Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c4.s2.110

v1.c4.s2.110

The development of the overland and maritime trade led to the arrival of groups of Indians and Chinese who settled in the other country. Most traders from Punjab in Xinjiang stayed only for the duration of the trading season and went back and forth. However, a number of Kashmiris migrated to Xinjiang and settled down there, eventually losing their contacts with their native places and even language and becoming a part of local society. A small number of financiers and moneylenders from Shikarpur in Sindh (in present-day Pakistan) were also to be found in the main towns of southern Xinjiang.