Azim Nanji and Sarfaroz Niyozov,

The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, UK

The Silk Road: Crossroads and Encounters of Faiths

The Silk Road evokes images of places and peoples linked by exchanges of exotic goods and

fabled treasures. This limited notion of commerce as a major point of reference overshadows

the fact that the Silk Road was also a part of contact and encounter for religious ideas, beliefs

and faith communities. Indeed, historically, Central Asia became one of the most pluralistic

religious spaces in the world, encompassing major traditions such as Judaism, Buddhism,

Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam. Moreover, archaeological and historical research

suggests that local traditions all along the Silk Road, interacted with and influenced these

major traditions. All of this challenges the notion of a monolithic religious landscape.

Historical reality rather, reveals a framework of shared connections, mutual learning and a

constant pattern of synthesis. The history of religions along the Silk Road is therefore a

remarkable illustration that beliefs and indeed civilizations reflect a broad pattern of

synthesis rather than a clash. These religions competed, co-existed and influenced each other

over long periods of time and their history and encounter represents one of the most

fascinating features of life in the region.

Archaeology and history provide a backdrop to the world of faiths and beliefs before the Silk

Road developed into a dynamic presence in the region. Local traditions predominated in

Ancient China, the Middle East, Central Asia and as far as Korea and Japan. These predate

the rise of the larger traditions that evolved in the region but also influenced these newer

traditions and syntheses of beliefs.

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The disputed accounts of the rise of Zoroastrianism, indicate that Zoroaster may have lived

anywhere from the 11th century BC to the 6th BC while the place of his birth may lie between

Mongolia and Azerbaijan. He taught belief in one God (Ahura Mazda) the Lord of Wisdom

and regarded the other Iranian gods (ahuras and daevas) as demons. His vision also posited

an evil force in the Universe called Ahriman (Agra Manyu). Juxtaposing Ahura Mazda

against Ahriman (Angra Manyu), Zoroaster portrayed human life through the cosmology of

the dialectical struggle between the eternal good and bad. This approach provided profound

messages of realism, and the necessity of struggle to enable hope (good) to be sustained

through ethical action.

It is important to note that not all of the greater Iranian people could be fitted within the

Zoroastrian faith described in its sacred texts. Apart from a common pool of rites, rituals and

traditions such as consideration of sun and fire as divine and purifying forces, there were

many rituals that distinguished the Central Asians from their Western Iranian cousins. In

Central Asia, the moon was also seen as a divine force. The famous temple of Moon (Mah)

in Bokhara was devoted to venerating it. Similarly, the tradition of a New Year, Nawruz is a

ritual that predates Zoroaster.

The Silk Road became the meeting point for another ancient religious tradition namely

Judaism. The Persian rulers enabled the followers of Judaism to find refuge twice, following

significant persecutions in 722 and 559 BC. The Jews who settled and developed their

religious traditions in exile, participated actively in the trade between East and West and

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created Jewish settlements along the Silk Road including in the cities of Samarqand and

Bukhara. In so doing, they merged the concepts of merchant and preacher. Jewish practices

and beliefs were enriched by contacts with existing traditions and the engagement with the

intellectual heritage of Iran and then Greece. Apart from the exiled Jews, it seems that

Judaism was able to gain local converts too. The grand and wealthy Seljuk and his four sons,

Isra’il, Micha’il, Musa, and Yunus apparently were Jewish convert, whose descendants,

however chose Islam. The Jewish presence in the region continues until today.

The Silk Road provided a network for the spread of the teachings of the Buddha. It enabled

Buddhism to become a world religion and develop into a sophisticated and diverse system.

Out of the 18 Buddhist schools of interpretations, about five existed along the Silk Road

(Foltz 2001: 39-40; Harvey 1990). Among these schools was the less monastic but very

significant tradition of Mahayana, which preached the continuity of the Buddha’s

compassionate nature through boddhisattvas, embodiments figures of love and teaching who

became the bridge to local traditions, communities and cultures. It suggests that all Buddhist

aspirants are equal in front of the Buddha, are bestowed with a Buddha-nature, and should

aspire to reach Buddhahood through conducting right ways of living.

