International Conference of the Silk Road: Mashhad, Iran
University of Ferdowsi of MashhadAn International Conference of the Silk Road was held from the 15 to 16 October in Mashhad, Iran. The conference was jointly organized by the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, the Centre for International Research and Education of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS). Notably Mashhad, which was historically a significant centre along the Silk Roads, will also be an Islamic Cultural Capital city in 2017.
Participants at the event included 30 researchers and experts from Iran and neighbouring Central Asian countries including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, as well as other countries such as China, Netherlands, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea and Turkey.
Speakers presented a diverse range of themes, spanning from the historical role of Iran in connecting east and west through the Silk Roads to the modern day and revival of the Silk Roads as a form of intercultural capacity building. The cultural impact of the Silk Roads was a common theme in many lectures, including presentations on the Silk Roads as a symbol of interaction among cultures, the priority of culture over economics and politics based on historical evidence from the Mongol empire and also Nomads along the Silk Roads, who themselves were carriers of culture. Some presentations paid greater attention to the impact of the Silk Roads on science and the scientific exchanges along the Silk Roads in the 9th and 10th centuries. Other presentations related specifically to China’s interaction with the Silk Roads, for instance a lecture on Chinese astronomy in the Mongol empire, Islamic astronomy in China during the Yuan dynasty and another on the geography in Western China during the Ming dynasty. Religion was also examined in numerous presentations, with some experts presenting the spread of religion by pilgrims along the Silk Roads, whilst others turned to the connection of religion with economics, for instance the commercial activities of Khorasan Religious Scholars and Sufis on the Silk Roads during the middle ages.
The Ferdowsi University and IICAS intend to publish the speeches presented at the conference in coming months.
