Battle of Talas
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| Battle of Talas | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Arab Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Tang Dynasty conflict over Central Asia | |||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||
| Arab Abbasid Caliphate | Chinese Tang Dynasty | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Ziyad ibn Salih | Gao Xianzhi Li Siye Duan Xiushi |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 50,000 to 150,000 (40,000 Khorasan troops + troops of Arab protectorates + defected Qarluq mercenaries) [1] |
30,000 to 100,000 (20,000 Tang troops + troops of Chinese protectorates + Qarluq mercenaries who later defected) [2] |
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| Casualties | |||||||
| Unknown | Gao retreated with thousand survivors | ||||||
The Battle of Talas in 751 was a conflict between the Arab Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Tang Dynasty for control of Central Asia. The Chinese army was defeated following the routing of their infantry by the Abbasid cavalry on the bank of the River Talas. The defeat was partly a result of the defection of Qarluq mercenaries who originally supported the Chinese. The Qarluq successfully cut the Chinese infantry off from the rest of their army. The commander of the Tang forces, Gao Xianzhi, realized his defeat was imminent and managed to escape with some of his Tang regulars.[3] Though Gao was able to rebuild his forces within months, he never again gained the confidence of the local tribes residing in the area.
The exact location of the battle has not been confirmed but is believed to be near Taraz (once named Zhambyl) in present day Kazakhstan.
Of interest to note, the Battle of Talas is seen as the key event in the technological transmission of the paper-making process, from China to the Islamic world and the West. The Chinese court eunuch Cai Lun had invented the process in 105 AD. Soon after the Battle of Talas, by the year 794 AD, a paper mill could be found in Baghdad, modern-day Iraq.
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[edit] Historical significance
An almost certainly apocryphal story states that 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 [1]. With the successful cooperation of Arabs and Turkic peoples, Islam began to exert its influence on the Turkic culture.
Shortly after, 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, 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.
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)." [2]
However, claims that the battle itself was significant are not well-supported by historical evidence. The dry and simplistic recount of the battle itself from both Chinese and Arab sources shows that it may have been no more than a border skirmish. The prominent Muslim historian of the time, Al-Tabari did not mention this battle by name, but did refer to a battle against Chinese forces. 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. 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. [3]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ The number of troops from Arab protectorates was not recorded by either side.
- ^ Chinese accounts in the Twenty-Four Histories suggests there 30,000 Chinese troops in total, while Arab accounts from historian Al-Dhahabi suggests there were 100,000.
- ^ 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
[edit] External links
- Battle of Talas Discussion and Analysis of the Battle
