Eurasian Connection via the Silk Road:

The Spread of Islam

A. Reza Hoshmand, Ph.D.

Keynote address to the Forum on Connectivity and Eurasian Integration, United

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 Abstract

The term Silk Road was coined by the 19 th-century German explorer Ferdinand von Richtofen.
The Silk Road refers to a loose network of overland and see trade routes stretching from the
Mediterranean to East Asia. Historical documents point out that textiles, gems, spices, animals
and religions were all traded along this vast expanse, starting around 1,000 B.C. and continuing
for millennia. For much of this time, most Silk Road traders coming from western Eurasia were
Muslim, and as one would expect, they brought their beliefs and rich culture to millions of
people along the route. Around the 8th century, Muslims of the Arab world began to
expand their religion and stopped thinking of Islam as the "Arab religion" with
geographic borders and began seeking converts along the Silk Road. The benefits of
conversion to such a widespread religion were many, as Muslims of the time preferred
trading with other Muslims. Today the Hui, a Muslim Chinese minority numbering 5
million, are widely thought to be the descendants of Muslim merchants who settled in
China at the end of their Silk Road journeys.

The diversity of ethnic, and religious groups along the Silk Road has contributed significantly to
its importance. This paper addresses the cultural, social, political implications of the Silk Road
from a historical perspective, and how Islamic culture has contributed to art, social and political
norms along the Silk Road.

Introduction:
The Silk Road is an ancient network of trade routes for centuries that was central to cultural
interactions between the East and the West, stretching from the Korean peninsula and Japan to
the Mediterranean Sea. Such a network represented, in some sense, a form of the global economy
that we know today. However, the ease with which goods and ideas moved along the Silk Road
was at a much slower pace than now. Nonetheless, the routes provided China a means by which
to move its highly valued silk, and other products such as cotton, wool, glass, jade, lapis lazuli
(mostly from current day Afghanistan) to gold, silver, salt, spices, herbal medicines, to the
European continent. This vast array of networks connected China to the European continent

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through Central Asia as well as India in the south and to Turkey and Italy in the west by land and
by sea. Even though these journeys were difficult, the goods and ideas that moved along the
routes were in high demand and commanded high prices. The extent and reach of the Silk Roads
on land as well as sea can be seen the following map.

Source: UNESCO. https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/about-silk-road

The term "Seidenstrassen" or "Silk Roads" is a recent term that was coined by the German
geologist and explorer Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877 (Tucker, 2015). The Silk Road
has been used as a metaphor to explain the cultural interchange of Europeans and Asians. Even
though the Silk Roads have been largely a commercial route historically, its impact as a vehicle
for all sorts of creative exchange between tremendously diverse peoples and cultures must be
recognized (Kurin, 2002a).

From a historical point view, three distinct periods could be identified as intense period of trade
on the Silk Road. First, during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. E to 220 C.E.) which formally
established the Silk Road, and trade began between China and the Central Asia moving west to
reach Rome (Mark, 2014). During the reign of Liu Che, Emperor Wudi of Han Dynasty made a
major move to expand the territory of the empire from the Central Plains to the Western Regions

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(present-day Xinjiang and Central Asia). As the representative of the emperor, Zhang Qian went
two times to the Western Regions, and in the process the route known as the "Silk Road" was
established. The Silk Road then extended from Chang'an (today's Xi'an, Shaanxi Province),
through Xinjiang and Central Asia, and on to the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea (Liu, 2010).

To understand how silk and other commodities had moved along this route from China to Europe
in earlier times, archeologist have found evidence of ancient Chinese silk in excavations of
Central Asian Bactria (currently the region around Balkh and Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan)
dating back to about 500 B.C.E. Additionally, strands of silk have been found in ancient Egypt
from about 1000 B.C.E., but these may be of Indian rather than Chinese origin (Kurin, 2002a).
Alexander the Great, once a ruler who controlled lands from the Mediterranean to India in the
late 4th century B.C.E., wore robes of deep purple-dyed silk (Kurin, 2002b).

The second period (618 to 907 C.E.) is identified as another milestone of the Silk Road where
the Tang Dynasty connected with other major empires in Central Asia, Byzantium, the Arab
empires of Umayyad, and Abbasid, the Persian empire of Sasanian, and India. This is the period
which coincides with the expansion of Islam, Buddhism, Assyrian Christianity, Zoroastrianism,
Manicheism, and Judaism into Central Asia (Wood, 2002).
The Tang dynasty was considered as one of the most prosperous empires in the world. The
prosperity was associated with a unified country, a strong central government, efficient
communications and wide economic and cultural contacts (The Silk Road Foundation, 2018).
What makes Tang dynasty different from the other dynasties in China is that peace and
prosperity were the driving force in the empire. The Tang’s century old rule brought low prices
and economic prosperity as well as stabilization in an age of movement, when settlers migrated
in great number. Around the 8th century, the capital of the Tang dynasty, Ch'ang-an, meaning
"long-lasting peace", was the biggest, wealthiest, and most advanced city in the world (The Silk
Road Foundation, 2018).

