Religious Movements

The cross-fertilization of religions and cultures across Central Asia and the Indo-Persian world was fundamental to the development of Asian societies between the early sixteenth and the mid-nineteenth centuries.  Movement of people and goods along the trading routes of this macro-region resulted in the transfer of beliefs and religious practices too, and ultimately, changes to these religions themselves. Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism all travelled between peoples and cultures, with, for example, Sufism becoming popular in northern Central Asia, whilst Shi’ism was the dominant form of Islam in Iran.