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Shift in Sogdian Trade Routes

Type Event Region Central Asia Time 901–1000

In the 10th century, the Sogdian merchant network declined and control of Central Asian trade routes passed to Islamic powers and Persian- and Arabic…

Timeline

  1. 901–950Cities of Transoxiana · UzbekistanWith the decline of the Tang dynasty, the collapse of the Uyghur khaganate, and political reorganization in Central Asia, the Sogdian role as intermediaries in trans-Eurasian trade weakened; their trading posts and family networks along the Silk Road could no longer maintain their former monopoly, and commercial activity gradually localized.
  2. c. 920–980Bukhara · UzbekistanThe Samanid dynasty established an Islamic administrative and commercial order centered on Bukhara, unifying trade taxes, issuing currency, and regulating markets; Persian and Arabic replaced Sogdian as the official and commercial lingua franca, and trade route management was incorporated into the state system.
  3. c. 990–1000Main Silk Road routes through the Central Asian oases · Central AsiaBy the end of the 10th century, the Karakhanids and Ghaznavids further integrated the oasis–steppe trade routes; Muslim merchants merged with local powers, and the Sogdian commercial legacy was absorbed into the new Islamic Central Asian trading system, completing the shift of the Silk Road's center of gravity from the Tang–Sogdian axis to an Islamic Central Asian axis.

Sources