Battle of Talas

The Battle of Talas was a rare direct military clash between the expanding Islamic world and the Tang Chinese Empire at the far reaches of Central Asia. The battle arose from a dispute over control of the Fergana Valley when the ruler of Tashkent appealed to the Arabs after being attacked by a Tang Chinese force under the Korean general Gao Xianzhi. The Abbasid force, recently victorious in overthrowing the Umayyads, met the Tang army at the Talas River. The defection of the Karluk Turk allies from the Chinese force proved decisive; attacked on multiple flanks, the Tang army was routed and Gao Xianzhi barely escaped. The battle is considered a significant turning point in history: it halted Chinese westward expansion and secured Central Asia for Islam, which continues to this day. A historically significant side effect was that Chinese paper-making artisans captured during the battle transmitted that technology to the Muslim world and eventually Europe, accelerating the production of books and knowledge.