China in Early Arabic and Persian Accounts

Relations between China and the Middle East had its reflection in the Arabic and Persian literature of the Early Abbasid period. There are geographical and travel books in Arabic and Persian focusing on commerce, including the maritime trade and exploration of new lands and peoples. Among these books are accounts on China of Sui and Tang periods. These accounts reflect relations between the Caliphate and the Middle Kingdom as well as ties connecting the Middle East, especially Iran, to China in Late Antiquity, i.e. prior to the rise of Islam. A number of texts dealing with China and other lands of the Far East belong to Persian Epic, with the most outstanding examples of "Garšāspnāmeh" and "Kušnāmeh", both written in the 11th century.