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Hello, in the steps of Central Asia,

a new remote setting near the border between Kazakhstan and Kegastan

is a river called the Talas.

In July, 7501, it was the site of a battle between the forces of the Abbasid

caliphate and the Tong Dynasty.

It was the only confrontation ever to take place

between Arab and Chinese armies.

The Arabs won, but Talas 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 Talas

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

at the University of London, Hilary David, Professor of Chinese history at Leiden University,

and Michelle Hukleman, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History

...