Battle of Aksu (717)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Battle of Aksu | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
Tang dynasty Karluks Western Turks |
Umayyad Caliphate Tibetan Empire Turgesh allies[1] | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Tang Jiahui Ashina Xin[1][dubious – discuss] Ashina Xian[2] Kül Tigin [3] |
Al-Yashkuri, (Arab commander)[4] Turgesh Khan Suluk.[5][6] | ||||||
The Battle of Aksu (Chinese: 撥換城之戰; Arabic: معركة أقسو) was fought between the Umayyad Caliphate, and their Turgesh and Tibetan allies, against the Tang dynasty, and their Karluk and Western Turk allies. In 717 AD, the Umayyads, guided by their Turgesh allies, besieged Buat-ɦuɑn (Aksu) and Dai-dʑiᴇk-dʑiᴇŋ (Uqturpan) in the Aksu region of Xinjiang. Tang troops backed by their protectorates in the region attacked and routed the besieging Umayyads forcing them to retreat.[1]
The battle took place somewhere in the Xinjiang region near modern China's border with Kyrgyzstan.[1]
Background
The first encounter between the Tang Chinese and the Umayyad Arabs had occurred in 715 AD when Ikhshid, the king of the Fergana Valley, was deposed with the help of the Umayyad Caliphate and a new king Alutar was installed on the throne. The deposed king fled to Kucha (seat of the Anxi Protectorate), and sought Chinese intervention. The Chinese sent 10,000 troops under Zhang Xiaosong to Ferghana. He defeated Alutar and the Umayyad occupation force at Namangan and reinstalled Ikhshid on the throne.[1] In 717 AD, the Arabs attacked Transoxiana again hoping to capture the Tang dynasty's Four Garrisons of Anxi district. The invading Umayyad forces captured several forts in Ferghana and had taken control of all of Ferghana. The Umayyads then captured Kashgar and proceeded on towards Aksu.[1]