Introduction

Abstract

The Central Asian region has, through the centuries, been the hub of vibrant and diverse cultural practices. Situated at a vantage position geographically, it is linked to East, South and West Asia, as well as to Europe. As part of the Silk Route, it was open to a vast spectrum of influences from China to the Mediterranean. There is a need to assess, in ‘close-up’ as it were, the encounter of West, South and East Asia with Central Asia in pre-modern and modern times and the encounter between Russia and Central Asia in pre-Soviet and Soviet periods. These exchanges are centuries old and have mutually enriched cultural forms in the entire region, including our own subcontinent. Essentialist readings cannot find a place in critical writing on this region: so diffuse and diverse are the interminglings. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.