Lands of Asia layouts (Eng) 26.11.21

4 .5
4.5
SOGDIAN
WAYFARERS
It is no exaggeration to say that the Sogdians, among the earliest
peoples of Central Asia, were the creators of a great civilisation whose influence was
felt across the vast expanses of Eurasia – from the Caspian Sea to the Pacific Ocean.
Their presence in Xinjiang and China, along with other Central Asian peoples, is noted
in many textual and epigraphic sources. Unfortunately, we do not have clear evidence
about the date of their migration eastwards through Chach, Ferghana, and Semirechye.
There is no evidence of their presence in these areas prior to the first centuries AD.
However, according to many scholars, in particular W. Henning and G. Haloun,
the eastward migration of the Sogdians began soon after Alexander’s invasion of
Central Asia. We know that Alexander’s war with the Sogdians, who were led by
Spitamenes, was marked by the destruction of many settlements and towns and the
annihilation of the Sogdian population. According to the Greek historian Arrian,
whose account was probably exaggerated, around 70,000 Sogdians were massacred.
Henning believes the Sogdians had already come into contact with China between
the 4th and 3rd century BC. However, there is no direct evidence to support such
an early date. According to W. Eberhard, Chinese accounts first make reference to
Sogdians in the 2nd century AD. It appears likely that there were other reasons that
prompted Sogdians to establish trading stations in Xinjiang and China. Among them
were the discovery of the Western Regions by Zhang Qian, the emergence of the Silk
Road, and the consequent establishment of diplomatic relations with Parthia and
Rome, as well as trade in a variety of commodities, particularly silk, between China
and these countries.
The Sogdians, through whose lands the most important routes of the Silk Road
passed, were the main middlemen in this trade.
Over time, Sogdian merchants, who were very experienced with trade and
interested in increasing profits, must have initially sent their own commercial agents
to, and then set up trading stations in, the cities and oases of Xinjiang, with the aim
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