Battle of Talas
Abbasid and Karluk forces rout Gao Xianzhi at Talas
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗Gao's few thousand survivors reportedly had to fight through their own panicked Ferganan allies before they could get clear.
751, beyond Chach
Ziyad ibn Salih advanced beyond Chach and occupied Talas in 751, which prompted Gao Xianzhi to march from Kucha with Tang, Ferganan and Karluk forces to confront him.
The quarrel behind it was recent. Gao had deceptively captured and sacked Chach in 750 and Emperor Xuanzong had executed its king, driving an escaped Chach prince and other Sogdians to appeal to Ziyad for vengeance.
The year is secure but no exact day survives; July is commonly given from later Islamic chronology.
Five days, then a defection
Chinese sources describe a five-day confrontation near Talas, after which the Karluks changed sides and joined Ziyad's forces in routing Gao's army.
Gao's total force including allied contingents is put at about 20,000 to 30,000. He escaped with a few thousand men, who reportedly had to fight through panicked Ferganan allies obstructing the retreat.
No extant source gives a reliable size for Ziyad's army, and the battlefield has not been identified beyond the Talas region.
What it did not settle
Gao was soon removed from the Anxi command, and Abbasid influence expanded into Chach and possibly Talas.
Tang power in Central Asia did not end there: the Anxi forces were rebuilt and campaigned successfully in 753. No primary source supports the frequent claim that a Tibetan army fought for the Abbasids at Talas.
Among the captured Tang soldiers was Du Huan, who remained in the Islamic world and returned to China by sea in 762.
Sources
Researched 23 Aug 2026 4 sources not yet audited
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What the sources leave uncertain
- The year 751 is secure, but no exact day survives. July is commonly given from later Islamic chronology.
- The precise battlefield has not been identified beyond the Talas/Taraz region.
- The surviving accounts are brief. Chinese sources describe Karluk defection, but their motive is a modern inference; other traditions may treat the Karluks as Abbasid allies from the outset.
- No extant source gives a reliable size for Ziyad's Abbasid army.