Wang Xiaodong 
Glorious Anxi of the Tang Empire 

In the middle of the eighth century, the Tang Dynasty”s control of the western regions reached its zenith. Anxi frontier command, one of the two major frontier commands in border area, had a vast territory under its jurisdiction, with Dashi in the west and Tubo in the south. Some of the region”s nomadic tribes were equally fierce, fighting for living space between the powers. Gao Xianzhi was fighting a decisive battle with the united army of Dashi on Talas with the help of defenders of Anxi (now Tara City, Kazakhstan). Although it is a local war between two sides, the Battle of Talas was a key battle for central Asia during the Tang Dynasty at its height.