Armenian and Chinese Khotan Common History
Armenia and China
Silk Road
Khotan is a major metropolis in the Xinjiang region of modern China. In antiquity, it was a major part of the silk road and famed for its silk industry, an skillset shared with the Armenians of the Armenian Highlands and Caucasus. Trade among these two regions was an important mechanism of communication between Europe and the Orient.
The Armenian word for money is Dram (Tram). In Khotan, '...we find dramma- and drammaja both of which in the documents below occur in reference to money.'
Reference: Khotanese Texts
Harold Walter Bailey, 1969
Thus, the Armenian word for money and the Chinese Khotan word for money is similar. One speculation is that the term is related to the greek drachma, but the similarities between Armenian and Khotan words attests to the wide expanse of Armenian influence beyond the Armenian plateau.
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