For centuries, travelers have made Central Asia known to the wider world through their writings. In this volume, scholars employ these little-known texts in a wide range of Asian and European languages to trace how Central Asia was gradually absorbed into global affairs. The representations of the region brought home to China and Japan, India and Persia, Russia and Great Britain, provide valuable evidence that helps map earlier periods of globalization and cultural interaction.

Contributions by: Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Ron Sela, Laura Hostetler, Abbas Amanat, Arash Khazeni, Kate Teltscher, Imre Galambos, Ronald Vroon, Tanya H. Merchant