Abbasid Caliphate · 751-800

Talas 751 and the road of paper

In 751 Abbasid and Tang Chinese armies met near the Talas River. Students explore where two great empires touched on the Silk Road, and how paper spread west, which mattered far longer than the battle.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 800
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 751 Abbasid and Tang Chinese armies met near the Talas River. Students explore where two great empires touched on the Silk Road, and how paper spread west, which mattered far longer than the battle.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Talas River, Samarkand and Baghdad along the Silk Road.
  • Describe what happened at the Battle of Talas in 751.
  • Explain how paper spread to the Islamic world and why it mattered.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 800

Two empires meet

Open the map in 800 and zoom out over Central Asia. Find the Abbasid Caliphate and look east towards China. Where do the two worlds come closest?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 800

The Silk Road

Turn on the Trade Routes layer and follow the Silk Road from Chang'an (Xi'an) to Samarkand and Baghdad. Which cities would a merchant pass?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 800

Samarkand

Zoom in on Samarkand with the Cities layer on. Paper made here became famous across the Islamic world. Why would a Silk Road city be a good place to make and sell paper?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Why did the Abbasid Caliphate and Tang China end up fighting so far from their capitals?
  2. A famous story says Chinese prisoners taught papermaking in Samarkand after Talas. Why do historians doubt it, and why do such stories survive?
  3. Paper was cheaper than parchment made from animal skin. What could a government or a scholar do with cheap paper?
  4. Four years after Talas, a huge rebellion broke out inside China. Which mattered more for Central Asia's future: the battle or the rebellion?
  5. Central Asia slowly became mostly Muslim over the following centuries. How might trade, scholars and rulers each help a religion spread?
4

Game round

9 min

Play one round of Rule History as Wu Zetian, who ruled Tang China a few decades before Talas. Discuss: why did Tang emperors want to control the oasis cities of Central Asia, and what changed for them after 751?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.