The
Talas River rises in the
Talas ProvinceTalas Province is a province of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Talas. It is bordered on the west and north by Jambyl Province of Kazakhstan, on the east by Chui Province, on the south by Jalal-Abad Province and on the southwest by a finger of Uzbekistan. It is basically a U-shaped valley open to the...
of
KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
and flows west into
KazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. It is formed from the confluence of the Karakol and Uch-Koshoy. It runs through the city of
TarazTaraz , is a city and a center of the Jambyl Province in Kazakhstan. It is located in the south of Kazakhstan, near the border with Kyrgyzstan, on the Talas River...
in
Zhambyl ProvinceJambyl Province is a province of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Taraz. The population of the province is 1,000,000; the city is 335,100. The province borders Kyrgyzstan, and is very near Uzbekistan. Jambyl also borders three other provinces: Karagandy Province, South Kazakhstan Province and Almaty...
of
KazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
and vanishes before reaching Lake Aydyn.
During the
Battle of TalasThe Battle of Talas in 751 AD was an especially notable conflict between the Arab Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Tang Dynasty for control not only of the Syr Darya region, but even more...
(named after the river) in
751Year 751 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 751 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Pepin the Short is elected as king of the...
, the combined
ArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
, and
TurkicThe Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
forces defeated the invading
TangThe Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
ChineseChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
blocking
Tang DynastyThe Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
's westward expansion.
The
Ili,
Chu and
Talas rivers are three steppe rivers that flow west and then northwest. The
Ili Riverthumb|right|300px|Map of the Lake Balkhash drainage basin showing the Ili River and its tributariesThe Ili River is a river in northwestern China and southeastern Kazakhstan .It is long, of which is in Kazakhstan...
rises in
XinjiangXinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
, flows west to a point north of Lake
Issyk KulIssyk Kul is an endorheic lake in the northern Tian Shan mountains in eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the tenth largest lake in the world by volume and the second largest saline lake after the Caspian Sea. Although it is surrounded by snow-capped peaks, it never freezes; hence its name, which means "hot...
and then turns northwest to reach Lake Balkash. The
Chu River"Chui River" redirects here. For the South American Chuí or Chuy River, on the Brazil-Uruguay border and Brazil's southernmost point, see Chuí River. For the Nam Sam River or Chu River, on the Lao-Vietnam border, see Nam Sam River....
rises west of Lake Issyk Kul, flows out into the steppe and dries up before reaching the
Syr DaryaThe Syr Darya , also transliterated Syrdarya or Sirdaryo, is a river in Central Asia, sometimes known as the Jaxartes or Yaxartes from its Ancient Greek name . The Greek name is derived from Old Persian, Yakhsha Arta , a reference to the color of the river's water...
. The Talas River starts west and south of the Chu, flows west and northwest, but dries up before reaching the Chu.
The Chinese monk
XuanzangXuanzang was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator who described the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period...
arrived from the Chui river to Talas during one of his journeys.