The welcoming attitude of Tang dynasty toward other cultures and other people made it unique.
For this reason, Chinese life and Chinese art had been touched by strong foreign influences
during this dynasty. Migrants from Central Asia or India congregated the streets in Ch'ang-an,

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settling into a cultured and sophisticated life. The dynasty’s territory at the end of the 7th century
reached as far as the edges of the Middle East where trade was flourishing due to the Silk Road.

The third period encompasses the 13th and 14th centuries, when China further expanded into
Central Asia, Persia, India, and early times of modern Europe. This was made possible by
Mongol control of most of the Silk Road. In addition to the three time periods that trade and
cultural exchanges flourished along the Silk Road, another time period of significance was the
Modern Silk Road period that began in the 19th century with the "Great Game" — the
competition between Russian and British colonial powers for influence over Central Asia —
which has continued until now (Kurin, 2002a). Indeed, the Silk Roads have played a critical role
in trade as well as cultural exchanges that began in the Middles Ages and have continued over
the centuries. This testifies to its flexibility and adaptability to changes in society as well as
times.

What is apparent from the historical developments along the Silk Road is that the routes developed
over time and according to shifting geopolitical contexts. For example, merchants from the Roman
Empire would seek alternative routes just to avoid crossing the territory of the Parthians, Rome’s
enemies. By doing so, they took routes to the north, across the Caucasus region and over the Caspian
Sea (UNESCO, 2008).
Similarly, the Maritime trade provided another extremely important route for China to extend its
reach to Euroasia. The maritime route was used for the transportation of spices, and hence
referred as the Spice Roads. Goods such as cinnamon, pepper, ginger, cloves and nutmeg from
the Moluccas islands in Indonesia (known as the Spice Islands), as well as a wide range of other
goods were traded along the routes from east to the west and vice versa. Additionally, textiles,
woodwork, precious stones, metalwork, incense, timber, and saffron were all traded by the
merchants travelling these routes, from Japan, past the Chinese coast, through South East Asia,
and past India to reach the Middle East and so to the Mediterranean. (UNESCO, 2008).

Whilst the silk trade along with other products were one of the earliest catalysts for the trade
routes across Central Asia, it was a bridge between distant civilizations. In the following section
of this paper, I will elaborate on the religious, cultural, and political impact of the Silk Road.

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Islam’s Move on the Silk Road:

There are varied opinions in the literature as to when Islamization of the Silk Routes began. It is
thought that Muslims initially referred to their faith as "the Arab religion" (al-din al-'arab), and
did not attempt to win converts (Islamic History.Org, 2018). By the 8th century, their thinking
changed and Muslims began seeking converts in broader geographical terms.

In its early stages of the spread of Islam, Muslims did not use force to compel their enemies to
accept Islam unless they were met by resistance. Interestingly, followers of other faiths such as
Christians and Jews were allowed to practice their own faith. During this period those who
converted to Islam did so as the result of exposure to a faith that was simple and inspiring
(Islamic History.Org, 2018).

Though early Islam tried to transcend both class and racial distinctions, this goal was abandoned
once the conquest of territories beyond the peninsula began in earnest (Foltz, 2010). The appeal
of creating distinctions between ruling Muslims and conquered non-Muslims was to make
governance simple. Such distinctions provided a privileged status for Muslims under the laws of
the various Islamic states. For example, the tax policy of Omar (634-44), the 4th Caliph of Islam,
on the Christians of Syria clearly states how this ruler's attitude towards his non-Muslim
subjects:
“Leave these lands, which God has granted you as booty in the hands of
their inhabitants, and impose on them a poll tax (jizya) to the extent that
they can bear and divide the proceeds among the Muslims. Let them till
the soil, for they know more about it and are better at it than we are… For
they are slaves to the people of the religion of Islam as long as the religion
of Islam shall prevail” (Lewis, 1987).

