Communication in Asia and its Influence

Because India was a major cultural and commercial center, it had widespread influence in the region. Sanskrit was not only the language of ruling elites in India but also extended into neighboring countries. Sanskrit was adopted as the language of statecraft and a symbol of royal legitimacy in Angkor (whose name derives from the Sanskrit word nagara, city), and was used by ruling elites ranging from Prambanam in central Java to Annam (modern-day Vietnam) to Peshawar in Gandhara (modern-day Pakistan). The languages of neighboring countries such as Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia are strongly influenced by Sanskrit and contain many cognate words. Versions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata are found all over South and Southeast Asia and continue to be widely performed, and Indian thought, myth, and cultural themes pervade the region.

In addition to being a hub of ideas and technology, India was the nexus of trade in the region. Early records indicate that guilds run by Brahmans dominated regional commerce and document commercial interactions with Thailand, Alexandria, Lebanon, Burma, island and mainland Southeast Asia, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. India's major international trade routes began at Patna in the north and went on to Taxila, through the Hindu Kush mountains to Bactria and Seleucia, and west toward Damascus and the seaports of Ionia. Trade with China is documented as early as the first century C.E., when embassies were sent between the two countries, and a major expansion of trade took place during the Tang dynasty (618–907). The most important avenues of trade were the silk routes, which brought goods and technology by sea and overland through Central Asia. The overland trade routes from northern India went to the north and south of the Tarim Basin and met at the Chinese frontier at the Jade Gate near the oasis city of Dunhuang. The famous caves of Dunhuang were constructed between the fifth and eighth centuries and were used to store texts and images. Dunhuang became a major center of interchange between Indian and Chinese culture, and during the period that it was annexed by the expanding Tibetan empire (ninth century) it also served as a conduit for Buddhist learning and literature from Tibet, Central Asia, and China.

Beginning in the second century C.E., Buddhist missionaries began to follow the trade routes through Central Asia and made their way into China. In 142 a group of monks led by An Shigao established a translation bureau in Loyang to render Sanskrit Buddhist texts into Chinese. For several centuries interest in Buddhism was largely confined to émigrés from Central Asia, but in the fourth century significant numbers of Chinese began to convert. This led to increased importation of texts and ideas from India as well as increased pilgrimage by Chinese Buddhists to India. Among the most famous of these intrepid travelers was Faxian, who traveled overland to India in 399, and Xuanzang, who journeyed overland through Central Asia to India. Xuanzang spent a total of sixteen years there (629–645) and traveled all over the subcontinent, chronicling Buddhist institutions and schools. He brought back numerous texts and spent most of the rest of his life translating and interpreting them.

During the Tang dynasty there were reportedly thousands of Indians in China's major cities. Some were traders and others were Buddhist missionaries. Some, such as Bodhiruchi (fl. 508–537), brought more than just Buddhist learning: Bodhiruchi was born into a Brahman family and was learned in Samkhya philosophy, astrology, mathematics, medicine, and grammar. He translated fifty-three volumes of the Buddhist canon under the patronage of the emperor and was also influential in introducing the court to other aspects of Indian learning and technology. Pilgrims and traders who returned to India brought peaches, pears, vermilion, and Chinese silk with them, and many also studied Chinese medicine, astrology, and mathematics during their stay.