Lal Suhanra Biosphere Reserve and National Park is situated in the north-west edge of the Cholistan Desert in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. This arid landscape is relatively flat and interspersed with sand dunes up to 1,000 hectares in extent and 4 meters in height, some of which are unstable. The biosphere reserve is crossed by the dried-up bed of the Hakra River and comprises Patisar Lake and irrigated land.

From the seventh to the third centuries BC, the tribes of Mongolia lived a distinctive nomadic existence, in contrast to the settled cultures in nearby China. These nomads were organized in clan structures, and with the development of horse breeding, clan élites became increasingly rich and militaristic. Powerful tribal unions arose, notably the Hsiung-nu Empire in Mongolia, which was succeeded by the the Hsien-pi state in 155 AD.

The introduction and spread of Aramaic in Central Asia was of central importance in the diffusion of literacy, being used as an administrative language at the court of the Achaemenid Empire (sixth to fourth century BC). The language spoken on a daily basis by the peoples of this region however is far more difficult to assess, as are the languages spoken by the Southern Saka tribes who moved into this region.

There remains much to be discovered about the languages and literature of the Kushan Empire, to the extent that a new language in an unknown script has been discovered recently. Sanskrit and Prakrit are both literary languages that pre-date the Kushan Empire, whilst Bactrian developed to become a ‘literary’ language in this era. Sogdian is also important, spoken by the merchants who were engaged in the silk trade and who thus traversed Central Asia.

Positioned in the heart of Central Asia, Mongolia has a privileged position in connecting eastern and western Asia. At least two major silk routes ran through Mongolia for this reason, and the civilizations that lived around them were shaped by the many cultures and influences that passed along these roads.  The expansion of the nomadic Mongol Empire in the thirteenth century also facilitated trade by safeguarding the routes and the merchants who travelled them.

The ‘decline’ of the overland Silk Roads is commonly considered to have taken place in the seventeenth century and to have gone hand-in-hand with the rise of the maritime trading routes.  However, it may be more accurate to speak of a change rather than a decline in overland trading patterns – traders did not cease to transport goods overland, but evolving political and social circumstances encouraged trade to become ‘intracontinental’ rather than transcontinental at this time.

Christian communities existed in the Persian Empire from the second century onwards, and although a small minority group, they became nonetheless highly structured. Although persecuted by the Persian Emperor, especially in the later third century, great numbers of Christian buildings were constructed at this time and the religion grew increasingly popular.  Moreover, Indian religions were also evolving in this period, as Buddhism and Hinduism both spread to the west, with the most significant cults being Brahmanism and the worship of Shiva.

One of the principal religions of the Sassanid Empire was Zoroastrianism, a religion that emerged from the third century onwards under royal patronage and protection. Central to the religion was the cult of fire; Zoroastrians worshiped in fire temples throughout Persia, although different practices were popular elsewhere. Its rival religion in Persia was Manichaeism, a major gnostic cult founded by Mani, (who was executed by the emperor in 276 AD,) and Christianity and Buddhism also had a small following in Persia in this period.

The Great Trunk Road is a passage that has connected Calcutta in India with Peshawar in Pakistan for the last 2,500 years. It was a vital link in the trade routes across Central Asia, supporting forts, towns, army halting points, and caravanserais; all essential resting points for the merchants who transported goods across this part of the world. Moreover, it was on this route and in these resting places that not only goods but cultures, ideas, religions and languages were exchanged, leaving a permanent trace on the societies along the Grand Trunk Road today.

Until the early twentieth century, the Central Asian economy was overwhelmingly rural, and thus agrarian trade was by far the most important trading activity. The impact of technological advances consequently had a profound effect on the social infrastructure of these areas and on the goods manufactured and traded across the Central Asian macro-region.