Tang Anxi Protectorate

Timeline

1. c. 701–750Kucha · Northern foothills of the TianshanFrom Wu Zhou through the High Tang, the Anxi Protectorate was seated at Kucha, governing the Four Garrisons of Anxi, with a protector, deputy protector, and frontier commands; it administered jimi states, collected tribute and labor, and protected Silk Road trade, its reach extending west of the Pamirs.
2. 751–755Talas (area related to the battle) · TalasGao Xianzhi led Anxi forces to defeat at Talas by an alliance of the Abbasids and Karluk; Tang military prestige in the Western Regions suffered, and although the Four Garrisons nominally remained, the ability to check Abbasid eastward expansion was clearly weakened.
3. c. 756–800Kucha · Northern foothills of the TianshanAfter the An Lushan Rebellion broke out, forces in the Central Plains were redeployed eastward, Tibet advanced eastward, and the Anxi Protectorate was cut off from the court, becoming an isolated enclave holding out alone; by the Dezong era it nominally survived but its actual control had greatly shrunk.