Early conquests · 751
Battle of Talas
Kept Central Asia in the Muslim world. Tradition says Chinese prisoners taught papermaking in Samarkand, and paper soon reached Baghdad.
Key facts
- When
- 751
- Where
- Talas River, Kyrgyzstan Kazakhstan border
- Sides
- Abbasid Caliphate vs Tang China
- Commanders
- Ziyad ibn Salih vs Gao Xianzhi
- Result
- Abbasid victory
- Type
- Early conquests
- Chapter
- 3. The Abbasids, the Crusades and the Mongols
The wider picture: The Abbasid golden age
The Abbasids built a new capital at Baghdad in 762. Under Harun al-Rashid and al-Ma'mun, the House of Wisdom translated Greek, Persian and Indian science into Arabic, and al-Khwarizmi wrote the book that gave algebra its name. The four Sunni schools of law took shape in these years.
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