Lands of Asia layouts (Eng) 26.11.21

4 .3
along the main route of the Silk Road, through the territory of present-day Iran. The
chronicle The History of the Former Han explicitly describes how ‘The king of this
country always wanted to send envoys to Han, but Anxi [Parthia], wishing to control
the trade in multi-coloured Chinese silks, blocked the route to prevent [the Romans]
getting through [to China].’ 3 Scholars addressing this particular problem believe that
the main route for the flow of Roman goods was along the northern route from the
ancient cities on the northern coast of the Black Sea via the Lower Volga to Central
Asia and further east, and also along the southern sea route from Roman-ruled Egypt
to the ports situated on the west coast of India, especially the port of Barygaza. It is
no mere coincidence that large numbers of Roman coins have been found in India.
From here, Roman goods went northwards to Bactria, which was under the control
of the Kushans, and then eastwards to the countries of the Far East.
At the same time, it would appear that goods of Roman origin or from countries
controlled by Rome, such as Egypt, did still manage to reach Central Asia via the
main artery of the Silk Road or via the northern route.
It is also possible that goods travelled via Egypt and via the Roman-controlled
region of Transcaucasia around the Caspian Sea, with the help of Sarmatian tribes
who controlled those routes. Many Romano-Egyptian objects have been found in
North Caucasian Sarmatian burial mounds. According to the Greek historian Strabo
(1st century AD) the Aorsi, one of the Sarmatian tribes, controlled a road running
along the Caspian Sea and “were thus enabled to transport on camels the merchandise
of India and Babylonia, receiving it from the Armenians and Medes” (Strabo, XI, V,
8). Trade and diplomatic and cultural contacts between the peoples of Central Asia
and Rome became particularly strong with the emergence of the Kushan Kingdom in
the first half of the 1st century AD.
Like Rome, the Kushan Empire also had hostile relations with Parthia, which
contributed to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Kushans and
Rome. According to historical sources, Indian emissaries, who may have been from
the Kushan court, arrived in Rome in AD 106 or 107 to participate as guests of
honour in the triumph of Emperor Trajan who had defeated the tribes of Dacians
(the ancestors of the Romanians). We also know that Emperor Hadrian (AD 117–
138) received an embassy of ‘Bactrian kings’ and Antoninus Pius (AD 138–161 ad)
received ‘Indian, Bactrian and Hyrcanian’ emissaries.
Several items of Roman origin have been found in Central Asia, including coins.
The first to start recording such finds here was M.E. Masson, who noted that no Roman
gold coins had ever been found, and finds of silver coins were also rare. Between the
Zarafshan valley and Lake Issyk Kul, Masson discovered coins of the Roman emperors
Vespasian (AD 69–79), Domitian (AD 81–96), Trajan (AD 98–117), Antoninus Pius
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