The Battle of Aksu () was fought between Arabs of the
Umayyad Caliphate and their
Turgesh and
Tibetan Empire allies against the
Tang dynasty of China. In 717 AD, the Arabs, guided by their Turgesh allies, besieged Buat-ɦuɑn (
Aksu Aksu or Aqsu ( Turkic: "white water") may refer to:
People
* Aksu Hanttu (born 1979), Finnish musician, record producer and sound engineer
* Aksu (surname)
Places
Armenia
* Akhsu, Armenia
Azerbaijan
* Agsu Rayon, a district of Azerbaijan
** ...
) and Dai-dʑiᴇk-dʑiᴇŋ (
Uqturpan
Uqturpan County, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency or Uchturpan County ( transliterated from ; ), also Wushi County (), is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region under the administration of Aksu Prefecture and sha ...
) in the
Aksu region of Xinjiang. Tang troops backed by their protectorates in the region attacked and routed the besieging Arabs forcing them to retreat.
[
]
Location
The battle took place somewhere in the Xinjiang region near modern China's border with Kyrgyzstan.[
]
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
The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan.
Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...
, was deposed with the help of the Arabs
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, No ...
of the Umayyad Caliphate and a new king Alutar
The Principality of Farghana (also spelled ''Ferghana'', ''Fergana'', and ''Fargana''), was a local Iranian dynasty of Sogdian origin, which ruled the Farghana region from an unknown date to 819. The rulers of the region were known by their title ...
was installed on the throne. The deposed king fled to Kucha (seat of the Anxi Protectorate
The Protectorate General to Pacify the West (Anxi Grand Protectorate), initially the Protectorate to Pacify the West (Anxi Protectorate), was a protectorate (640 – ) established by the Chinese Tang dynasty in 640 to control the Tarim Basin. T ...
), and sought Chinese intervention. The Chinese sent 10,000 troops under Zhang Xiaosong to Ferghana
Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...
. He defeated Alutar and the Arab occupation force at Namangan
Namangan (; ) is a city in eastern Uzbekistan. It is the administrative, economic, and cultural center of Namangan Region. Administratively, it is a district-level city. Namangan is located in the northern edge of the Fergana Valley, less than 30 ...
and reinstalled Ikhshid on the throne.[* Bai, Shouyi et al. (2003). ''A History of Chinese Muslim (Vol.2)''. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. ., pp. 235-236]
In 717 AD, the Arabs attacked Transoxiana
Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...
again hoping to capture the Tang dynasty's Four Garrisons of Anxi
The Four Garrisons of Anxi were Chinese military garrisons installed by the Tang dynasty between 648 and 658. They were stationed at the Indo-European city-states of Qiuci (Kucha), Yutian (Hotan), Shule (Kashgar) and Yanqi ( Karashahr). The ...
district. The invading Arab forces captured several forts in Ferghana and had taken control of all of Ferghana. The Arabs then captured Kashgar and proceeded on towards Aksu.[
]
Battle
In 717 AD, the Umayyad Arabs along with their Turgesh and Tibetan allies besieged two cities in the Aksu region which was under Chinese protection. The commander of China's four Anxi garrisons in Central Asia, Tang Jiahui, sent two armies: one composed of Tang irregular troops led by Jiahui himself and the other composed of Karluk horsemen led by Ashina Xin.[ In the resulting battle, the Arab army was heavily defeated and forced to retreat. Many Arab troops were taken prisoner but were subsequently released after the Caliphate paid a ransom in gold.
]
Aftermath
As a result of the battle, the Arabs were expelled from Northern Transoxiana. The Turgesh submitted to the Tang and subsequently attacked the Arabs in Ferghana. For their loyalty, the Tang emperor conferred imperial titles on the Turgesh khagan Suluk and awarded him the city of Suyab.[Zongzheng, Xue (1992), p. 596-597,669] With Chinese backing, the Turgesh launched punitive attacks into Arab territory eventually wresting all of Ferghana from the Arabs with the exception of a few forts.
References
{{Reflist
Aksu 717
717
Aksu 717
Aksu 717
710s in the Umayyad Caliphate