History 1113
The Societies of the Silk Road
I. The Silk Road: Geography and Basic Politics
A. Geography
B. Major States in the Region c. 600 C.E.
1. China
2. Tibet
3. Islamic Empire
4. Turkic/Nomadic Empires
5.Tarim City-States & Oasis States
II. The Sogdians: The Middlemen of the Silk Road
A. Origins
B. Religion
C. Role in the Silk Road Trade
1. Role of the Middleman
2. How the Trade Worked
a. Three kinds of merchants:
b. Settlements
c. Transportation
III. Religious Migrants: The Other Middlemen of the Silk
Road
A. Buddhism
B. Infrastructures
C. Achievements
Key Terms:
Samarkand
Uzbekistan
Chang'an
Mongolia
Himalayan Mountains
Pamir Mountains
Sogdiana
Oxus River
Tarim basin
Lop-nor
Gansu Corridor
Dunhuang
Sui dynasty
Tang dynasty
Xianbi/
Aza
Yarlung Valley
Ordos Steppe Lands
Gobi Steppe Lands
Kashmir
Umayyid dynasty
Abbasid dynasty
Kucha
Khotan
Bactria
Zerafshan River
Saleucid empire
Buddhism
Judaism
Manichaeism
Zorastrianism
Christianity
Islam
Balkh
Chach
caravanserai
entrepôts
princely courts
city-states
garrisons
staging posts
merchant colonies
yaks
horses
camels
Kushan empire
King Qu-Wentai (r. 623-630)
King Harsha (r. 606-647/8, 590-647/8)