Xuanzang was a great Chinese scholar who lived in the 600s AD, under the T’ang dynasty. He was a Buddhist, and he wanted to see India, where the Buddha had lived. So he traveled from the Chinese capital at Changan to India and spent years living at the Guptan court, collecting information and books about the Buddha.
Many people were traveling more between China and the rest of Asia at this time, because the strong countries of Central Asia – the Tibetans and the Gokturks and the Sogdians – were making sure it was safe to travel along the Silk Road.
When Xuanzang got back to China, he wrote down an account of what Sogdiana and India were like. His story helps us to understand the Silk Road of his time, and Guptan India.