Storiascopio · Era 7 of 12 · lower secondary year 1
Paper reaches Samarkand
about AD 751 · Samarkand (now Uzbekistan)
In short
Paper had been invented in China many centuries earlier. One tradition says that in AD 751, after the Battle of Talas between Arabs and Chinese, some Chinese prisoners taught people in Samarkand how to make it. Historians today think this is mostly a legend, because paper had already been used in Central Asia for some time. What is certain is that Samarkand became famous for its paper and that from there the craft reached Baghdad and the whole Islamic world.
Why it matters Paper cost less than parchment and made it possible to copy and spread many more books.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Paper”
Where we are in the era “Early Middle Ages”
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about AD 480Event 11 of 25about 1000
Your turn
Name ______________________ Class ______ Date __________
When did it happen? Find the date at the top and write it here:
Tell it in your own words: what happened?
Draw the scene below.
storiascopio.com/en/event/paper-reaches-samarkand/ · free worksheet, you may photocopy it for your class