Battle of Talas

The Battle of Talas was an clash between the unexpected eniemes of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Tang Dynasty. The battle occurred when both the Chinese and the Arabs were expanding into Central Asia. The expanding interests of the empires could not coexist. So in 751 AD, the Arabs and their Tibetan allies clashed with the Chinese and their Karluk mercenaries. The battle became doomed for the Tang Dynasty when its mercenaries defected to the Arabs and the Chinese were defeated. The battle closed off Central Asia to the Chinese and introduced silk to the Arab world, and thru Arab influence the European world also.