The business of trade was demanding on the merchants who underwent the journey, whether by land or sea. Over land, the nature of the terrain and its suitability for travel on camel or horseback determined the trajectory of passing traders. By sea, developments were continually being made to ships and to the instruments used for navigation, and all merchants took measures to accurately record the merchandise they carried with them. 

The development of empires was closely linked to the control of international trade. Commerce around the Mediterranean in the first millennium BC was dominated by the Greeks – but in his efforts to extend his empire, Alexander the Great made advances to take control of the Indian trade too. A similar pattern is seen in the emergence of the Roman Empire, which had access to the eastern market through Egypt, and at the same time, the Chinese empire was opening trade routes to the west to strengthen its own power. 

Traders by land had to contend with the hardships and dangers inherent in crossing the Central Asian macro-region on foot; not least, those of political instability.

The Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries gave trade along Central Asian routes a new impetus. Changing political contexts altered the nature of goods produced and marketed, and western culture began to influence the eastern trading countries.  Yet craftsmen and artisans have continued to produce goods that reflect their cultural traditions and heritage. 

The goods that were carried along the trading routes of Central Asia shaped fashions in food and clothing all over Asia and Europe.  Metal and clay were two important materials to be traded, as were textiles and all kinds and carpets, which were highly valued in both east and west. Exotic foods and flavours were particularly precious commodities, bringing new tastes such as pepper to the west. 

The routes that stretched between the Far East and Europe transported more than simply merchandise to trade. The tax from merchants funded the development of civilizations all along the length of the routes, and the intellectual and cultural exchanges that took place were vital to the emergence of vibrant, independent, yet interconnected cultures across modern Central Asia. 

The customs surrounding the burial of the dead are a unique insight into the values and beliefs of the living, and for this reason, the archaeological excavation of graves and burial sites is the principal means by which we can form an understanding of the religions of the Xinjiang region. There are a large number of ancient grave sites in this region of China, among which the largest are the Xiangbaobao graves of Tashkurgan, the Lou-lan graves at Lop Nor, and the pebble and chamber grave sites at Alagou.

The cross-fertilization of religions and cultures across Central Asia and the Indo-Persian world was fundamental to the development of Asian societies between the early sixteenth and the mid-nineteenth centuries.  Movement of people and goods along the trading routes of this macro-region resulted in the transfer of beliefs and religious practices too, and ultimately, changes to these religions themselves.

Religions moved along the Silk Roads with the passage of goods, spreading beliefs and traditions throughout Asia and beyond. Religions varied from tribe to tribe among the nomads of the steppes, although there were many features in common. In the countries of southern and western Asia, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism and Christianity were widely followed until the advent of Islam, in the early seventh century, resulting in the conquest of the region by Islamic armies and the resulting dissemination of the religion.

Knowledge of the food and clothing of medieval Central Asia is difficult to attain; it is only through sporadic mention in sources that we can accumulate a picture of the diet and dress of the people who lived in these regions.  Variations in climate, region, wealth and class all had a large effect on the daily lives and habits of the inhabitants of Central Asia, resulting in changing customs in societies from Iran through to Western China and Mongolia.