Minority Religions and Merchant

Communities along the Silk Roads

Judaism and Manichaeism from Late Antiquity to the Late Medieval Era in
Central Asia

Samuel Willmot — Student No. 44895755 — Supervisor Dr. Gunner Mikkelsen

Dominant Cultures and Inter-Cultural Connection
What was it like for a layman belonging to a minority religion?

• to ask questions about the relationship of a person’s profession and

professed faith

• to consider the factors that predisposed some religious groups to a minority

status

• to look at exceptions to the above and the conditions in which they occurred
Silk Roads background
The political situation of late antiquity

• The Han dynasty in China lasts from 206B.C. to A.D.220, and throughout the
early 3rd century A.D. is in decline.

• The Roman Empire likewise faces crises throughout the third century, not the
least of which is the rise of a new power in the Middle East…

• The Sassanian Persian dynasty is founded by Ardašir in the early 3rd century,
and gradually comes to adopt Zoroastrianism in legitimising their ascension.
Silk Roads background
The religious contexts of late antiquity

• Buddhism itself was popular among merchants, 


who spread it across the ancient trade routes

• Eventually, despite originally seeming incompatible with Chinese culture, it

took its place alongside Taoism and Confucianism in the instability following
the end of the Han dynasty

• Christianity spreads throughout Roman and Parthian (later Sassanian) territory

• The destruction of the Second Temple critically challenges Judaic traditions

• Zoroastrianism becomes allied with the Sassanian royal court

Judaism as a minority
Diaspora and competing traditions

• Judaism had widespread communities 


already across the Middle East and 

Roman world, due to the Babylonian 

exile.

• Competing traditions existed among the Jewish authorities as to correct ritual

observances and scriptural canon.

• After the destruction of the Second Temple by Titus in 70A.D., the Pharisaic
traditions became the predominant

• Botticini & Eckstein have published multiple studies on the impact of Jewish
religious tradition on lay professions, which were foundational to this paper.
Judaism as a minority
Agrarian vs mercantile occupations

• Botticini and Eckstein (2007) present a comprehensive study of the


situation of Jewish populations in Egypt, Palestine, and Babylonia

in late antiquity to assess the impact of the mandate on fathers to

educate their sons on Jewish laypersons. This had two main impacts:

1. Voluntary diaspora can be observed among craftsman and mercantile classes, 


who gained socio-economic advantages from improved literacy and sought out 

new opportunities across the known world.

2. The cost of books and relatively low benefit of literacy for people

in agrarian occupations makes this mandate difficult for Jewish farmers - and the decreasing Jewish
populations of this period are explained by Botticini and Eckstein by the conversion of these agrarian
elements to other religions.

• The conversion of Jewish peoples to Hellenic gnostic sects or Judaeo-Christian sects was a common
occurrence in this period for those who could not afford the socio-economic implications of the newly
mandated traditions. One such sect were the Elkasaites…
Manichaism as a minority
Syncretism and universality

• While Judaism’s traditions continued via transmission


in a familial context, Mani - who was brought up in

a context of this kind - received revelations at 

significant points in his youth that lead him to preach 

a message of a different sort.

• Travelling from his home in Ctesiphon to India at age 24, Mani returned after having
studied from Buddhist sages to preach a universalist, syncretic faith in which Mani
appeared as the final prophet in a succession that included the Buddha, Zoroaster,
and Jesus.

• The explicit missionary focus of the religion was aided by many factors - one of which
was Mani’s deliberate act of writing and illuminating a scriptural canon in his lifetime
Manichaism as a minority
Agrarian vs mercantile occupation

• An aspect of Manichaean dualism is the teaching that the


‘Jesus of Light’ is trapped in organic particles. Farming,

let alone the consumption of animals, was an activity 

that directly harmed the cosmic force of light. Onerous 

purity rituals were mandated for lay followers in agrarian roles.

• Manichaeism gave merchants a favourable standing in its theology, and

merchants, already having less ties to a particular region and the religious
structure supporting its political authority, were effective communicators of
Manichaeism.
Trans-national religions and trade
Persecutions and religious communities

• The rise of Islam in the early medieval period lead to a situation from the 7th century onwards
in which three faiths had predominance across the Eurasian continent; Christianity in the
West, Islam in the Middle East and North Africa, and Buddhism, becoming a permanent
aspect of Chinese culture during the Tang Dynasty, across the East.

• The threat posed by minority religious groups that did not accept the ultimate divine authority
of state (such as Judaism) or that undermined the cultural-religious foundation of society by
reinterpreting its established traditions (such as Manichaeism did) often lead to those groups
being persecuted.

• Persecution could also be indirect, i.e. laws that prohibited these groups from holding military
or government office, limiting their social advancement.

• Combined with existing internal reasons for taking up mercantile professions, the above-
mentioned often prompted minority communities to move further east to avoid persecution.
Trans-national religions and trade
Did these minority groups have any impact?

• Etienne de la Vassiere (2005) notes that two of the most developed trade
networks on the Silk Roads in the early medieval period were of the
Radhanites and the Sodgians merchants.

• The Radhanites were Jewish traders based in Persia and Southern France,
who traded slaves, furs, and luxury Chinese goods.

• The Sogdians were a people situated in Transoxiana between nomadic and

sedentary peoples, renowned from antiquity for their commercial network.
They were also foremost contributors to the spread of mission religions,
and in the medieval era, were predominantly Manichaean (la Vassiere 2005)
Exceptions to the Norm
The Jewish Khazars

• Khazaria was already a refuge for Jews fleeing 


Byzantine/Islamic persecution when the bek converted

to Judaism in the 9th century.

• Scholars agree this was not a far-reaching decision within the semi-
nomadic culture, with only a number of the elite converting.

• Bek calls for a dispute, mulla/priest both prefer Jud. Over the
other’s faith… ->

• It is likely that Judaism was chosen as a means of the Khazars

preserving independence from Islamic and Christian states,
while adhering to a faith nominally respected by both.
Exceptions to the Norm
The Uighur Turks

• Conversion of the qaghan in A.D.762

• Etienne de la Vassiere (2005) describes it as a 


“last-ditch effort” by the Manichaean Sogdians to acquire a 

powerful protector



For the Uighur elite, Manichaeism was favourable as a legal 

religion for foreigners in China to practice (thanks to the 

Sognians) while not placing their culture subservient to the 

Tang’s own.

• Ultimately, persecution from within the Uighur court expelled


Manichaeism.