ABSTRACT
Justin II and his advisors questioned the Turco-Sogdian ambassadors about political developments in Central Asia. They were informed the Hephthalite Huns had been utterly defeated and most of their realms, including territories containing large cities, had been made subject to the new Gokturk Khaganate. The account by Menander suggests that Eastern Roman political and military interests had suddenly superseded the commercial intentions of the Sogdian group. Gokturk Khaganate reports that ‘those engaged in the silk trade at Byzantium and other cities were selling this fabric at an excessive price. The Sogdians were an urbanised population who farmed fertile lands in Central Asia to the northeast of Bactria. For centuries Sogdian merchants had been denied access to Sassanian markets in inner Iran. The Turco–Eastern Roman alliance had the potential to reshape the entire political and economic structure of Eurasia. The Sogdian-managed Silk Routes developed a different economic character in the era following the Gokturk Khaganate. .
