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Post by alperentjuh on Mar 21, 2012 23:50:21 GMT 3
I did some research about the Battle of Talas and I found a lot of information but there are a lot of different versions of it. I am confused and I don't know what to believe. So, I would like to ask you people if you can tell me what you know about it.
thanks a lot.
Alperen
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Post by H. İhsan Erkoç on Mar 22, 2012 22:13:23 GMT 3
This battle was fought between the newly-founded Arabic Abbasid Caliphate and the Tang Dynasty of China. The previous caliphal dynasty, Umawwids (also known as Umayyads), were controlling Transoxiana but they were not able to conquer the lands east of River Jaxartes (Seyhun in Turkish) because the powerful Türgish Qaghanate had inflicted several military defeats to them. However, after the death of their ruler Sulu Qaghan, the Türgish were divided between two rivaling dynasties and solitary Türgish power in the region was broken. This allowed the energetic Abbasids to cross Jaxartes, posing a serious danger to the Tang "Five Garnisons" which were located in the Tarim Basin city-states of eastern Turkestan. To expel the Arabs, the Tang sent their "Western Army" of these garrisons under the command of the Korean general Go Seon-ji (Gao Xian-zhi 高仙芝 in Chinese). This Chinese army crossed the Tianshan (Tengri Mountains) into western Turkestan and captured several city-states. At Tashkend, Gao Xian-zhi murdered the local king, (if I recall correctly) claiming that he was conspiring against the Chinese in favor of the Arabs. The king's son fled to the Abbasids and called them for help. In the meanwhile, supported by Qarluq auxiliaries, the Tang army advanced as far as Talas where they faced the Abbasid army. A bitter battle was fought without any clear results for four days, but realizing that the Chinese had no future in Turkestan, the Qarluqs decided to switch sides in the fifth day and joined the Arabs. This Abbasid-Qarluq alliance defeated Tang forces and Gao Xian-zhi had to flee back to the "Five Garrisons". The Arabs invaded as far as Kashghar but withdrew from the region afterwards. Many Chinese soldiers were captured by the Arabs and with the help of these, the Abbasids soon established a printing house in Samarqand, which in time resulted with the introduction of paper in the Middle East and in Europe (there was even a Chinese captive soldier who traveled as west as the Mediterrenean, and upon his return to China, wrote down his memoirs). Because the garrison forces of Tang in the Tarim Basin were completely destroyed, the neighboring Tibetans invaded the region and captured all the Tarm-Basin cities, driving the Chinese out of Turkestan. The Tang wanted to re-capture the Tarim Basin, but right at that time An Lu-shan 安祿山, the Tang general of Soghdian-Turkic origins, rebelled in northern China to overthrow Tang and establish his own dynasty (however, contrary to popular thinking, the Battle of Talas was not the cause of this rebellion - it was just a coincidence). In the following years, the Tang was busy with dealing with An Lu-shan so they never managed to re-capture the Tarim Basin from the Tibetans.
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Post by H. İhsan Erkoç on Mar 22, 2012 22:14:32 GMT 3
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Post by alperentjuh on Mar 22, 2012 23:38:40 GMT 3
Yes, I've read the battle of Talas on wikipedia. But I do more research before I believe something. This is usefull. Thanks.
Troop strength
The numeric quantities of the combatants involved in the Battle of Talas are not known with certainty, however various estimates exist. The Abbasid army (200,000 Muslim troops according to Chinese estimates, though these numbers may be greatly exaggerated) which included contingents from their Tibetan and Uyghur allies met the combined army of 10,000 Tang Chinese and 20,000 Karluks mercenary (Arab records put the Chinese forces at 100,000 which also may be greatly exaggerated).
Were the chinese that weak?
Can you tell me what you know about the troop strength?
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Post by H. İhsan Erkoç on Mar 24, 2012 13:10:17 GMT 3
It is not so easy to get actual and realistic troop numbers from Medieval sources, but it seems like the Chinese field army at Talas was not a very big force as it was composed of only garrison troops from the Tarim Basin cities, plus Qarluq auxiliaries who later defected. Due to the geography of the region, it was not easy to field and feed large armies at the Tarim Basin because it was mostly made up of deserts. The great distance between there and mainland China also caused the Chinese to send only minimal amounts of military forces to the region.
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Post by alperentjuh on Mar 24, 2012 21:53:12 GMT 3
oh that seems logical thanks
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