Commerce and Society in Sogdiana and Beyond

4^th-to-8th Centuries

*Sogdians

Cultural Brokers

Network of settlements, 4th-9th c.

Sogdian Language

*Sogdiana: Pre-Islamic Political Organization

Independent city-states

Paikand

*Bukhara

*Samarkand

Panjikent

Etc.

Nobles choose kings

Frequent nomadic overlordship

First Türk Empire & W. Turks (552-659)

Tang Dynasty (659-ca. 700)

Turgesh (ca. 700-720)

Umayyad Caliphate, ca. 712-49

Economy

Irrigated agriculture

Trade

Pre-Islamic social structure

Nobles

Merchants

Workers

Slaves

Settlement patterns

Low wall around each oasis

Walled capitals with citadels

Urban growth, 5th-8th c.

Panjikent

Walled villages with castles

The Castle on Mount Mugh and Its Documents

Disappearance of Sogdians

Only isolated pockets of Sogdian speakers still exist

Political and cultural changes

Muslim rule from 712

Gradual Islamization and Persianization

Mongol conquest, 1221

Gradual Turkicization

Cultural/Economic continuity

Samarkand and Bukhara remain Silk Road commercial hubs

Sogdian diaspora

Silk Road Settlements, 4th-9th c.

Peak eastern migration, 5th-8th c.

Sogdian “Ancient Letters,” early 4th c.

Trade settlements

Luxury & everyday goods

Miwnay in Dunhuang

Sogdian Activities in China and Turkic Mongolia

Merchants

Farmers

Artisans

Government officials

Soldiers

An Lushan

Singers and dancers

Slaves

Glimpses of Diaspora Society

Iranian traditions

Hunting (Fig. 4)

Feasting in Sogdiana

Feasting on steppe and China (Fig. 4 and various panels of Fig. 2)

Dancing: Sogdian swirl

Functions of settlements for traders

Resupply depots

Markets

Protection

Sogdians and Turks

Negotiating (Fig. 3)

Sogdian-language Slave Contract of 639 from Astana Graveyard at Turfan

Place

“Chinatown” Gaochang Kingdom (442-640) Turfan)

Female Slave, unknown age

Upach, “from the family of Chuyakk and was born in Turkestan, from Wakhushuvirt, son of Tudhakk originating from Samarqand.”

Seller

Wakhushuvirt, “no longer has any concern with her, renounces all the old [claims to Upach].”

 Buyer

Monk Yansyan and his descendants, “may at will hit her, abuse her, bind her, sell her off, pledge her, give and offer her as a gift, and do whatsoever they may wish.”

Chief Scribe

Pator signs, “by the order of [the father] Wakhushuvirt, and with the consent of [his daughter] Upach.”

Sogdian Witnesses

Tishrat, the son of Chuzakk, of Maymargh

Namdhar, the son of Khwatawch, of Samarqand

Pesak, the son of Karzh, of Nuchkanth

Nizat, the son of Nanaikuch, of Kushaniya

Quotations from Yoshida Yutaka, "Appendix: Translation of the Contract for the Purchase of a Slave Girl Found at Turfan and Dated 639," T'oung Pao Second Series, 89, no. 1/3 (2003): 159-61.

Discussion: Hansen 197-201, 225-231 (docs. 23a-c): *Sogdian Ancient Letters, ca. 311

1. How did Aurel Stein's workers discover the letters?

1a. What does the discovery of the letters reveal about the Sogdian communication system across the Silk Roads in the early fourth century?

2. What do letters 1 and 3 reveal about the families and society of the Sogdian Community at Dunhuang?

2a. Why is Miwnay angry with her husband? Who in the Sogdian community is willing to help her?

2b. What cultural values of Sogdians are apparent from her situation?

3. What do letters 2 and 5 reveal about Sogdian business practices?

3a. What products do Sogdians trade? How are their trading networks organized?

3b. How does the political situation in China affect the Sogdian trade network?