Battle of Talas
Talas River, Tang dynasty
What happened
General Gao Xianzhi, a Tang dynasty commander of Korean (Goguryeo) descent, led the Chinese army against the Abbasid army of Ziyad ibn Salih, who was reinforced by the governor Abu Muslim. A quarrel over the city of Shash, today's Tashkent, drew the Tang Chinese and the Abbasid Arabs into war in Central Asia. Their armies met near the Talas River and fought for several days without a winner. On the fifth day, Karluk soldiers in the Tang army changed sides, and the Tang army was defeated, though Gao Xianzhi escaped.
Why it matters
Why it matters: The battle ended Tang Chinese power west of the mountains in the region called Transoxiana. Historians disagree about how important it was: some call it decisive, while others see it as a border clash, since relations between the two empires soon resumed.
What came next
In 755 the An Lushan rebellion broke out in China, forcing the Tang to pull back from Central Asia. Gao Xianzhi died in 756, executed during the rebellion.
Did you know?
A later Arab writer claimed that Chinese prisoners taken at Talas taught papermaking in Samarkand, but historians doubt it, because paper was already used in Central Asia.
Timeline
- 747Gao Xianzhi leads a Tang army across the Pamir mountains to Lesser Bolü, near Gilgit.
- July 751Tang and Abbasid armies fight near the Talas River.
- 755The An Lushan rebellion begins in China.
- 24 January 756Gao Xianzhi is executed during the rebellion.