The Sogdians: Silk Road Middlemen Who Shaped Eurasia

For centuries, the Sogdians were the unsung heroes of the Silk Road, a network of city-states in Central Asia that controlled trade from China to Byzantium. This episode tells their story—how they spread Buddhism, Manichaeism, and Nestorian Christianity; how their language became the lingua franca of the Silk Road; and how they fell to the Arab conquests. We discuss the Sogdian murals at Panjikent, their role in the Tang dynasty's cosmopolitan culture, and the legacy of their merchants in Dunhuang. Learn about the Sogdian network from Samarkand to Chang'an, the An Lushan Rebellion, and the forgotten civilization that connected the world. #Sogdians #SilkRoad #CentralAsia #Samarkand #Panjikent #TangDynasty #Manichaeism #Buddhism #NestorianChristianity #SogdianLanguage #Dunhuang #AnLushan #Mughan #History #FexingoHistory #TradeRoutes #Eurasia #AncientTrade #HanDynasty #RomanEmpire Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo