Religions of the Silk Road traces the spread of religions and cultures along the trans-Eurasian trade routes over a period of more than two millennia.  Indian, Iranian, Semitic, and Mediterranean ideas all followed the same trajectory through Central Asia to China and beyond, picking up additional elements and sometimes being radically transformed along the way.  This age-old pattern shows how the transmission of culture and the development of economic networks have always been inextricably linked, laying a precedent for the globalizing trends

For more than 1500 years, across more than 4000 miles, the Silk Roads connected East and West. These overland trails and sea lanes carried not only silks, but also cotton textiles, dyes, horses, incense, spices, gems, glass, and ceramics along with religious ideas, governing customs, and technology. For this book, Xinru Liu has assembled primary sources from ancient China, India, Central Asia, Rome and the Mediterranean, and the Islamic world, many of them difficult to access and some translated into English for the first time.

The Silk Road, which linked imperial Rome and distant China, was once the greatest thoroughfare on earth. Along it traveled precious cargoes of silk, gold and ivory, as well as revolutionary new ideas. In time it began to decline. The traffic slowed, the merchants left and finally its towns vanished beneath the desert sands to be forgotten for a thousand years; however, legends grew up of lost cities filled with treasures and guarded by demons.

Ibn Battutah was just 21 when he set out in 1325 from his native Tangier on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He did not return to Morocco for another 29 years, traveling instead through more than 40 countries on the modern map, covering 75,000 miles and getting as far north as the Volga, as far east as China, and as far south as Tanzania. He wrote of his travels, and comes across as a superb ethnographer, biographer, anecdotal historian, and occasional botanist and gastronome.

In this second edition, Susan Whitfield expands her rich and varied portrait of life along the great pre-modern trade routes of Eurasia. This new edition is updated to support further understanding of themes relevant to global and comparative history and remains the only history of the Silk Road to reconstruct the route through the personal experiences of travelers.

Marco Polo is arguably the most famous Western traveler to have journeyed on the Silk Road. As a young merchant, he began his journey to China in 1271 and his travels lasted for 24 years. During this time he became the confidant of Khubilai Khaan (1214-1294). Upon his return he became a prisoner of war. This book is the tale of his travels that were documented by Rustichello of Pisa and gives a fascinating account of religions, customs, trades and ways of life in the near and far East during the reign of Khubilai Khaan.

Tourism makes an important contribution to modern society and culture, with museums and craft-production, in particular, providing key elements. The components that make up contemporary tourism, including the role played by museums in Mongolia, the representations of Mongolia in Europe, and traditional craft-production, could play a significant role in the development of this sector of the Mongolian economy. It is clear that the performing arts are now established and recognised.

A series of stories about life on and around the River Ganges, including poetic and mystical musings, as recounted by a female personification. Here she recounts tales of the many visitors who, over time, came to her shores, as well as those who have sailed on her waters to embark on adventures and discover new bounties. Visitors mentioned, include the first Aryans, as well as the film director, Frederico Fellini.

The example of the rise and fall of the Hami Kingdom, which existed between 1389 to 1513, illustrates the external forces and the religious and political vicissitudes that were at play during a pivotal time in the history of Central Eurasia. Until the arrival of the Turkic people, the region was known for its extreme diversity of ethnic groups and as being a central meeting place of eastern and western cultures. From ancient times, the region had been inhabited by Indo-European-speaking people who followed Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and Buddhism.