<aside> 📚 The study of the Silk Road involves a variety of topics, which all have unique ideas and nomenclatures. The following, prepared by Kian Greene, is a brief outlook of words, questions, and concepts which were encountered during discussions, reading, or general study.

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Vocabulary

Abbasid Dynasty

• The Abbasid Dynasty came into power after ousting the Umayyad Dynasty in 750 AD.
• Ties into the Thousand and One Nights, as Baghdad, where most of the tales are told / take place, was the capital of the Abbasid Empire (as well as the modern capital of Iraq).
• They fell to the Mongol forces in 1258.

Aurel Stein

• A Hungarian-British archaeologist-explorer (lived 1862-1943) renowned for his four major expeditions in and across the Taklamakan Desert, but most especially for his 2nd:
  • Stein’s 1st Expedition (1900-1901)
    • Stein followed a part of Xuanzang’s journey, departing from Kashmir to explore the route to Khotan.
    • He also proved that the Islam Akhun manuscripts cherished by Rudolf Hoernle were forgeries.
  • Stein’s 2nd Expedition (1906-1908)
    • Stein traveled from Lahore to Dunhuang, where he confirmed that adjacent tower ruins were part of the Great Wall.
    • He also explored the Mogao Caves, whereupon he made potentially his greatest – and most divisive – discovery.
      • Stein and his Chinese assistant Chiang manipulated Taoist priest Wang Yuan-lu into opening the door to Cave 17, or the “library cave” as it has come to be known. Stein compared himself to Xuanzang, a hero to the priest, to explain why he should have access to the manuscripts that lay within. After Cave 17 was opened, Stein purchased many scrolls, including the Diamond Sutra, from Wang Yuan-lu and brought them back to Britain, where they have remained since. Such an act returned fame in Britain but animosity from the Chinese, many of whom declared Stein a thief.
    • Moreover, during this expedition, Stein suffered from frostbite, and was forced to amputate several toes on his right foot.
  • Although Stein carried out two further expeditions into the Taklamakan, they have significantly less controversy/ information about them in comparison to his discovery / burglary at the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang.

Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin)

• The hero of the Lotus Sutra, they are said to be the most approachable and compassionate bodhisattva.
• Interestingly, the male Avalokiteshvara in the Indian scripture is denoted as the female Guanyin in the Chinese scripture.

Bactria

• Ancient Bactria was located north of the Hindu Kush and southwest of the Ferghana Valley, and covered the modern countries of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• It originally was a fertile agricultural land the supported Greek and Hellenistic life.
• Before the Islamization of the Silk Road and its nearby areas, Bactria served as one of the early centers of Zoroastrianism, but also served as a hub for Buddhism with the rise of the Kushan Empire.

Boddhisattva

• With the development and expansion of Mahayana Buddhism, new deities known as bodhisattvas were established. Although they can reach nirvana, they instead remain in their individual paradises, which were usually described as lands decorated with silks and precious gems, to help worshipers. Bodhisattvas in general greatly supported the spread of Mahayana Buddhism in general, especially since it was easier for many silk road travelers to understand the material worship of godly figures than it was for them to accept an eventual release into nothingness.

Borte

• Temujin’s wife, whom he was greatly devoted to. She was one of the most influential figures of Temujin’s rise to power and life in general.