Sogdian traders : : a history / / by Étienne De La Vaissière ; translated by James Ward.

• Superior document: Handbook of Oriental Studies = Handbuck der Orientalistik. Section Eight, Central Asia, Volume 10
• VerfasserIn: La Vaissière, Étienne de,
• TeilnehmendeR: Ward, James,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, [Netherlands] ;, Boston, [Massachusetts] : : Brill,, 2005.; ©2005
• Year of Publication: 2005
• Language: English
• Series: Handbuch der Orientalistik. Handbook of Uralic studies ; Volume 10.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (432 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

The Sogdian Traders were the main go-between of Central Asia from the fifth to the eighth century. From their towns of Samarkand, Bukhara, or Tashkent, their diaspora is attested by texts, inscriptions or archaeology in all the major countries of Asia (India, China, Iran, Turkish Steppe, but also Byzantium). This survey for the first time brings together all the data on their trade, from the beginning, a small-scale trade in the first century BC up to its end in the tenth century. It should interest all the specialists of Ancient and Medieval Asia (including specialists of Sinology, Islamic Studies, Iranology, Turkology and Indology) but also specialists of Medieval Economic History.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- General Introduction -- Introduction -- The Origins of the Sogdian Network: An Attempt at Chronological Delimitation -- About the Ancient Letters -- Trade with India -- Introduction -- Sogdiana, a Major Center of Trade -- In China -- Structures -- Introduction -- The Turco-Sogdian Milieux -- Ambassadors and Merchants: The Western Routes -- Introduction -- The Sogdians in the Islamic World -- Ruptures and Assimilations -- General Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index of Subjects -- Index of Names -- Geographical Index -- Index of Sources -- Handbuch der Orientalistik.