[The Emperor of] China appointed  Zhang Jian...who was popular with the foreign tribes in the south and west...The following countries were visited by Chang K'ien in person: Ta-yuan [Ferghana], Ta-yue-chi [Indoscythians], Ta-hia [Bactria] and K'ang-ku [Soghdiana]; there were besides, five or six other large adjacent countries concerning which he gained information and on which he reported to the Emperor in the following terms. 

The kingdom of Liyi (Sogdiana)...produces famous horses, cattle, sheep, grapes, and all sorts of fruit. The water and soil of this country are excellent, which is why its grape wine is so famous. 

Dayuan [Ferghana] is to the southwest of the Hsiung-nu and due west of China, at a distance of about 10,000 li. The people are permanent dwellers and given to agriculture; and in their fields they grow rice and wheat. They have wine made of grapes and many good horses. The horses sweat blood and come from the stock of the t'ien-ma [heavenly horse]...From Ferghana westward to the kingdom of Parthia, although their language is somewhat different, yet the resemblance is so great that they can make themselves intelligible to each other. The people of Ta-yuan are clever traders...Women are honourably treated among them, and their husbands are guided by them in their decisions. Silk and varnish are used all over the country.

[In] Anxi [Parthia]...the people live in fixed abodes and are give to agriculture; their fields yield rice and wheat; and they make wine of grapes. Their cities and towns are like those of Ta-yuan. Several hundred small and large cities belong to it. The territory is several thousand li square; it is a yery large country and is close to the K'ui-shui [Oxus]. Their market folk and merchants travel in carts and boats to the neighboring countries perhaps several thousand li distant. They make coins of silver; the coins resemble their king's face. Upon the death of a king the coins are changed for others on which the new king's face is represented.  Leaving there [Parthia], and heading south, you embark on the sea and then reach Da Qin (Roman territory). In these territories, there are many precious and marvellous things from Haixi (‘West of the Sea’ = Egypt) produces famous horses, cattle, sheep, grapes, and all sorts of fruit. The water and soil of this country are excellent, which is why its grape wine is so famous. 

Ta-hia [Bactria] is more than 2000 li to the southwest of Dayuan {Ferghana]...They have no great king or chief, but everywhere the cities and towns have their own petty chiefs. While the people are shrewd traders, their soldiers are weak and afraid to fight...The population of [Bactria] may amount to more than a million. Their capital is called Lan-shi, and it has markets for the sale of all sorts of merchandise. To the southeast of it is the country of Shon-tu [India]. Chang K'ien says [in his report to the Emperor]: 'When I was in Ta-hia, I saw there a stick of bamboo of Kiung [Kiung-chou in Ssi-ch'uan] and some cloth of Shu [Ssi-ch 'uan]. When I asked the inhabitants of Ta-hia how they had obtained possession of these, they replied: "The inhabitants of our country buy them in Shon-tu [India].

This region [Northwest India] produces elephants, rhinoceroses, turtle shell, gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin. To the west, it communicates with Da Qin (the Roman Empire). Precious things from Da Qin can be found there, as well as fine cotton cloths, excellent wool carpets, perfumes of all sorts, sugar loaves, pepper, ginger, and black salt...

Thus the emperor learned of Dayuan [Ferghana], Daxia [Bactria, in Afghanistan], Anxi [Parthia] and the others, all great states rich in unusual products whose people cultivated the land and made their living in much the same way as the Chinese...He also learned that to the north of them lived the Yuezhi and Kangju people who were strong in arms but who could be persuaded by gifts and the prospect of gain to acknowledge allegiance to the Han court. If it were only possible to win over these states by powerful means, the emperor thought, he could then extend his domain, attract to his court men of strange customs who would come translating and retranslating their languages, and his might would become known to all the lands...

The emperor was very fond of the Dayuan [Ferghana] horses and sent a constant stream of envoys to that region to acquire them...in the course of one year anywhere from five or six to over ten parties would be sent out [to Dayuan].

