spans territory in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. ...

The defeat was partly a result of the defection of Qarluq mercenaries and the retreat of Ferghana allies who originally supported the Chinese. The Ferghana forces successfully (though inadvertently) cut the Chinese troops off from the rest of their army and their route of retreat. The commander of the Tang forces, Gao Xianzhi, realized his defeat was imminent and managed to escape with some of his Tang regulars with the help of Li Siye. Despite losing the battle, Li did inflict heavy losses on the pursuing Arab army after being reproached by Duan Xiushi. Though Gao was able to rebuild his forces within months, he never again gained the confidence of the local tribes residing in the area.^[7] The Qarluq (Karluk) were originally a nomadic turkic tribe based on the transoxania steppes (roughly east and south of the Aral Sea) in Central Asia. ... The Fergana Valley or Farghana Valley (Uzbek: , Kyrgyz: Фергана өрөөнү, Tajik: водии Фaрғонa, Russian: , Persian: ) is a region in the Tian Shan mountain ranges of Central Asia spreading across eastern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Duan Xiushi was a Tang commander in the Battle of Talas. ...

The Chinese name Daluosi (怛罗斯, Talas) was first seen in the account of Xuanzang. Du Huan located the city near the western drain of the Chui River.^[8] The exact location of the battle has not been confirmed but is believed to be near Taraz (once named Zhambyl), in present day Kazakhstan. A portrait of Xuanzang Xuanzang (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hsüan-tsang; CantoneseIPA: jyn4tsɔŋ1; CantoneseJyutping: jyun4zong1) was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler and translator that brought up the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period. ... The Chu (or Chui or Chuy) (Russian: , Kyrgyz: , Kazakh: ) is one of the longest rivers in Kyrgyzstan and drains the northern Kyrgyz ranges of the western Tian Shan, flowing through the Chuy valley near the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek before leaving Kyrgyzstan and flowing into Kazakhstan. ... Taraz (formerly Zhambyl or Dzhambul) is a city and a center of the Zhambyl oblysy in Kazakhstan. ... Taraz (formerly Zhambyl or Dzhambul) is a city and a center of oblystar in Kazakhstan. ...

Background

Prior to the battle, there were two other indirect encounters between the combatants. The first occurred in 715 when Alutar, the new king of Ferghana, was installed by both alleged Arabs and Tibetans. The deposed king Ikhshid fled and sought for Chinese intervention in Kucha (seat of Anxi Protectorate). The Chinese sent 10,000 troops under Zhang Xiaosong to Ferghana. He defeated the puppet Alutar at Namangan and reinstalled Ikhshid; three Sogdian cities were massacred as a result of the battle. The second occurred in 717 when both alleged Arabs and Tibetans were guided by the Turgesh and besieged two cities, roughly in the area of Aksu. The Chinese Tang Jiahui responded by sending an army composed of Qarluq mercenaries and Ashina Xin (client qaghan of Onoq) to attack them. The result of the battle is unknown.^[9] Events August 11 - Germanus is translated from the bishopric of Cyzicus to the Patriarch of Constantinople Umayyad caliph al-Walid I ibn Abd al-Malik succeeded by Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik End of the reign of Empress Gemmei of Japan, she is succeeded by Empress Gensho. ... The Fergana Valley or Farghana Valley (Uzbek: , Kyrgyz: Фергана өрөөнү, Tajik: водии Фaрғонa, Russian: , Persian: ) is a region in the Tian Shan mountain ranges of Central Asia spreading across eastern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. ... Tibetan can refer to: A place or item from Tibet. ... Kucha/Kuchar (Chinese Simplified: 库车; Traditional: 庫車; pinyin Kùchē; also romanized as Chiu-tzu, Kiu-che, Kuei-tzu. ... The Protectorate General to Pacify the West or Grand Protectorate General to Pacify the West (安西大都护府) (640-790) was a military government established by Tang Dynasty China in 640 to manage regions of Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains. ... Namangan (Russian:Наманган), is a city (1994 pop. ... The Sogdians were an ancient people of Central Asia, who inhabited the region known to the West as Sogdiana. ... March 21 - Battle of Vincy between Charles Martel and Ragenfrid. ... The Turgesh (also Turgish or Türgish - known as Tuchishi in Chinese) were a Turkic tribal confederation who emerged from the ruins of the Western Turkic Khaganate. ... Aksu, city (1994 est. ...

