THE SPREAD OF PAPER TO CENTRAL ASIA ALONG THE SILK ROADS AND THE FORMATION OF SAMARKAND PAPERMAKING

Abstract

This article examines how paper spread westward from inland China across the Gansu–Dunhuang corridor, Tarim Basin and the Sogdian oases. It distinguishes the circulation and use of finished sheets from the transmission of the craft of papermaking and reassesses the development of Samarkand as a regional production centre. The study applies comparative historical analysis, source criticism and published archaeological and fibre analyses. The early fourth-century Sogdian letters discovered near Dunhuang demonstrate that merchants used paper for correspondence long before the Battle of Talas in 751. Scientific studies of manuscripts indicate the coexistence of papers made from recycled textile fibres and from plant bast. Tenth-century geographical descriptions attest to the reputation and wider distribution of Samarkand paper. The findings question the idea that one battle introduced paper. Instead, the article argues that commercial exchange, administrative practice, manuscript cultures and adaptation to local raw materials together shaped the emergence of Samarkand papermaking.