THE TURKS AND THE SINITIC WORLD: A History of the Silk Road, 10th–12th Centuries

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In the initial project, I studied diplomacy, trade, and transcontinental networks between China and Central Asia in the pre-Mongol period. The goal of this renewal period is to investigate the banci 般次 (also written as banca 般擦) institution during the Song period and compare it with the Mongol Ortoq system. The Ortoqs (Chinese wotuo 斡脱, Persian ūrtāq) were merchant associations in Yuan China that served as business partners of the Mongol ruling elite. These associations were composed mainly of Uyghurs and Muslims who received silver loans from the government and financed trade caravans traveling to Central Asia and Iran. My research will deal with the similar system that functioned during the Northern Song period that was known as “banci” and will demonstrate that it can be a possible institutional precedent for the Ortoq. This research will support the arguments on the «Silk Road revival» in the Qarakhanid period, which I developed during the initial project, and it will contribute to our understanding of China-Western interactions in the pre-Mongol period.