Sogdians a group of Central Asians based between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya played a
significant historical role at the crossroads of the Silk Roads. Travelling the world as
caravan leaders organised in trading networks they were found from Byzantium to the Chinese
heartland. The Sogdian language was a candidate for the lingua franca of the Silk Roads for
some hundred years and Sogdians acted as polyglot mediators at courts and prominent translators
of Buddhist texts. In the Chinese capitals fire temples were erected for their use and the
exotic products they imported were cherished by the people and the court.This socio-historical
study by Moritz Huber provides a translation of the transmitted Chinese records on Sogdians in
Sogdiana and China and combines them with archaeological evidence to present a differentiated
picture of their presence in China from the 3rd to 10th century CE. Besides the transcription
and translation of all epitaphs of Sogdians from an archaeological context used to tell their
interconnected biographies as well as a detailed discussion of their political organisation in
China under the sabao this publication further includes a case-study of the Shi families in
Guyuan Ningxia Province.
