This article examines Sogdian caravan routes, trading colonies, and the institutionalization of diaspora networks along the eastern direction in the 5th–8th centuries CE, drawing on diverse sources. The study compares epigraphic evidence (Sogdian epitaphs around Chang’an and Luoyang), Chinese dynastic histories, archaeological materials, numismatic data, and a corpus of caravan letters. The findings reconstruct a main route chain – Sogd–Fergana–Semirechye–Tarim Basin–Gansu passage–Chang’an/Luoyang–Yangzhou/Guangzhou – and identify key commercial “nodes” in Turfan, Kucha, Khotan, and Dunhuang. The sabao office strengthened Sogdians’ legal and social standing, while credit-based caravan practices and sensitivity to market signals helped secure long-term positions in eastern markets. Conclusions are grounded in a combination of comparative historical analysis, network analysis, and microhistory.
Sogdians’ Eastern Trade Networks (5th–8th Centuries)
DOI:
Keywords:
Abstract
Downloads
References
de la Vaissière, Étienne. Sogdian Traders: A History. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2005. — 336 бет. (Қаранг, айниқса: p. 3; p. 45–68; p. 121–140).
Hansen, Valerie. The Silk Road: A New History. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. — 320 бет. (Қаранг: p. 6; p. 95–130).
Litvinsky, B. A. (ed.). History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III: The Crossroads of Civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 1996. — 568 бет. (Муносабатли фасллар: pp. 185–240; 335–372).
Rong, Xinjiang. The Silk Road and the Sogdian Colonies in China: A Reappraisal. The Silk Road, Vol. 3 (2005), Seattle: Silkroad Foundation, pp. 3–10.
Skaff, Jonathan K. Sui-Tang China and Its Turko-Mongol Neighbors: Culture, Power, and Connections, 580–800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. — 364 бет. (Қаранг: p. 140–160; p. 201–210).
Beckwith, Christopher I. Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2009. — 472 бет. (Қаранг: p. 120–150).
Whitfield, Susan. Life Along the Silk Road. London: John Murray Publishers, 1999; revised ed. 2015. — 288 бет. (Қаранг: p. 45–78; p. 155–180).
Liu, Xinru. The Silk Road in World History. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. — 168 бет. (Қаранг: p. 51–84).