The Sogdians used Sogdian as a major language of Silk Road commerce.
The Sogdians were an Iranian-speaking people whose homeland lay around Samarkand and other parts of the Zeravshan and Kashka-Darya regions. From late antiquity into the early medieval period, Sogdian merchants established communities and trading connections across Central Asia and into China.
They dealt in goods such as silk, horses, spices, precious metals, and luxury products. Sogdian documents, inscriptions, and tomb objects show that their influence extended far beyond their original homeland.
The Sogdians were merchants, but not every Silk Road merchant was Sogdian. Trade networks also included Chinese, Indian, Iranian, Arab, Turkic, and other communities. Sogdian became important because of the people’s commercial settlements and connections, not because it was the only trade language.