Aftermath

Shortly after the battle of Talas, the domestic rebellion of An Lushan (755－763) and subsequent warlordism (763 onwards), caused the decline of Tang influence in Central Asia by the end of the 700's. The local Tang tributaries then switched to the authority of the Abbasids, Tibetans, or Uighurs and the introduction of Islam was thus facilitated among the Turkic peoples. Well supported by the Ummayads, the Qarluqs established a state that would be absorbed in the late 9th century by the Kara-Khanid Khanate. The Anshi Rebellion (安史之亂 pinyin: an1 shi3 zhi1 luan4) occurred in China, during the Tang Dynasty, from 756 to 763. ... German Emperors bore the title of Warlord (German: Kriegsherr), sometimes as a formal label of honour, sometimes in grim earnest. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... The Turkic people are any of various peoples whose members speak languages in the Turkic family of languages. ... The Qarluq (Karluk) were originally a nomadic turkic tribe based on the transoxania steppes (roughly east and south of the Aral Sea) in Central Asia. ... A state is a political association with effective dominion over a geographic area. ... As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was that century that lasted from 801 to 900. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

With the successful cooperation of Arabs and Turkic peoples, Islam began to exert its influence on the Turkic culture. This article is about the various peoples speaking one of the Turkic languages. ...

Historical significance

Among the earliest historians to proclaim the importance of this battle was the great Russian historian of Muslim central Asia, Barthold, according to whom, "The earlier Arab historians, occupied with the narrative of events then taking place in western Asia, do not mention this battle; but it is undoubtedly of great importance in the history of (Western) Turkestan as it determined the question which of the two civilizations, the Chinese or the Muslim, should predominate in the land (of Turkestan)."^[4] There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ... Vasily Vladimirovich Bartold, also known as Wilhelm Barthold (1869-1930) was a Russian anthropologist who came to be recognized as one of the founding fathers of Turcology. ...

However, claims that the battle itself was significant are not well-supported by historical evidence. The dry and simplistic recounting of the battle itself in Chinese accounts shows that it may have been no more than a border skirmish. Most of the sources for this battle barely mention the Chinese defeat, leaving a duration of five days undescribed, with exception for the dialogues after the defeat.^[10] According to Barthold, for the history of the first three centuries of Islam, al-Tabari was the chief source (survived in Ibn al Athir's compilation), which was brought down to 915. (Unfortunately, this important work was only compiled and published by a group of Orientalists in 1901.) It is only in Athir that we find an accurate account of the conflict between the Arabs and the Chinese in 751, one which decided the fate of the western part of central Asia. Neither Tabari nor the early historical works of the Arabs which have come down to us in general make any mention of this; however, Athir's statement is completely confirmed by the Chinese History of the Tang Dynasty.^[11] It must be noted that in all Arab sources, the events which occurred in the eastern part of the empire are often dealt with briefly.^[12] Another notable informant of the battle on the Muslim side was Al-Dhahabi (1274-1348).^[13] Balamis 14th century Persian version of Universal History by al-Tabari Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari 838–923 (father of Jafar, named Muhammad, son of Jarir from the province of Tabaristan, Arabic الطبري), was an author from Persia, one of the earliest, most prominent and famous Persian... Abu al-Hasan Ali izz al-Din ibn al-Athir (1160 - 1233) was a Kurdish/Islamic historian born in Cizîre in present-day south-eastern Turkey, from the Ibn Athir family. ... Orientalism is the study of Near and Far Eastern societies and cultures, by Westerners. ... Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Uthman ibn Qaymaz, Abu Abdullah Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi, ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺃﺣﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺜﻤﺎﻥ ﺑﻦ ﻗﻴﻤﺰ ﺍﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﺍﷲ ﺷﻤﺲ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﺍﻟﺬﻫﺒﻲ the great Shafii hadith master (hafiz) and historian of Islam, born in Damascus in 673/1274. ...

It is of interest to note that the Battle of Talas is seen as the key event in the technological transmission of the paper-making process. The Chinese court eunuch Cai Lun had invented the process in 105 CE. After the battle of Talas, knowledgeable Chinese prisoners of war were ordered to produce paper in Samarkand^[14], and by the year 794 CE, a paper mill could be found in Baghdad, modern-day Iraq. The technology of paper making was thus transmitted to the Islamic world and later to the West. A blank sheet of paper Paper is a commodity of thin material produced by the amalgamation of fibers, typically vegetable fibers composed of cellulose, which are subsequently held together by hydrogen bonding. ... Cài Lún (Wade-Giles: Tsai Lun, 蔡倫) (c. ... Events Roman Empire Trajan starts the second expedition against Dacia. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Samarkand (Tajik: Самарқанд, Persian: ‎ , Uzbek: , Russian: ), population 412,300 in 2005, is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Province. ... Events Kyoto becomes the Japanese capital. ... International Paper Companys Kraft paper mill in Georgetown, South Carolina. ... Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... A blank sheet of paper Paper is a commodity of thin material produced by the amalgamation of fibers, typically vegetable fibers composed of cellulose, which are subsequently held together by hydrogen bonding. ...

