Xinru Liu
WHC Research Project
"Currency in early Seventh-century Central Asia"
When Xuanzang visited India in the early seventh century, he recorded the currencies in use in several Central Asian states, all the way from Turfan to Afghanistan. He repeated the sentences "The currency of this country includes gold, silver, and copper coins." The gold and silver coins in circulation were quite large in number, according to Xuanzang. It is well known that the early seventh century was not a great age for gold and silver coinage for the whole of Eurasia. Roman coinage had already disappeared completely; Byzantium maintained a gold coinage but more for political purpose than commerce. The Sassanian state issued silver coins which had little interaction with the Byzantine numisma; China under the Sui and Tang issued neither gold nor silver coins; in India, gold coinage of the Gupta era also met its demise. However, in addition to Xuanzang's tesimony, there is also other evidence of circulation of gold and silver coins through that region. Sassanian silver and Byzantine coins reached China in numbers. Coins minted by Hephthalites, Turks, and other local authorities around the "Ancient land of the Tikharans" are also found in quantity (Kuwayama, 1993). It seems that along this particular section of Central Asian routes, coin currency prevailed due to trade and or to pilgrimage. Coins that circulated in Central Asia in the early seventh century indicate not only the prosperity of this region but also the economic strength and trading skill of the people who participated in the trade, including nomads such as the Hephthalites and Turks.