Such treatment by the Muslim conquerors motivated non-Muslims to convert to Islam, simply to
maintain their previously held elite economic, social and political positions. By doing so, they
were allowed to rejoin the ruling groups in their communities. Moreover, the Arab conquerors
recognized administrative talent among those they conquered. They adopted the Sassanian model
of governance for their Islamic governments and recruited the local people to serve as

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government ministers, the majority of whom were Sassanian Persians. As government officials,
the newly converted Muslims, began to press for the same rights as Arab Muslims (Liu, 1998).
For those non-Arab Muslims who had no clan affiliation, their social identity in the Arab society
was unclear. This clash of social equality among Arabs and non-Arabs was difficult to address.
This development led to the adoption of non-Arab converts as mawla ("clients") by Arab
Muslims. This made the mawla an honorary clan member of sorts. It was not long until
the mawalis outnumbered the Arab Muslims, and when the two groups mingled, they formed a
new body of religious and political elite, as well as a new middle class of merchants, artisans,
teachers and scholars (Lapidus, 1988).

By the mid-eighth century, Muslims controlled the western half of the Silk Route, and trade
became the second major factor after the spread of Islam. For a merchant, the benefits of
converting to Islam were very clear. Cooperation and contacts among the Muslim traders both at
home and abroad were made easily. Islamic laws, and Muslim officials favored Muslim over
non-Muslim traders (Foltz, 2010).

Islamic scientific and medical advancements were also shared throughout the Silk Road region.
Islamic medical knowledge (in wound healing, urinalysis, et al.) were shared with the Chinese
Buddhist traders. Muslims also brought to India their insights on astronomy, and shared their
skepticism of the geocentric universe. The Silk Road contributed extensively to the expansion of
Islam across Europe, Asia, and Africa through Intellectual, political, and economic means.
No other religion in history has spread as vast and as rapidly as Islam did in this time period
(Strickman, 2012).

Islam became the faith of the majority of people along the Silk Road. Prophet Muhammad, was a
family man and a merchant by trade, who was also committed to a life of contemplation. Islam
affirms a belief in one God, unique and merciful; in the creation of a society ruled by
compassion, charity, and justice that would be a model for all peoples. These were the principles
upon which Islam moved so rapidly beyond the Arabian Peninsula.

The first Muslim expeditions to Central Asia were part of the general pattern of conquest and
expansion of territory during the first centuries of Islam (Nanji and Niyozov, 2002). The

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consolidation of these early attempts at conquest was continued under early Umayyad rule (661-
750 CE). The Umayyads' great expansion was primarily military and political, not religious.
Conversion to Islam was discouraged by the rulers who recognized that the treasury's intake of
taxes on non-Muslims would be reduced (Islamic History.Org, 2018). The Syrian army became
the basis of Umayyad strength, which enabled the creation of a united empire through greater
control of the conquered provinces. Muslim rule expanded to Khorasan, garrison cities were
founded at Merv and Sīstān as bases for expeditions into Central Asia and northwestern India. At
the same time, the invasion of northwestern Africa had begun (Oxford Islamic Studies Online,
2018). The Umayyad Caliphate became one of the major political, cultural, and scientific centers
of the early medieval world.

The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258) that succeeded the Umayyad dynasty build their capital
in Baghdad, making this Silk Road city a center of power where philosophic, scientific and
literary works were cultivated. Since Baghdad was on the Silk Road, it aided the armies of the
Abbasid to move eastward and conquer new territories beyond the River Oxus (Amu Darya in
northern Afghanistan). By the end of the 9th century the Samanids emerged as the first of the
local Muslim kingdoms in the area. These dynasties continued with the process of conversion
and Islamization of Central Asia. As the Silk Road once again became a vital international artery
of commerce and trade, Muslim travelers, preachers, mystics, and merchants acted as mediators
of faith, enlarging the communities of Muslims in the various regions of Central Asia (Nanji and
Niyozov, 2002).
With the various Islamic dynasties approach to expand their influence through trade, and faith,
Muslim influence reveals a diverse religious landscape, among different religions and also within
the Muslim community. Sunni, Shia, and Sufi Muslim groups interacted and flourished together.
Charismatic Sufi leaders such as Ahmad Yasawi (d. 1166) and Bahauddin Naqshband (1318-89)
built communities that nurtured vernacular tradition and languages (Kurin 2002a).

Muslim law, theology, culture, arts, and architecture spread across the Silk Road. This
multidimensional world of Islam contributed to a broadly based society, bound by common
ethical and cultural assumptions but differentiated in its practices and local traditions that
stretched from Afghanistan to Southeast Asia, China, and the Philippines. The region enjoyed the
contribution of some of the greatest scholars of Muslim science and technology. The Ismaili

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Muslims who were the founders of Cairo in the 10th century also spread along the Silk Road and
with other Muslims brought a tradition of philosophical inquiry and scientific knowledge across
the Mediterranean to Iran and the Karakoram and the Pamirs (Daftary, 1992). One the great
Ismaili poet and philosopher, Nasir Khusraw (1004-88), traveled from Balkh across the Middle
East, North Africa, and on to his pilgrimage destination, Mecca on his seven-year journey along
the Silk Road (Hunsberger, 2000). His Safarnamah (travelogue) describes in vivid detail his
meetings with famous scholars and visits to the region's religious communities and sites.

