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The Battle of Talas in CE 751 was a conflict between the Arab Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Tang Dynasty over the control of Central Asia. Chinese infantry were routed by Arab cavalry near the bank of the River Talas after Qarluq mercenaries supporting the Chinese defected to the Abbasids and cut off the infantry from the rest of the Chinese troops. The commander of the Tang forces, Gao Xianzhi, noticed that he is in a disadvantage and escaped with his few Tang regulars,仙芝惧，领兵二万深入胡地，与大食战，仙芝大败。会夜，两军解，仙芝众为大食所杀，存者不过数千。Tangshu 113 and abandoned the mercenaries. Gao personally ordered the Tang to slay any mercenaries that blockade their retreat. Gao was able to rebuild his forces within months, however, he never again gained the confidence of many tribes residing in the area.
The exact location of the battle has not been confirmed but is believed to be in Kyrgyzstan, southeast of Taraz (once named Zhambyl) in present day Kazakhstan.
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 it "determined the question which of the two civilizations, the Chinese or the Muslim, should predominate in the land (of Turkestan)." *
Significantly, the technology of paper making was transmitted to Central Asia and the Middle East as a result of the battle, as knowledgeable Chinese prisoners of war were ordered to produce paper in Samarkand. With the successful cooperation of Arabs and Turkic Peoples, Islam began to exert its influence on the Turkic culture.
Due to this defeat, the domestic rebellion of An Lushan (755-763) and subsequent warlordism (763 onwards), the Tang ceased to be influential in Central Asia by the end of 8th century. The local Tang tributaries then switched to the authority of the Abbasids, 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.
However, claims that the battle itself was significant are not well-supported by historical evidence. Other than the technological transfer of paper, there is no evidence to support a geopolitical or demographic change resulting from this battle. The fact that the Tang was able to call on Central Asian auxiliaries from places such as Ferghana during An Lushan's revolt shows that Chinese influence certainly continued to exist west of the Pamirs. Nor did the Turkic tribes of the region convert to Islam after the battle -- the date of their conversion was much later in the 10th century by Musa *. The dry and simplistic record on the battle itself from both Chinese and Arabs sources shows that it was no more than a border skirmish. This is further supported by the fact that the prominent Arab historian of the time, Al-Tabari made no mention of this battle. In fact, Gao wanted to have his revenge a few months after a battle, however the An Lushan's rebellion at home stopped his plan nad as he depart to have the governemnt in Chang'an, he personally will never live to come back to this frontier commandary. The next successor of the Commandary, however did many assaults on the abassid caplihate successfully, but with little demographic change.
The travels of Du Huan
Du Huan, born in Chang'an, was one of a few Chinese captured in this battle along with artisans Fan Shu and Liu Ci and fabric weavers Le Wei and Lu Li, as mentioned in his writings. After a long journey through Arab countries, he returned by ship to Guangzhou in 762. There he wrote his Jingxingji (Record of Travels), a work which was almost completely lost. A few extracts survived in Tongdian under volume 192 and 193, an encyclopaedia compiled in 801 by one of his relatives, Du You. In the 8th century, Du You's encyclopaedia quoted Du Huan himself on Molin (North Africa):
We also went to Molin, southwest of Jerusalem. One could reaches this country after having crossed the great desert of Sinai and having travelled 2,000 li (approx. 1500 km). The people there are black, and their customs are bold. There is little rice and cereals, with no grass and trees on this land. The horses are fed with dried fish, and the people eat Gumang. Gumang is a Persian date. Subtropical diseases (Malaria) are widespread. After crossing into the inland countries there is a mountainous country, which gathered a lot of confessions here. They have three confessions, the Arab (Islam), Byzantine (Christianity) and Zimzim (Judaism). The Zimzim practise incest, and in this respect are worst of all the barbarians. The followers under the confession of Arab have a means to denote the degrees of family relations, but it is degenerated and they don't bother about it. They don't eat the meat of pigs, dogs, donkeys and horses, they don't respect neither the king of the country, neither their parents, they don't believe in supernatural powers, perform only sacrifice to heaven (Allah) and to no one else. According their customs, every seventh day is a holiday (Shabbat), on which no trade and no currency transactions are done, whereas when they drink alcohol, and behaving in a ridiculous and undisciplined way during the whole day. In within the confession of Byzantine, there are kind medical doctors who know diarrhea, or they could recognize it before the outbreak of this disease, or worms come out after removing the braincase. 杜环《经行记》云：摩邻国，在秧萨罗国西南，渡大碛行二千里至其国。其人黑，其俗犷，少米麦，无草木，马食干鱼，人餐鹘莽。鹘莽，即波斯枣也。瘴疠特甚。诸国陆行之所经也，山胡则一种，法有数般。有大食法，有大秦法，有寻寻法。其寻寻蒸报，于诸夷狄中最甚，当食不语。其大食法者，以弟子亲戚而作判典，纵有微过，不至相累。不食猪、狗、驴、马等肉，不拜国王、父母之尊，不信鬼神，祀天而已。其俗每七日一假，不买卖，不出纳，唯饮酒谑浪终日。其大秦善医眼及痢，或未病先见，或开脑出虫。Tongdian 193
Notes
External links
- Tour guide of Talas
- Battle of TalasDiscussion and Analysis of the Battle
751 | Battles of China | Battles of the Abbasid Caliphate
Schlacht am Talas | Batalla del Talas | Bataille de Talas | Battaglia del Talas | タラス河畔の戦い | Bitwa nad rzeką Tałas | Таласская битва | 怛罗斯战役
"Battle of Talas"