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| Introduction: The Ecological Context for the Emergence of the Eurasian Silk Roads | p. 1 |
| The Silk | p. 3 |
| Three Interrelated Ecological Zones | p. 5 |
| Inside the Urban-Agricultural Zone | p. 6 |
| Inside the Pastoral Zone | p. 7 |
| Inside the Taiga Forest Zone | p. 10 |
| Exchanges Among the Zones | p. 11 |
| The Significance of Horses | p. 12 |
| The Origins of the Silk... MORE | p. 19 |
| Steppe vs. Sown on the Chinese Frontier | p. 21 |
| The Xiongnu, the Yuezhi, and the Chinese | p. 21 |
| The Yuezhi-Kushan in Tuhara (Formerly Bactria) | p. 31 |
| The Political, Cultural, and Symbolic Significance of Horses, Chariots, and Silk | p. 35 |
| For Further Reading | p. 39 |
| An Overseas Silk Road: Roman Empire Traders in India, the Yuezhi-Kushan Kingdom, and the Development of Mahayana Buddhism | p. 43 |
| The Roman Empire Traders | p. 45 |
| The Arabian Peninsula and the Early Trade in Aromatic Wood Resins | p. 46 |
| Gan Ying and a Chinese Attempt To Find the Sea Markets | p. 52 |
| The Cosmopolitan Kushan Empire | p. 56 |
| Mahayana Buddhism and Its Spread to China | p. 63 |
| For Further Reading | p. 71 |
| The Desert Routes: Second Century BCE To Fifth Century CE | p. 75 |
| The Hexi Corridor and the Great Wall | p. 78 |
| Oases Around the Takla Makan Desert | p. 82 |
| Buddhist Establishments on the Desert Routes | p. 85 |
| Desert Routes on the Roman Frontier | p. 90 |
| Hellenistic Cities under the Seleucids | p. 92 |
| The Silk Trade in Eurasia's Western Deserts | p. 93 |
| For Further Reading | p. 101 |
| Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Buddhism: Political Turmoil and a New Relationship Between Empire and Religion | p. 107 |
| Upheavals | p. 108 |
| Religions, Institutions, and Values | p. 112 |
| Buddhist Networks | p. 112 |
| Zoroastrian Networks | p. 119 |
| Christian Networks | p. 125 |
| The Byzantine Empire's Government Silk Monopoly | p. 129 |
| The Tang Empire and Government Restrictions on Some Varieties of Silk | p. 135 |
| For Further Reading | p. 143 |
| Trade and Communication Under the Muslim System | p. 147 |
| The Islamic Attitude Toward Trade | p. 152 |
| Islamic Currency and the Tiraz System | p. 155 |
| The Significance of Textiles | p. 157 |
| Sericulture and Trade in the Islamic Domain | p. 164 |
| The Spread of Paper-Making and Books | p. 170 |
| Scholarly Pursuits | p. 175 |
| For Further Reading | p. 179 |
| Oceans and Seas, 900-1300 | p. 187 |
| The Origins of the Route Between China and Sri Lanka | p. 189 |
| The Maritime Trade of the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates | p. 192 |
| The Fatimid Caliphate and the Ayyubid Dynasty in Egypt | p. 196 |
| The Mediterranean Trade | p. 201 |
| The Indian Subcontinent as the Center of Southern Ocean Trade and the Rise of Cola | p. 206 |
| An Age of Chinese Seafaring | p. 209 |
| For Further Reading | p. 218 |
| The Mongol Conquests and a New Order of Trade | p. 223 |
| The Mongols and Trade | p. 226 |
| Cross-Cultural Communications and Trade Sponsored by Mongol Rulers | p. 231 |
| Tent Cultures and Textiles | p. 239 |
| Growth and Development of the Seafaring Trade | p. 246 |
| For Further Reading | p. 252 |
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