公元1世纪上半叶，贵霜帝国在中亚崛起，并逐渐囊括了中亚和印度北部的大部分土地，成为丝绸之路沿线的一支强大力量。在罗马—印度海上贸易的刺激下，贵霜人积极参与到当时的国际贸易中，建立了一个庞大的贸易网络。该贸易网络主要由三条长途贸易路线组成，即向西到达西印度洋和波斯湾的西洋航线，向南向东到达南中国海的南洋航线，以及向北到达中亚和中国的陆地路线。贵霜的商业帝国一直维系到4世纪初，是公元最初几个世纪丝绸之路贸易的重要组成部分。

The Kushan Empire (贵霜帝国) emerged in Central Asia in the first half of the 1st century A.D. After that, its territory expanded rapidly. It controlled most part of Central Asia and the north of India, becoming a strong power on the Silk Road. Under the influence of the Indo Roman maritime trade, the Kushan merchants took an active part in the international trade. They established a huge long distance trade network with three main trade routes which were from the northwest of India to the Western Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, and the regions east to the Pamirs (帕米尔高原). The Kushan commercial empire continued to exist until the early 4th century A.D., which was an important part of the Silk Road trade in the first few centuries A.D.