In Central Asia, Buddhism is associated with rise of Kushan state (50-320 CE) (Litvinski

1996). The Kushan coins illustrate more than a narrow adherence to Buddhism. They show

that along the Silk Road there was a tradition of kings and rulers who sought to rise above

certain groups, tribes and religious traditions. Along with figures of their own kings such as

famous Kanishka, the Kushan coins illustrate those of Buddhist, Greek and Iranian nobility.

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Statues and busts developed by the Gandhara school also depict a blend of the Indian, Greek

and Iranian elements. The rulers built monasteries and temples along the Silk Road that were

often used by the faithful of various religions. One such monastery is believed to have been

in the famous city of Bukhara which later became a major Central Asian cultural center of

Islam. The oldest manuscript of an Indian Buddhist text, the Dharmapada, has been

preserved in the Central Asian Kharosthi script.

The greatest success of Buddhism was related to its spread to China, which opened the route

not only for silk and other material good trade, but for ideas and religions to flow, compete

and interact, making Central Asia the bridge for these encounters and its people the

mediators. Buddhism reinvigorated the existing philosophy, culture and literature in China.

Buddhism reached Korea and Japan where it encountered Taoism and Confucianism and

established deep roots among the peoples of East Asia. Here Buddhism became not only a

spiritual element, but was also the catalyst for greater links towards Eurasia. Thus during the

first millennium of the Common Era, Buddhism had the strongest influence along the peoples

of the Silk Road. Great Buddhist scholars always looked at the Silk Road as connecting

thread with the original and true Buddhism. Among them was the famous Husan-Tsang (559-

664CE) who undertook a challenging 16-year journey (629-645CE) towards West, crossing

the Taklamakan and Ghobi deserts, the high Pamir Mountains and also visiting few Buddhist

monuments in Bukhara, Samarqand and Herat. Hsuan-Tsang returned to China with 650

books on Buddhism and provided a colourful account of his journey and the history of

Buddhism in the region. His contribution is regarded as a great service to the survival and

spread of Buddhism to East Asia.

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Along with the growth of Buddhism, the Silk Road nurtured minority groups from other

major faiths. Nestorian Christians, or more accurately the Church of the East, were one such

group. Often mistakenly identified simply as Nestorianism, it was strongest in eastern Syria,

where as part of the Persian Empire, it gained recognition and subsequently flourished after

the arrival of Islam. In Syria, Nestorianism is a visible presence to this day. The Nestorians

played a crucial role in the creation of an important intellectual center in the region at

Jundishapur, which became a center of philosophy, astronomy, medicine, and astrology that

directly influenced Muslim learning.

In Central Asia the Nestorians influenced Soghdians, who, due to their strategic location, had

already become the commercial masters of the Silk Road and its cultural transmitters.

Soghdian became the lingua franca of the Silk Road spreading Christianity further east to

China and north amongst the Turks. In so doing, they succeeded in three major mass

conversions of Turks into Christianity in Central Asia (644, 781-782, and 1007 CE). Despite

being seen as a faith of the foreign traveling merchants, Eastern Christianity succeeded in

gaining the acknowledgement as “the Brilliant Religion” (Foltz 2000: 72) in China, with

Christian saints being referred to as Buddhas and their treatise as sutras.

Manichaeism, founded by a royal Parthian man called Mani (b. 216 CE), was another

important religion that emerged in West Asia, but was also exiled there and found its glory in

East. A gnostic tradition, Manichaeism “posits a radically dualistic view of the universe, in

which “good” is equated with spirit and “evil” with matter” (Foltz 2000: 75). The cosmology

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drew from Iranian figures such as Zurvan, Ahura Mazda and Ahriman and portrayed good

and spirit as light and fire and evil with darkness. Life was a struggle between good and evil

where the former struggles to liberate the self from evil matter. Knowledge derived rationally

became the basis of an awakening of the self. Blending the major concepts from

Christianity, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism, the teachings of Mani reached the peoples of

India, Mesopotamia, Iran, Central Asia and China in their own languages and in concepts

familiar to them. Central Asian Soghdians with their pragmatic tolerance helped Manichaen

ideas to move further East to the land of the Uighurs where it became the official state-

sponsored religion for about 70 years. Yet, despite its strengths, Manichaeism was not able to

survive the arrival and dominance of new traditions.

