How did the Muslims get paper?

How did the Muslims get paper?

• A. From the Tang Chinese at the Battle of Talas River
• B. From the Romans
• C. From India
• D. From Persia

Answer: (A)

Papermaking technology spread from China to the Muslim world, not from Rome, India, or Persia, and the turning point is the encounter at the Talas River. Around 751 CE, the Abbasid Caliphate clashed with the Tang dynasty there, and in the aftermath some Chinese workers with papermaking know‑how were brought into the Islamic world. These artisans and their methods introduced the production of paper to places like Baghdad, transforming record‑keeping, administration, and later scholarship. Over the following centuries, paper mills and the broader culture of paper use spread across the Islamic world and into Europe. So the Muslims got paper through the diffusion of Chinese technique after the Battle of Talas, rather than from Romans, India, or Persia, which were not the source of the initial papermaking technology.

Papermaking technology spread from China to the Muslim world, not from Rome, India, or Persia, and the turning point is the encounter at the Talas River. Around 751 CE, the Abbasid Caliphate clashed with the Tang dynasty there, and in the aftermath some Chinese workers with papermaking know‑how were brought into the Islamic world. These artisans and their methods introduced the production of paper to places like Baghdad, transforming record‑keeping, administration, and later scholarship. Over the following centuries, paper mills and the broader culture of paper use spread across the Islamic world and into Europe. So the Muslims got paper through the diffusion of Chinese technique after the Battle of Talas, rather than from Romans, India, or Persia, which were not the source of the initial papermaking technology.