Abstract
Official contacts between the imperial Roman government and Han China were fleeting and transitory. Although official attempts at contact largely ended in failure, sustained contacts between the regions controlled by Rome and China were nevertheless realised by different means. These contacts were of seminal importance for the entirety of Eurasia in that they brought about significant geopolitical and cultural developments. The activities of Sogdian and Turkish ambassadors representing the Khagans of the Western Turkish Khaganate in the sixth century AD also led to sustained contacts between the former territories of the Han Empire with the Eastern Roman Empire. The Turkish intervention paved the way for the subsequent Arab Muslim conquest and the Islamisation of that region. Iran was conquered outright and the once proud empire of the Romans was reduced to the status of a mere second-rate power. This completed the transformation of the Roman Empire into a Greek-speaking medieval Byzantine Empire.
Published Version
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