Islam: Arrival, spread and diffusion

The active interaction with the Silk Road’s traditions, trade and cultural exchange has made

Islam “the faith of the majority of people in the countries spanned by the old Silk Road”

(Major et al. 2001: 27). The first Muslim community emerged in Arabia in the 7th Century in

a region dominated by ancient civilizations and empires. Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam,

led the life of a merchant. The revelations that came to him are recorded in Arabic in the

Quran, the revealed book of Islam. It affirms belief in one God, unique and merciful; in past

messengers and scriptures sent to other societies; the creation of a society ruled by

compassion and giving and a sense of justice, which would be a model for all peoples. The

initial establishment of Muslim rule to neighbouring territories in the 7th and 8th centuries was

a result of conquest but the actual spread and diffusion of Islam was primarily achieved by

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preaching and conversation, undertaken by scholars, merchants and devout men and women.

Muslims are taught by the Quran to spread the faith by example, not by compulsion.

Muslims crossed the Oxus in the mid-seventh century and encountered all the faiths,

established along the Silk Road but the faith itself became rooted in the region over several

centuries. Muslim’s control of the Silk Road’s cultural and intellectual life and commercial

activities alongside were among the vehicles that promoted the growth of the Silk Road,

Islam and even the other religions along it. The Silk Road once more became a place that

connected trade and ideas, developing an alternative way of looking at faith and the world.

Merchants were not simply passers by: they obtained and delivered goods, but were also

mediators of ideas, languages and wisdom of the peoples they encountered. Apart from the

merchants, there were also scholars, diplomats, mystics who brought a sense of mission, as

well as a desire to pursue new knowledge and to add to the religious mosaic of the Silk Road.

Among those was the famous North African traveller Ibn Batuta (1307-1377 CE) who taking

advantage of a well-defended and secure pathway along the Silk Road, managed to travel

from his hometown of Tangeir to China and India, reporting on his travels and illustrating

burgeoning activity in the area.

The history of Silk Road under Muslim influence reveals a diverse religious landscape,

among different faiths and also within the Muslim community. Sunni, Shia and Sufi groups

interacted and flourished together along this Road. Charismatic Sufi leaders such as Ahmad

Yasawi (1046-1166 CE) and Baha ud-din Naqshaband (1318-1389 CE) built communities

that nurtured vernacular tradition and languages. The full diversity of legal and theological

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schools, culture, the arts and architecture spread across the Silk Road. This multi-

dimensional world of Islam contributed to a broadly based society, bound by common ethical

and cultural assumptions, but diverse in its practices and local traditions, from Afghanistan to

Southeast Asia and to China and the Philippines. The Ismaili Muslims who founded Cairo in

the tenth century also spread along the route and with many other Muslim, brought a tradition

of philosophical enquiry and scientific knowledge across the Mediterranean to Iran and the

Karakoran and the Pamirs (Daftary: 1990). The great Ismaili poet and philosopher, Nasir

Khusraw (1004-1088) travelled along the Silk Route to undertake a seven-year journey from

Balkh to Middle East, North Africa, and Mecca. His Safarnamah (travelogue) describes in

vivid detail his meetings with famous scholars and the region’s religious communities and

sites.

