ABSTRACT
The circumstantial evidence that presents itself is that during Neolithic times, from a nucleus in Central Asia there could have been a two-fold migration, one to the southwest and thence to Kashmir and one northeast to China, Manchuria, and Siberia. Dikshit has also stated that 'the entry to Kashmir was through Gilgit and Sarhad and then along the foot-hills of Kun Lun ranges'. The roads carved by man since prehistoric times played an important role in the dissemination of one people’s culture to the other. The most important ancient ‘highway’ was the silk route, which connected China with Europe. Taking into consideration all the pros and cons of diffusion processes, the plant species used by ancient man in Kashmir can be grouped into: plants diffused from West Asia, plants diffused through Central Asia, plants diffused through Punjab and the northwestern Himalayas, and locally available plants.