More than ten missions were subsequently sent to the various kingdoms west of [Ferghana], seeking for rarities; and the fame of the power of China, which had subdued [Ferghana], was thus spread far and near... then China was honoured by all the kingdoms....Chen-fung, the King of Ta-yuan, entered into a treaty with China, by which be agreed to send an offering of two celestial horses every year. The Chinese envoy selected and took back with him plants of the grape and medicago sativa. The Emperor now having a numerous stud of celestial horses, and the ambassadors flocking in numbers from foreign countries, having also planted the grape and the medicago sativa, he left his palace and took up his residence in a separate house, to have a distant look-out upon his possessions. 

"Even the rest of the nations of the world which were not subject to the imperial sway [under Roman rule] were sensible of its grandeur, and looked with reverence [respect] to the Roman people, the great conqueror of nations. Thus even Scythians (Central Asian nomads) and Sarmatians (Iran) sent envoys to seek the friendship of Rome. Nay, the Seres [Chinese] came likewise, and the Indians who dwelt beneath the vertical sun, bringing presents of precious stones and pearls and elephants, but thinking all of less moment than the vastness of the journey which they had undertaken, and which they said had occupied four years. In truth it needed but to look at their complexion to see that they were people of another world than ours." 

In 111 BCE, the Han Dynasty established the city of Dunhuang as a military outpost to protect against attacks from the Xiongnu nomads of the Central Asian steppes. But Dunhuang became much more than a military fortification—it became a hub for merchants and missionaries of various religions, especially Buddhism. According to a book written during the reign of Tang Empress Wu, An Account of Buddhist Shrines by Li Junxi, in 366 CE a Buddhist monk named Lè Zūn had a vision of a thousand Buddhas bathed in golden light at the site, inspiring him to build a cave here. The caves initially served only as a place of meditation for hermit monks, but developed to serve the monasteries that sprang up nearby. 

Of the designated ports on the Erythraean Sea [Indian Ocean], and the market-towns around it, the first is the Egyptian port of Mussel Harbor. To those sailing down from that place, on the right hand . . . there is Berenice. The harbors of both are at the boundary of Egypt. . . . 

On the right-hand coast next below Berenice is the country of the Berbers [North Africans]. Along the shore are the Fish-Eaters, living in scattered caves in the narrow valleys. Further inland are the Berbers, and beyond them the Wild-flesh-Eaters and Calf- Eaters, each tribe governed by its chief; and behind them, further inland, in the country towards the west, there lies a city called Meroe. 

...The market-town of Muza [modern day Yemen on the Persian Gulf] is without a harbor, but has a good roadstead and anchorage because of the sandy bottom thereabouts, where the anchors hold safely. The merchandise imported there consists of purple cloths, both fine and coarse; clothing in the Arabian style, with sleeves; plain, ordinary, embroidered, or interwoven with gold; saffron, sweet rush, muslins, cloaks, blankets (not many), some plain and others made in the local fashion; sashes of different colors, fragrant ointments in moderate quantity. ... And to the King and the Chief are given horses and sumpter-mules, vessels of gold and polished silver, finely woven clothing and copper vessels. There are exported from the same place the things produced in the country: selected myrrh, [incense, and] alabaster. ... The voyage to this place is made best about the month of September ... but there is nothing to prevent it even earlier.

...Another market-town called Opone [on the Horn of Africa]. . . . [I]n it the greatest quantity of cinnamon is produced . . . and slaves of the better sort, which are brought to Egypt in increasing numbers. . . . 

[Ships also come] from the places across this sea, from Barygaza [Gujarat, India], bringing to these market-towns the products of their own places; wheat, rice, clarified butter, sesame oil, cotton cloth . . . and honey from the reed called sacchari [sugar cane]. Some make the voyage especially to these market-towns, and others exchange their cargoes while sailing along the coast. This country is not ruled by a King, but each market-town is ruled by its separate chief. 

