How a Silk Road Conflict Made Paper Global

The Battle of Talas River changed how knowledge speread worldwide

“Paper is more patient than man.” — Anne Frank

I can’t imagine a world without printed books. I still write notes in a diary with a pen. Paper was inseparable from reading and writing when I grew up. Maybe some of you can relate to this. Though I’ve embraced technology, paper remains a vital part of my life.

Books transformed the way information spread. But they were costly in ancient times. The invention of paper changed that. However, paper wasn’t always readily available. Its production was a closely guarded secret in China.

A forgotten battle in eighth-century Central Asia unlocked the secrets of papermaking, revolutionizing the spread of knowledge and making it accessible to millions worldwide.

The conflict was between the Tang Dynasty of China and the Abbasid Caliphate, based in Iraq. In 751, they clashed near the Talas River, on the present-day Kazakhstan-Kyrgystan border.

I’m sure you’re curious to know why. But before we dive into the battle, let’s briefly discuss how paper was invented in China.

The Invention of Paper

The oldest paper book, Pi Yu Jing, dated 256 AD, China. Image source and licensing: Wikimedia Commons

Before paper, bamboo and silk were used for writing in China. Bamboo was brittle, and silk was expensive, so only trained professionals wrote.

According to Chinese tradition, a Han official named Cai Lun invented paper in the first century AD. One morning, he saw how paper wasps build nests, giving him an idea. Cai Lun pulverized fishnets, hemp, and mulberry tree bark. The pulp was then beaten with wooden sticks and mashed, and the excess water was sieved.

The mixture was then dried, forming paper.

Though traditional accounts credit Cai Lun with inventing paper, archaeological evidence suggests it may have existed at least a century before his birth. In the Fangmatan site in Gansu province of China, archaeologists have found the oldest surviving paper fragment, dated 179 BC.

The earliest known paper sample dated 179 BCE: A map found in Fangmatan, Gansu, China. Source: Wikimedia.

Scholars believe that although paper existed before Cai Lun, he may have perfected the papermaking process. Advances in paper manufacturing transformed literacy. Historian Timothy Hugh Barrett says a reading culture flourished in China after the invention of paper. Carrying books in carts or by hand became more convenient than holding them in small bundles.

Paper overcame the limitations of bamboo and silk.

The Chinese closely guarded the secrets of papermaking, but knowledge has a way of slipping through the cracks. Soon, parts of Korea, Tibet, and India began manufacturing paper. Despite the knowledge leaking out of Chinese imperial courts, it was yet to become a global phenomenon.

Everything changed with a pivotal battle in Central Asia that would alter the course of history. On the banks of the Talas River, two empires clashed, and in the aftermath, the secrets of papermaking spread across the world. But why did the Chinese and Arabs face off in this remote corner of the world? What was at stake, and how did this conflict reshape the flow of knowledge forever?

To understand the story, let's examine the era's geopolitical situation and the ripple effects of the clash.