Business
Travelling merchants did not simply sell what they carried; they turned a modest load of goods into a spread of trade deals and moneylending ventures. The goods were a seed for credit, and lending, not peddling, was where the wealth grew.
The rise of European sea trade in the Indian Ocean did not take over the overland routes across inner Asia. At the very same moment, thousands of merchants were setting out overland, tying the economies of India and Central Asia closer together than ever before.
For three centuries these traders lived as 'guests' in towns and villages across many foreign lands rather than settling as natives. Being lasting outsiders let a network of merchants stretch across several states and markets at once.