Samarkand: Did you mean...?

A yurt (ger in Mongolian) is a large circular tent made of wool felt stretched over a wooden frame used by nomadic peoples of the Asian steppe since before written records began. Yurts are especially associated with Mongol herders and...

Admiral Zheng He (aka Cheng Ho, c. 1371-1433 CE) was a Chinese Muslim eunuch explorer who was sent by the Ming dynasty emperor Yongle (r. 1403-1424 CE) on seven diplomatic missions to increase trade and secure tribute...

The foundation of observatories during the Scientific Revolution (1500-1700) followed a process of evolution from entirely independent observatories operated by a single astronomer to private observatories...

The rulers of China's Ming dynasty (1368-1644) acquired an insatiable desire for silver in the 16th century, largely to pay for huge prestige projects like building the Forbidden City in Beijing and repairing the...

In the late 8th century CE, the interconnected caravan routes later termed the “Silk Road” formed a transcontinental system linking East Asia, Central Asia, the Islamic world, and parts of Europe. The...

This map illustrates the rise and rapid expansion of Islam from the time of the Prophet Muhammad (622–632 CE) through the great caliphates of the 7th to 9th centuries. Beginning in Arabia, the new...

Roman trade with the East refers to the overland and maritime exchange networks that connected the Roman Empire with Parthian Iran, the Kushan Empire...