Marsden, Magnus and Hopkins, Benjamin D (2019) Afghan trading networks. In: Oxford research encyclopedia of Asian history. Oxford Univesity Press. (Accepted)

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Abstract

Afghanistan has for long been conventionally regarded as a remote space that is peripheral to the wider world. More recent scholarship suggests its multiple connections to a wide variety of regions and settings. Such connections are especially visible when viewed through the lens of the networks and activities of traders from the territories that make-up the modern Afghanistan. Scholars have come to recognise that Afghan traders have for long been active players in many contexts across Asia and beyond. Such traders and the networks they form also play a critically important role in connecting different Asian sub-regions to one another, including those of South Asia and Eurasia, as well as East and West Asia. The role played by Afghan caravanners and religious minorities in the trade between India and Central Asia are especially well-documented by historians, as increasingly too are the activities of Afghan merchants in Ottoman territories. The trading networks in relationship to which Afghan traders have organised themselves are historically dynamic: their orientating values shift across time and space between various forms of religious, ethno-linguistic and also political identity. It is this capacity to switch focus in relationship to changing circumstances is helpfully in understanding the continuing relevance of Afghan traders to 21st century forms of globalised economy, in contexts as varied as the former Soviet Union, China, and the Arabian

Item Type:	Book Section
Keywords:	Afghanistan, Afghan, trade, trading networks, trust, globalisation
Schools and Departments:	School of Global Studies > Anthropology
Research Centres and Groups:	Sussex Asia
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DS History of Asia > DS041 Middle East. Southwestern Asia. Ancient Orient. Arab East. Near East D History General and Old World > DS History of Asia > DS201 Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia D History General and Old World > DS History of Asia > DS327 Central Asia D History General and Old World > DS History of Asia > DS331 Southern Asia. Indian Ocean Region D History General and Old World > DS History of Asia > DS350 Afghanistan D History General and Old World > DS History of Asia > DS376 Pakistan
Depositing User:	Magnus Marsden
Date Deposited:	28 Jan 2019 10:02
Last Modified:	28 Jan 2019 10:04
URI:	http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/81471

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