Conclusion

The journey across the Silk Road’s religious and cultural landscape reveals an amazing

mosaic of civilizational encounters. It provides an instance that reflects a world in which

religions were living traditions that evolved and flourished differently along this multi-faith

pathway. Christendom, the Islamic world, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism were never

monolithic. They were internally evolving, complex and plural, giving birth to new ideas and

new branches that were often competing with each other. The Silk Road transformed the

nature of the grand narratives that travelled across its networks. A critical and comparative

reading of Silk Road helps us to see religion not just in normative terms but also informing

and being informed civilizationally. There are many parallels, similarities and continuities of

religious experience amongst the various traditions. A simplistic view of communities of

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faith along this highway is difficult to sustain. The Silk Road illustrates vividly that the ideas,

rites and rituals moving between one religion and another, between East and West, South and

North, adapted, replaced and enriched each other, changing with language, meaning and

appearance. Today, in an era marked by globalization, the end of the Cold War, and the

demise of dogma, Central Asia has again become a center of attention. The lessons learned

from the Silk Road’s experience, may yet enable it to play the role of an important bridge

between civilizations and emerging forces. Among other things, this requires a

reconceptualization of the Silk Road’s historical meaning and role, a task that has to be done

by the people of the region in dialogue with each other and with all their neighbours. The

contemporary challenge is evoked by a young teacher, who lives in Murghab a town in the

Pamirs, situated along the historical Silk Road:

Murghab is one of the remotest and toughest regions in the world to live1, and yet its
people have never felt alone. In ancient times, the Silk Route crossed this land.
Afterwards, the Russians settled here. Now the main highway to Osh (a city in
Kyrgizstan) goes by Murghab. When the road to China opens, Murghab is going to
be a trade centre. We have to understand these people, talk to them, gain something
from them and make our lives better. We need to learn English and Chinese (cited in
Niyozov 2001: 159).

References and Recommended Readings

Bartold, V. 1927. “Mesta Domusulmanskogo Kulta v Bukhare.” (Pre-Islamic Cults Places in

Bukhara). Vostochnie Zapiski 1: 11-25

Bentley, J. 1993. Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-
Modern Times. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bennigsen, A.1985. Mystics and Commissars: Sufism in the Soviet Union. London: C. Hurst

1 Murghab is situated at the 3800 meters altitude with almost no vegetation around. The
winter here gets below 50 degrees and lasts for as long as 9 months.

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 & Company.

Daftary, F. 1990. The Ismailis. Their History and Doctrines. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

Foltz, R. 2000. The Religions of the Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange
From Antiquity to The Fifteenth Century. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Frye, R. 1996. The Heritage of Central Asia: From Antiquity to Turkish

Expansion. PRINCETON: Marcus Wiener publications.

Harvey, P. 1990. An Introduction to Buddhism: Teaching, History and Practices.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Krader, L. 1975. Peoples of Central Asia. Hague: Mouton & Co.

Litvinski, B. 1996. History of the Civilizations of Central Asia. V.3. Paris: UNESCO.

Liu, T. 1976. “Traces of Zoroastrian and Manichean Activities in Pre-Tang China.” In

Selected Papers from the Hall of Harmonious Winds. Leiden: Brill, pp. 2-55.

Major, J., Barnatt, J., and Betrles, J. 2001. Silk Road Encounters: Sourcebook. New York:
Asia Society and The Silk Road Project, Inc.

Niyozov, S. 2001. Understanding teaching in post-Soviet, rural, mountainous Tajikistan:

Case studies of teachers’ life and work. Unpublished Ph. D Dissertation. Toronto:
University of Toronto.

Moflett, S. 1992. History of Christianity in Asia. Vol. 1. San Francisco: Harper.

Nanji, A. ed. 1996. The Muslim Almanac. Detroit: Gale Research Inc.

Petrov, A. 1995. Velikiy Sholkoviy Put. O Samom Prostom No Malo Iizvestnom.(The

Great Silk Road: On the Simplest, Yet Least Known). Moscow: Vostochnaya
Literatura.

Shaked, S. 1984. Iranian influence on Judaism: First century BCE to Second Century CE
In Cambridge History of Islam, edited by W. Davies & L. Finkelstein, V. 1.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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