Considerable political, commercial, and religious competition between kingdoms, markets, and
religious groups across Eurasia were seen during the 13th and 14th centuries. Various religions
such as Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, and Muslims all vied for followers to their faith and
institutional support on the trade routes. Conflict between and among the Mongols, European
kingdoms, Arab rulers, the Mamluk Turks, Hindu chiefdoms, and others made for unstable states
where some alliances were formed, and in some cases wars were fought (Foltz, 2010). At the
same time, the Mongols, who had control of vast areas skirting the edge of Russia and Eastern
Europe, were, through a mixture of hegemony and brutality, able to assure a measure of peace
within their domains, a Pax Mongolica (Kuran 2002b). What appears to be contrary to their
warrior image, the Mongols were pragmatic and quite tolerant in several spheres, among them
arts and religion. Their Mongolian capital of Karakorum hosted, for example, 12 Buddhist
temples, two mosques, and a church. Among other accomplishments, they developed continental
postal and travelers' rest house systems. Kublai Khan welcomed European, Chinese, Persian, and
Arab astronomers and with their help established an Institute of Muslim Astronomy. To create
the Imperial Academy of Medicine, he brought Indian, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and Chinese
physicians to the Academy. In 1335 a Mongol mission to the pope at Avignon suggested
increased trade and cultural contacts (Kuran, 2002a).

Each faith has left its signature on the Silk Road whether it is in art, music, buildings, and in
traditions of learning, remembering, celebrating, and sharing. This cumulative resource from
different traditions of knowledge and faith can still, as in the past, help build trust, reinvigorate
civilizational dialogue, and move away from the constraints and ignorance that exacerbate
division and generate conflict in the region(Nanji and Niyozov, 2002).

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Cultural Impact:

the Silk Road not only was the vehicle for trade throughout Asia and Europe where goods such
as Chinese silk, Byzantine gold, and Indian spices were traded, but it also introduced people in
disparate parts of the continent to new beliefs, systems of government, literary genres, musical
styles, and visual forms. The travel of artistic motifs, styles, and techniques along the Silk Road
is closely bound up with the larger context of the travel of beliefs, ideas, and technology (Major,
2002).

The ancient Silk Road contributed greatly to the cultural exchange between China and the West.
From the second century BC to the fifteenth century AD, splendid civilizations among China,
India, Greece, Persia and Rome were exchanged along this famous trade route, making the route
a great "Cultural Bridge" between Asia and Europe. As explained by Richard Kurin (2002a) in
his article, silk moved easily and became a "vehicle of cultural creativity wherever it went."

Together with the economic and political exchange between the East and West, cultural values of
different civilizations provided a multicultural milieu that is evident in countries of the Silk Road
region today. Cultural samples in the applied art, architecture, wall paintings, music, dance, and
theatre performances were also exchanged between countries of the Silk Road. Examples of such
intercultural enrichment are found in the collection of Tan terracotta dancers, actors in mask, and
musical groups. The music of Eastern Turkestan and Central Asia have been popular in China.
Interestingly, music traditions of Kashgar, Bukhara, and Samarkand, and Indian have merged
with Chinese musical traditions.

The Umayyad period is often considered the formative period in Islamic art. The motifs used by
artist were those that were common at the time in the region. However, with expansion of the
Umayyad Empire to regions on the west and east, artists adopted elements that came from the
late antique classical naturalist tradition that were developed by the Byzantines and Sassanians.
Thus, through a process of adoption, adaptation, and creation, a new sense of artistic expression
emerged that became distinctly Islamic in character shortly after the demise of the Umayyad
dynasty (Yalman, 2001).

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Artists, craftspeople and musicians traveled throughout the region. Music of the royal courts,
some of which survives, was an important tradition developed in these centers. Maqam
ensembles from Azerbaijan to Xinjiang as well as Chinese and Japanese courtly music still have
a place in the lives of people along the Silk Road (Kennedy, 2002). The richness of the cultural
impact of the Silk Road could be seen in the Bukharan Jews settled in Central Asia and now in
the United States still celebrate traditional weddings. Similarly, the contemporary Armenian and
Chinese folk ensembles share instruments if not a language in their music.

