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the program. Hello in the steps of Central Asia in your remote setting near the border

between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan is a river called the

Tallas. In July 751 it was the site of a battle between the forces of the Abbasid

caliphate and the Tongue dynasty. It was the only confrontation ever to take place between

Arab and Chinese armies. The Arabs won. But Tullus marks the point where the Islamic Empire

halted its march eastward and where the Chinese stopped their expansion

to the West. It was a turning point in the global balance of power. In the years following the battle

Islam became the dominant religion from the Mediterranean to the Himalayas.

But it was also a moment of great cultural exchange.

According to tradition, paper was first introduced into the West by Chinese prisoners of war

captured by the Arabs. With me to discuss the Battle of Tales are

Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of

London, Hillidaviet, Professor of Chinese History at Leiden University, and Michelle

Hookleman, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History at King's College

...