Most people are surprised when told that Indian Gāndhārī and Khotan Saka were the main languages of Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, from the earliest recorded times to about 1000 CE, where I take India to imply the larger geographical region that includes Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The role of the Vedic tradition in the culture of Central Asia becomes clear from the many representations of Śiva, Maheśvara, Umā, Kṛṣṇa, Gaṇeśa, and other deities that have been found in the ruins of temples and monasteries. Vedic hermeneutics also played a fundamental role in the development of the Madhyamaka sect in Central Asia and China.
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