StellarTrade networks connected societies more closely than ever before between 1200 and 1450, creating a world where ideas, beliefs, and technologies traveled along with goods. This period saw a flowering of cultural exchange across Afro-Eurasia.
Religions were central to this process. Buddhism spread along the Silk Roads into East Asia, adapting into Zen Buddhism in Japan and Tibetan Buddhism in the Himalayas. Hinduism and Buddhism spread further into Southeast Asia, influencing art, temples, and political systems. Islam spread across Africa and Asia, often carried by merchants and Sufi mystics whose devotional practices were appealing to local populations.