Other than the transfer of paper, there is no evidence to support a geopolitical or demographic change resulting from this battle. Several of the factors after the battle had been taken note of prior to 751. Firstly, the Qarluq never in any sense remained opposed to the Chinese after the battle. In 753, the Qarluq Yabgu Dunpijia submitted under the column of Cheng Qianli and captured A-Busi, a betrayed Chinese mercenary of Tongluo (Tiele) chief (who had defected earlier in 743), and received his title in the court on October 22.^[15] Nor did the Chinese expansion halt after the battle; the Chinese commander Feng Changqing, who took over the position from Gao Xianzhi through Wang Zhengjian, virtually swept across the Kashmir region and captured Gilgit shortly in the same year. The Chinese influence to the west of the Pamir Mountains certainly did not cease as the result of the battle; the Ferghana, who participated in the battle earlier, in fact joined among the central Asian auxiliaries with the Chinese army under a summons and entered Gansu during An Lushan's revolt in 756.^[16] Neither did the relations between the Chinese and Arabs worsen, as the Abbasids, like their predecessors (since 652), continued to send embassies to China uninterruptedly after the battle. Such vists had overall resulted in 13 diplomatic gifts between 752－798.^[17] Not all Turkic tribes of the region converted to Islam after the battle either - the date of their mass-conversion to Islam was much later, in the 10th century under Musa.^[18] The Dingling/Gaoche/Chile/Tiele (丁零/高車/æ••å‹’/铁勒) peoples were an ancient Siberian people. ... is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Feng Changqing (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Feng Changching, d. ... Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ... Gilgit Valle,By Rakaposhi Hiking Club Nawabshah Budhas Picture at Kargah,By Rakaposhi Hiking Club Nawabshah Gilgit (Urdu: گلگت) is the capital city of the Northern Areas, Pakistan. ... A photograph of Ismail Samani Peak (then known as Peak Communism) taken in 1989. ... An Lushan (Simplified Chinese: 安禄山; Pinyin: ) (703 - 757) was a military leader of Sogdian origin during the Tang Dynasty in China. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ...

See also

• Du Huan
• Islam during the Tang Dynasty
• Muslim conquests

Du Huan (Chinese: ), born in Changan, was one of a few Chinese captured in the Battle of Talas along with artisans Fan Shu and Liu Ci and fabric weavers Le Wei and Lu Li, as mentioned in his writings. ... One of the earliest mosques in China the The Great Mosque in Xian was built in 742 (according to an engraving on a stone tablet inside) See also: Great Mosque of Xian During the Tang Dynasty, Sa`d led a delegation of the Prophet Muhammad’s Companions to China. ... Age of the Caliphs The initial Muslim conquests (632-732) began after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and were marked by a century of rapid Arab expansion beyond the Arabian peninsula under the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs, ending with the Battle of Tours— resulting in a vast Muslim...

Notes

Khorasan (Persian: خراسان) (also transcribed as Khurasan and Khorassan; Horasan in Turkish) is a region located in eastern Iran. ... The Tongdian (Chinese: ; Wade-Giles: Tungtien) is an important Chinese institutional history and encyclopedia text. ... [Jiu] Tang Shu, [Old] Book of Tang (also, [Chiu] Tang shu), is the first classic work about the Tang Dynasty. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... The Complete History - (Arabic: Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh) is a classic Islamic history book written by Ali ibn al-Athir. ...

References

• Bartold, W [1928] (1992). (Western) Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. ISBN 81-215-0544-3.
• Shouyi, Bai et al (2003). A History of Chinese Muslim (Vol.2). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. ISBN 7-101-02890-X.
• Zongzheng, Xue (1998). Anxi and Beiting Protectorates: A Research on Frontier Policy in Tang Dynasty's Western Boundary. Harbin: Heilongjiang Education Press. ISBN 7-5316-2857-0.
• Sun is Also Fire http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/paksoy-2/cam1.html
• Nationality or Religion http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/paksoy-6/cae02.html