In addition to music and artwork, certain ceramics along the Silk Road became particularly
sought after by the Islamic elites. Muslim merchants who traded finely painted, pure porcelain
from China to Japan and across west Asia to Europe, were the ones who introduced
modifications of techniques used by the Islamic potters that decorated early (post-8th century)
tin-glazed vessels with cobalt. In the late 13th century potters in South China began decorating
white porcelain vessels with cobalt blue. Until the 15th century most of the Chinese blue-and-
white porcelain was exported to Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where it was copied,
although not in porcelain. (Major, 2002).

Another aspect of the cultural impact of the Silk Road is evident in the architectural diversity of
the buildings along the routes. Architecture in general is an expression of values and the way the
people are building is a reflection of the way they are living (Zoksimovska, 2016). Cities and
urban centers developed during the seventh and fifteenth centuries along the trade routes that
passed through Central Asia (UNESCO, 2018). The transmission of cultures and ideas along
with the passage of trading goods had a fundamental effect on the architecture and even the
structure of cities such as Samarkand, Bukhara and Merv. Various cultures such as Arabs, and
Mongols left their architectural legacy in the form of religious buildings, bathhouses,
caravanserais, palaces, as well as the brickwork, carving and ornamental designs of urban spaces
throughout Central Asia.

Such rich cultural traditions and heritage still dominate the Silk Road countries of today. Given
the political realities and intolerance of religious diversity that continues in the region, some of
these monuments to history will be in danger. The case in point is the destruction of the Buddha
statue in Bamyan, Afghanistan by the Taliban.

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Political Impact:

Just as the religions and other cultural elements played a major role on the countries of the Silk
Road region, so did political factors. What we observe today is that with the political
transformations that have taken place in the region over the previous decades the door for further
research on the Silk Road has been opened. With the opening of China and the collapse of the
Soviet Union a new Silk Road is being traveled. With the current initiative of the Belt and Road,
a re-birth of the Silk Road is imagined. Nowadays, researchers talk about new economic and
political realities, and how new cultural realities may be developing out of this transformation as
well. Aptly put “If oil was the new silk, and democracy the new religion, then where did the old
cultural traditions of the Silk Road stand?” (Kennedy, 2002). Undoubtedly, the 21st century Silk
Road will have major implications as did the cultural traditions of the old. Richthofen saw the
Silk Road as a region that had served as the crossroads of political and military influence.
Indeed, control over the Silk Road, particularly its Central Asian link, was serious business for
18th- century colonial powers playing the "Great Game." Both the Russians and the British vied
for control over Afghanistan at the limit of their territorial aspirations (Kurin, 2002b).

What is clear is that the game of political dominance that Western powers sought in the 19 th and
20th century have taken a different tilt in the current environment. The geopolitical significance
of the road has grown as a result of the demise of the Soviet Union and the need to achieve stable
political states in light of competing interests in the region. The desire to find an appropriate role
for religion, particularly Islam, in the civic life of the nations of the region has been tumultuous.
In recent years, the United States has become embroiled in Central Asia, particularly in
Afghanistan where American troops have been fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and ISIS. The
political role has been extended into disputes over sovereignty in Kashmir, democracy in Iran,
rights of ethnic minorities in western China, and freedom in Kazakhstan. All of these efforts
point to a new sphere of political influence and control in the region.

Conclusion:

Trade expansion by the Arab merchants during the Han and Tang Dynasties opened the door for
economic growth in China as well as the region traversed. The Silk Road did not impact only

12
cities of commerce, or those that were considered active markets - it also contributed to the
prosperity of cities enroute that the merchants and commercial convoys passed (Al Awar, 2017).
The interchange of ideas and philosophies between the East and the West could be traced back to
the dynastic desires on the Silk Road. Whether it was the Chinese, Arabs, Greeks, Persians, or
the Romans, they all played a critical role in what has transformed the current state nations.
Although it was considered to be a trade route between the east and the west, it became a cultural
bridge that continues to impact the lives of millions.

Undoubtedly, the greatest value of the Silk Road was the exchange of cultures. Art, religion,
philosophy, technology, language, science, architecture, and every other element of civilization
was exchanged through the Silk Road (Mark, 2014).

As one looks at history, it becomes apparent that silk became both a component and a symbol of
cultural diffusion. It was seen by the people of the East and West as a valuable index of
civilization with regard to religious ritual, kingship, artistic production, and commercial activity.
Most looked at silk as a higher thing in life. Silk both epitomized and played a major role in the
early development of what we now characterize as a global economic and cultural system
(Kurin, 2002a).

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