The first windmills had long vertical

The first windmills had long vertical shafts with rectangle shaped blades and appeared in Persia in the 9th century.[3] The authenticity of an earlier anecdote of a windmill involving the second caliph Umar (634-644 AD) is questioned on the grounds of being a 10th century amendment.[5] Made of six to twelve sails covered in reed matting or cloth material, these windmills were used to grind corn or draw up water, and quite different from the European versions. A similar type of vertical shaft windmill with rectangle blades, used for irrigation, can also be found in 13th century China, introduced by the travels of Yelü Chucai to Turkestan in 1219.[6]