Beyond Opone, the shore trending more toward the south . . . this coast [the Somali region of Azania, or East Africa] is destitute of harbors . . . until the Pyralax islands [Zanzibar, East Africa]]. . . . [A] little to the south of south-west . . . is the island Menuthias [Madagascar]...in which there are rivers and many kinds of birds and the mountain-tortoise...In this place there are sewed boats, and canoes hollowed from single logs. . . . Two days’ sail beyond, there lies the very last market-town of the continent of Azania...in which there is ivory in great quantity, and tortoise-shell. Along this coast live men of piratical habits, very great in stature, and under separate chiefs for each place. . . . And these markets of Azania [East Africa] are the very last of the continent that stretches down on the right hand from Berenice; for beyond these places the unexplored ocean curves around toward the west [where[ it mingles with the western sea. . 

. . Now the whole country of India has very many rivers, and very great ebb and flow of the tides. . . . But about Barygaza [Gujarat, India] it is much greater, so that the bottom is suddenly seen, and now parts of the dry land are sea, and now it is dry where ships were sailing just before; and the rivers, under the inrush of the flood tide, when the whole force of the sea is directed against them, are driven upwards more strongly against their natural current. . . . The country inland from Barygaza is inhabited by numerous tribes. . . . Above these is the very warlike nation of the Bactrians, who are under their own king. And Alexander, setting out from these parts, penetrated to the Ganges. . . . [T]o the present day ancient drachmae [silver Greek coin] are common in Barygaza, with  inscriptions in Greek letters, and the faces of those who reigned after Alexander [the Great]. . . . 

Inland from this place and to the east, is the city called Ozene [Western India]. . . . [F]rom this place are brought down all things needed for the welfare of the country about Barygaza, and many things for our trade: agate and carnelian, Indian muslins. . . . There are imported into this market-town, wine, Italian preferred, also Laodicean and Arabian; copper, tin, and lead; coral and topaz; thin clothing and inferior sorts of all kinds . . . gold and silver coin, on which there is a profit when exchanged for the money of the country. . . . And for the King there are brought into those places very costly vessels of silver, singing boys, beautiful maidens for the harem, fine wines, thin clothing of the finest weaves, and the choicest ointments. There are exported from these places [spices], ivory, agate and carnelian . . . cotton cloth of all kinds, silk cloth. . . . 

. . . Lying out at sea toward the west is the island Palaesimundu, called by the ancients Taprobane [Sri Lanka, southeast of India]. . . . It produces pearls, transparent stones, muslins, and tortoise-shell. . . . Beyond this, the course trending toward the north, there are many barbarous tribes, among whom are the Cirrhadae, a race of men with flattened noses, very savage; another tribe, the Bargysi; and the Horse-faces and the Long-faces, who are said to be cannibals. After these, the course turns toward the east again, and sailing with the ocean to the right and the shore remaining beyond to the left, Ganges comes into view. . . . Somewhere on the outer fringe, there is a very great inland city called Thina [China] from which silk, yarn and cloth are shipped by land via Bactria to Barygaza [i.e., down through northwest India to the coast] and via the Ganges River… It is not easy to get to this Thina; for rarely do people come from it, and only a few 

Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi [Ashoka is referring to himself in the third person. Piyadasi was a title for Indian rulers.], conquered the Kalingas eight years after his coronation. One hundred and fifty thousand were deported, one hundred thousand were killed and many more died (from other causes). After the Kalingas had been conquered, Beloved-of-the-Gods [Ashoka] came to feel a strong inclination towards the Dhamma [the teachings of Buddha], a love for the Dhamma and for instruction in Dhamma. Now Beloved-of-the-Gods feels deep remorse for having conquered the Kalingas...

...Through my instruction this regard for Dhamma and love of Dhamma has grown day by day, and will continue to grow. And my officers of high, low and middle rank are practicing and conforming to Dhamma, and are capable of inspiring others to do the same. Mahamatras in border areas are doing the same. And these are my instructions: to protect with Dhamma, to make happiness through Dhamma and to guard with Dhamma. 

...In the course of a month and five days they succeeded in reaching Yu-teen [Khotan].

