Introduction: Networks and Identities in the Buddhist World

By the first and second centuries CE, when objects and teachings associated with Buddhism started entering the ports and urban centres of Han China, several regions of Asia were already connected through networks of cross-regional commercial activity. People from diverse ethnic backgrounds operated these networks that linked the overland roads and pathways, rivers channels, and sea routes. The length and reach of these networks depended on various factors, including the nature of the terrain, the mode of transportation, profitability, as well as the political relationship among the various regimes involved. These networks facilitated the transmissions and circulations of commodities, ritual