During the Abbasid Caliphate which stretched to the borders of China, its capital Baghdad was a meeting point of the land and sea Silk Routes as well as an important trading centre. Several cities in Iraq became famous for the silk they produced and sold. Thus, for instance, Attabi silk textile from the region of Attabiya was adopted by Persians who produced it in Isfahan, and embroidered silk from Mosul was exported to various countries in Asia and Europe. Other silk-producing cities included Basrah, Kufa, Hira, Anbar and Numaniya.
The Zhu Fan Zhi (“A description of different countries”) which was written in the 13th century AD by Zhao Rukua, a customs officer in Quanzhou and a descendent of the royal family, provides precious knowledge about the geography and economy in different Southeast Asian countries, as well as about navigation routes during the Song dynasty.
Mongolia attracts tourism of diverse kinds, such as environment/ adventure tourism, historical tourism, ethnic tourism and cultural tourism. Museums and crafts play a major role in the tourism industry. While art forms such as painting, folk songs and dance flourish and are widely recognized in Mongolia, craft skills, which are vital for the country’s cultural identity, also need to be valued. The survival of Mongolia’s craft skills is threatened by modernization and changing fashions.
By the 8th century, Muslim merchants sailing to the East established colonies and large numbers of them settled in China. They certainly came in contact with merchants from the Korean peninsula, since the kingdom of Silla entertained close political, economic and cultural relations with Tang China. Thus, elements of Islamic culture were introduced in Silla. Medieval Muslim sources contain numerous references to Silla, but their information was not very accurate.
Japanese art counts many illustrations of the life and death of Maya (“illusion”), the mother of the Buddha, which are very faithful to the Indian tradition. However, in one respect Japanese Buddhists chose an original path: even though Maya is generally not venerated by Buddhists, a temple devoted to the worship of Buddha’s mother was discovered on a mountain near Kobe. In this temple, a statue of Maya and inscriptions reveal that she was venerated there as a universal mother.
After the birth of Buddhism, the new religion quickly spread to large parts of Central, South and Southeast Asia. Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, was a very important pilgrimage destination from the 3rd century BC onwards. A pillar with an inscription erected by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in 245 BC identifies the spot where the Buddha was born. Lumbini was densely populated and much visited until the early Middle Ages. However, the site was concealed by a forest from the fifteenth or sixteenth century onwards.
Malay was not only a lingua franca of trade in maritime Southeast Asia, but it also found its way into Javanese literature. In coastal towns in Indonesia, the contact between people from different ethnicities was particularly intense. The Sêrat Jayalêngkara, a Muslim book written in the East Javanese coastal area during the 18th century, contains speeches by two characters in oral Malay which indicate that the author of the work was bilingual.
The decorative arts and crafts in Kashmir, which was an important trading centre due to its strategic position on the land Silk Road, absorbed many foreign cultural influences. Kashmir’s history was marked by subsequent religious conversions. Following a Buddhist and a Hinduist period, Kashmir was ruled by Muslim Sultans who brought in artisans from other regions, for instance Central Asia. There were several stylistic changes and high points in the evolution of the decorative arts.
Maps and travel accounts bear witness to the importance of Sri Lankan harbour cities since antiquity. The port city of Manthai, for instance, already appears in Ptolemy’s world map from the 2nd century AD. In the 6th century AD, the Greek traveller Cosmas Indicopleustes described Manthai as a major centre of trade in the Indian Ocean. Adam’s Peak became a pilgrimage destination for Muslims such as Ibn Battuta, who evoked a number of Sri Lankan port cities.
Islam was introduced in Java by missionaries travelling along the maritime Silk Road. It was influenced by Sufism and integrated elements of earlier Indonesian beliefs. In coastal areas of Java, the encounter between local culture and foreign influences, which reached the area through overseas merchants, led to the emergence of new ornamental designs on artefacts and buildings. In mosques, tombs and palaces along the North Javanese coast, a large variety of ornamental designs were found, such as floral, animal and geometric patterns.