Yu-teen is a pleasant and prosperous kingdom, with a numerous and flourishing population. The inhabitants all profess our Law, and join together in its religious music for their enjoyment. The monks amount to several myriads, most of whom are students of the Mahayana [Buddhism]. They all receive their food from the common store. Throughout the country the houses of the people stand apart like (separate) stars, and each family has a small tope [stupa]reared in front of its door. The smallest of these may be twenty cubits high, or rather more. They make (in the monasteries) rooms for monks from all quarters, the use of which is given to travelling monks who may arrive, and who are provided with whatever else they require.

The country, being among the hills and cold, does not produce the other cereals, and only the wheat gets ripe. After the monks have received their annual (portion of this), the mornings suddenly show the hoar-frost, and on this account the king always begs the monks to make the wheat ripen before they receive their portion. There is in the country a spitoon which belonged to Buddha, made of stone, and in colour like his alms-bowl. There is also a tooth of Buddha, for which the people have reared [made] a stupa, connected with which there are more than a thousand monks and their disciples, all students of the hinayana [Mahayana Buddhism]...The rules observed by the Sramans [Buddhist monks] are remarkable, and too numerous to be mentioned in detail. The country is in the midst of the Onion range. As you go forward from these mountains, the plants, trees, and fruits are all different from those of the land of Han, excepting only the bamboo, pomegranate, and sugar-cane…

The country, being among the hills and cold, does not produce the other cereals, and only the wheat gets ripe. After the monks have received their annual (portion of this), the mornings suddenly show the hoar-frost, and on this account the king always begs the monks to make the wheat ripen before they receive their portion. There is in the country a spitoon which belonged to Buddha, made of stone, and in colour like his alms-bowl. There is also a tooth of Buddha, for which the people have reared a stupa, connected with which there are more than a thousand monks and their disciples, all students of the hinayana [Mahayana Buddhism]...As you go forward from these mountains, the plants, trees, and fruits are all different from those of the land of Han, excepting only the bamboo, pomegranate, and sugar-cane…

When (the travellers) had got through the mountains, they were in North India, and immediately on entering its borders, found themselves in a small kingdom called T'o-leih, where also there were many [Buddhist] monks...The monks asked Fa-hien if it could be known when the Law of Buddha first went to the east [to Asia]. He replied, 'When I asked the people of those countries about it, they all said that it had been handed down by their fathers...that there were sramans [monks] of India who crossed this river, carrying with them sutras and Books of Discipline...We know of a truth that the opening of the way for such a mysterious propagation [spreading] is not the work of man; and so the dream of the emperor Ming of Han had its proper cause.” [This refers to the belief that a dream of this Han emperor in 61 CE led him to seek out Buddhism and establish it in China.] 

On his return, General Zhang seems to have brought two plants to China: alfalfa and wine grapes. Alfalfa was the best feed for horses. In addition, Chinese farmers adopted pistachios, walnuts, pomegranates, sesame, coriander, spinach, and other new crops. Chinese artisans and physicians made good use of other trade products, such as jasmine oil, oak galls (used in tanning animal hides, dyeing, and making ink), sal ammoniac (for medicines), copper oxides, zinc, and precious stones such as jade from Parthia.

Traders from China carried new fruits such as peaches and apricots, which the Romans mistakenly attributed to Persia and Armenia. They also carried cinnamon, ginger, and other spices that could not be grown in the West. 

Three major religious influences crossing the Bay of Bengal were Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism, the spread of which coincided with the mastery of the Indian Ocean current and wind patterns. ... Hinduism, which shared the greatest legacy of the Vedic religions, made the transition from an elite-based faith, with rituals controlled by a selected few, to a vast religion that merged cosmological speculation with local deities. Mythology and an array of stories made this religion popular among the masses. Its ability to blend with local gods and goddesses sat well with Southeast Asian societies. ...

