Religious and Cultural Contacts between India and the Pre-Chinggisid Mongol Steppe through the Silk Roads (2nd Century BCE–13th Century CE)

 

Religious and Cultural Contacts between India and the Pre-Chinggisid Mongol Steppe through the Silk Roads (2nd Century BCE–13th Century CE)

Author:

Dr. Manish Kumar C. Mishra

Associate Professor, Department of Hindi

K. M. Agrawal College of Arts, Commerce and Science

Kalyan (West), Maharashtra, India

Email: manishmuntazir@gmail.com

Mobile: +91 8090100909

Abstract

The Silk Roads are conventionally interpreted as networks of commerce; however, they also constituted a dynamic corridor of religious, intellectual, and civilizational exchange across Eurasia. From the second century BCE to the pre-Chinggisid period, sustained interactions among the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, and the Mongol Steppe facilitated the circulation of religious ideas, philosophical traditions, cultural practices, and the Indian Knowledge System (IKS). Buddhist doctrines, Sanskrit Buddhist literature, monastic institutions, and Indian philosophical thought travelled through Central Asia to the Mongol Steppe, where they interacted with indigenous Tengrist and shamanic traditions, contributing to a distinctive pluralistic religious landscape.

This paper examines the nature, dynamics, and historical significance of these religious and cultural contacts by situating the Silk Roads within the broader framework of civilizational connectivity and the transregional dissemination of the Indian Knowledge System. Employing a historical, comparative, and interdisciplinary methodology, the study critically analyses archaeological evidence, travel accounts, Chinese and Tibetan sources, Sanskrit Buddhist texts, and recent scholarship.

The paper argues that the relationship between India and the pre-Chinggisid Mongol Steppe extended far beyond the diffusion of Buddhism. It represented a long-term process of knowledge transmission, cultural adaptation, religious syncretism, and intercivilizational dialogue. By reassessing these interactions, the study offers a fresh perspective on the role of the Silk Roads in shaping Asia's religious history and highlights India's intellectual and cultural contributions to Inner Asia before the rise of the Mongol Empire.

Keywords Silk Roads; Indian Knowledge System; Pre-Chinggisid Mongol Steppe; Buddhism; Tengrism; Religious Syncretism; Civilizational Connectivity; Cultural Interaction; Central Asia; Knowledge Transmission.