Archaeological research has identified a nuanced trade system forming in the Malay Peninsula around the 6 th and 7 th centuries. The earliest of these sites, situated both on the east and west coast ...

UNESCO established the Memory of the World Programme in 1992. The original impetus came from a growing awareness of the difficulties in preserving and accessing documentary heritage in various parts ...

Cities grew up along the Silk Roads as essential hubs of trade and exchange, here merchants and travellers came to stop and rest their animals and begin the process of trading their goods. From Xi’an ...

When Timur (also known as Tamerlane) died in 1405, the great Timurid Empire he had constructed began to disintegrate. Without his force of personality and uncontested leadership, the unity of the ...

Nowruz is a rite dating back to at least the 6 th century BCE, marking the new year and ushering in spring. Variously known as Novruz, Nowrouz, Nooruz, Navruz, Nauroz or Nevruz, this historic rite is ...

The Belitung Shipwreck, also called the Tang shipwreck or Batu Hitam shipwreck, was found by local fishermen off the Belitung Island, Indonesia, in 1998. The Arabian ship sailed possibly between Oman ...

The Silk Roads were a driving force behind significant cultural exchange across many different parts of the world. Throughout the long history of these routes, a blending of civilizations and people ...

Along with cultural elements, traditions, and religious beliefs, languages also travelled on the Silk Roads. Spread into the western regions of the Silk Roads, Arabic is one of the languages that was ...

The trade and subsequent cultural contact between the Indian subcontinent and South Asian countries led to India having a very profound influence on politics, religion, culture and society in the ...

Marco Polo’s expedition to the east between 1271 and 1295 was written up on his return in his book The Travels of Marco Polo. It was looked upon as being a collection of fables as much as facts, but ...

Located between the eastern Mediterranean coast and the Euphrates Valley at the crossroads of several trade routes since the 2nd millennium B.C., Aleppo stands out as ­one of the key centers along the ...

The Lord Buddha was born in 623 BC in the sacred area of Lumbini located in the Terai plains of southern Nepal, testified by the inscription on the pillar erected by the Mauryan Emperor Asoka in 249 ...