Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13.s3.t1.37

v2.c13.s3.t1.37

mainly Kashmiri merchants although there were also a number of businessmen and moneylenders from Shikarpur in Sindh (in present-day Pakistan). Most of the traders from India came for the trading season and returned to India before the mountain passes closed in winter. Many of them stayed in lodging places exclusively meant for them known as *serais*. However, some of them were permanent settlers who established themselves for several generations in Xinjiang. Indian merchants and Indian goods were a familiar sight for many centuries in the bazaars of Yarkand and to this day there are places there with names such as ‘Gurdial serai’ and ‘Kashmir kucha (lane)’ which capture the once close connection between Yarkand and India.