The arrival of new religious configurations in Southeast Asia also had tremendous implications for the area’s political development. Traders, mariners, and priests arriving in the region introduced a wealth of ideas. Hindu priests became preferred court advisors, and Indian scripts, especially Sanskrit, became the basis for many written languages in the area. The possibility of linking local kings to reincarnations of Shiva in the Hindu cosmology or a bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism provided them with greater political authority. As states started to expand, they frequently employed Indian models of bureaucracy learned through the maritime contact with the South Asian subcontinent.

The first evidence of the use of the stirrup comes from the Kushan people of northern Afghanistan sometime between 100 CE and 300 CE. There is also evidence of the use of stirrups in India around 200 BCE, so the exact origins of the stirrup remains disputed. The stirrup reached China by the 300s CE and Europe by the 8th century CE (700s). The stirrup allowed mounted warriors to use lances, charging at enemies at a gallop. 

The Pompeii Lakshmi is an ivory statuette found in the ruins of the Roman city of Pompeii (79 CE).  It portrays Lakshmi, a Hindu goddess of fertility, beauty and wealth.

The Kushan Empire helped unite Central Asia and Northern India, which in turn encouraged merchants and multi-cultural interactions. This glass is one of many Roman glassware found in the Afghan city of Bagram. Rome was well known for its glassworks, and many similar glasses have been found in Bagram, perhaps bound for China.  

The Han were particularly enamored with the powerful horses of Central Asia, which they called "Heavenly Horses." These horses would prove critical in their fight against nomadic tribes that plagued China's borders, especially the Xiongnu. Horses from Central Asia were highly coveted because they were fast and strong. The Han began sending as many as ten envoys to Central Asian kingdoms such as Bactria every year. 

Aksum, on the Horn of Africa, became  a major trade center on the Silk Roads for both overland and maritime trade. Good from Africa's interior, such as ivory and gold, were exchanged for wine, olive oil, Roman and Indian coins, and bronze lamps. Aksum also imported foreign cultures. Elites in particular adopted Greek culture, and Christianity made its way to Aksum from Rome, blending with local traditions. 

Silk, of course, was one of the prized possessions of the Silk Road. The Chinese closely guarded the secrets of silk making, so silk was all the more valuable. Silk became a luxury among elites in Rome, but not everyone delighted in this luxury. In 14 CE the Senate banned silk wearing by men, in part due to fears of a trade imbalance. Others, like the Roman writer Seneca, felt wearing silk was immoral: "I can see clothes of silk, if materials that do not hide the body, nor even one's decency, can be called clothes ... Wretched flocks of maids labour so that the adulteress may be visible through her thin dress, so that her husband has no more acquaintance than any outsider or foreigner with his wife's body." Nonetheless, silk continued to make its way west across the Silk Roads for centuries. 

From 165 to 180 CE, the Antonine Plague (named after Marcus Aurelius Antonius, one of two emperors killed by the plague) ravaged the Roman Empire, killing 5 million to 10 million people. Roman troops returning from battle in present day Iraq (the Parthian Empire). Scholars believe the plague was likely either smallpox or measles. 

The Plague of Cyprian afflicted the Roman Empire from 249 to 262 CE, contributing to the Crises of the Third Century that weakened the empire. At its worst, it killed 5,000 people per day. Pontius, a Christian author from Carthage (Roman North Africa) described the plague: 

"Afterwards there broke out a dreadful plague, and excessive destruction of a hateful disease invaded every house in succession of the trembling populace, carrying off day by day with abrupt attack numberless people, every one from his own house. All were shuddering, fleeing, shunning the contagion, impiously exposing their own friends, as if with the exclusion of the person who was sure to die of the plague, one could exclude death itself also. There lay about the meanwhile, over the whole city, no longer bodies, but the carcasses of many, and, by the contemplation of a lot which in their turn would be theirs, demanded the pity of the passers-by for themselves. No one regarded anything besides his cruel gains. No one trembled at the remembrance of a similar event. No one did to another what he himself wished to experience."

Again, many scholars believe the plague was smallpox. It is believed to have started in Ethiopia before reaching Rome and then Greece.