Foltz, Richard (1999). Religions of the Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-62125-1.

Main articles: Silk Road transmission of Buddhism and Greco-Buddhism The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism: Mahayana Buddhism first entered the Chinese Empire ( Han dynasty) during the Kushan Era. The overland and maritime "Silk Roads" were interlinked and complementary, forming what scholars have called the "great circle of Buddhism". [111] Azerbaijani MFA calls misleading the news of Bulgarian media on transportation of weapons by "Silk Way" under diplomatic immunity Sometime between 2007 and 2014, IHC gave up its stake in Silk Way. But while the IHC relinquished its ownership stake (at least on paper) it did not relinquish control over the airline. Guillaume Lavallée, Israel Under Diplomatic Fire Over Arms To Azerbaijan, Agence France-Presse, 5 October 2020 a b c d e f g Halsall, Paul (2000) [1998]. Arkenberg, Jerome S. (ed.). "East Asian History Sourcebook: Chinese Accounts of Rome, Byzantium and the Middle East, c. 91 B.C.E. – 1643 C.E." Fordham.edu. Fordham University. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014 . Retrieved 16 September 2016.

Huyghe, Edith and Huyghe, François-Bernard: "La route de la soie ou les empires du mirage", Petite bibliothèque Payot, 2006, ISBN 978-2-228-90073-7 As Freedom House’s Schenkkan puts it, “[This is] not the kind of thing that the United States has traditionally wanted to see in how they work with partner countries and allies… So this is something that even if it’s not EXIMs role to look into, someone should take a look at this and see if this is what we want to endorse.” Maxim Edwards, Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh raises scrutiny of Israel's arms sales to Azerbaijan, Global Voices, 12 November 2020

From the 4th century CE onward, Chinese pilgrims also started to travel on the Silk Road to India to get improved access to the original Buddhist scriptures, with Fa-hsien's pilgrimage to India (395–414), and later Xuanzang (629–644) and Hyecho, who traveled from Korea to India. [121] The travels of the priest Xuanzang were fictionalized in the 16th century in a fantasy adventure novel called Journey to the West, which told of trials with demons and the aid given by various disciples on the journey. Hill, John E. (2009) Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd centuries CE. BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1. Lubec, G.; Holauerghsrthbek, J.; Feldl, C.; Lubec, B.; Strouhal, E. (4 March 1993). "Use of silk in ancient Egypt". Nature. 362 (6415): 25. Bibcode: 1993Natur.362...25L. doi: 10.1038/362025b0. S2CID 1001799. Also available at "Use of Silk In Ancient Egypt". Archived from the original on 20 September 2007 . Retrieved 3 May 2007. ) IHC is linked to the Aliyev family through its director Jaouad Dbila, who in 2016 was also on the supervisory board of Silk Way Bank. Furthermore, Dbila has reportedly served as a proxy for the first family’s business interests in the past.EXIM, or the United States Export-Import Bank, is the U.S. government’s official export credit agency. Founded in 1934, its goal is not to compete with commercial lenders, but instead provides capital for transactions and investments which other lenders would be unwilling to undertake, given financial or political risks. Treasures of Ancient Altai Nomads Revealed". The Astana Times. 10 December 2012. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017 . Retrieved 23 February 2017. a b "Sogdian Trade". Encyclopædia Iranica. Archived from the original on 17 November 2011 . Retrieved 4 November 2011.

Lovell, Julia (2007). The Great Wall: China Against the World, 1000 BC – AD 2000. Grove Press. p.73. ISBN 978-0-8021-4297-9. Archived from the original on 27 February 2018 . Retrieved 17 April 2011.

Silk Way West Airlines invests in new Boeing 777-8 Freighters

Hermes, Taylor R.; Frachetti, Michael D.; Bullion, Elissa A.; Maksudov, Farhod; Mustafokulov, Samariddin; Makarewicz, Cheryl A. (26 March 2018). "Urban and nomadic isotopic niches reveal dietary connectivities along Central Asia's Silk Roads". Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 5177. Bibcode: 2018NatSR...8.5177H. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22995-2. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5979964. PMID 29581431. Bretschneider, Emil (1888), Medieval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources: Fragments Towards the Knowledge of the Geography and History of Central and Western Asia from the 13th to the 17th Century, Vol. 1, Abingdon: Routledge, reprinted 2000, p. 144. Silkroad Foundation; Adela C.Y. Lee. "Ancient Silk Road Travellers". Archived from the original on 6 August 2009. After winning the War of the Heavenly Horses and the Han–Xiongnu War, Chinese armies established themselves in Central Asia, initiating the Silk Route as a major avenue of international trade. [37] Some say that the Chinese Emperor Wu became interested in developing commercial relationships with the sophisticated urban civilizations of Ferghana, Bactria, and the Parthian Empire: "The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned thus: Ferghana (Dayuan "Great Ionians") and the possessions of Bactria ( Ta-Hsia) and Parthian Empire ( Anxi) are large countries, full of rare things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to occupations somewhat identical with those of the Chinese people, but with weak armies, and placing great value on the rich produce of China" ( Hou Hanshu, Later Han History). Others [38] say that Emperor Wu was mainly interested in fighting the Xiongnu and that major trade began only after the Chinese pacified the Hexi Corridor. Many artistic influences were transmitted via the Silk Road, particularly through Central Asia, where Hellenistic, Iranian, Indian and Chinese influences could intermix. Greco-Buddhist art represents one of the most vivid examples of this interaction. Silk was also a representation of art, serving as a religious symbol. Most importantly, silk was used as currency for trade along the silk road. [53]