The aim is to cover the three main cultural and religious centres and their traditions: Southwest Asia, with the focus at first in Mesopotamia and with the main thread of continuity being the great tradition of Iran/ Persian which includes Islam since the Seventeenth century; secondly the Hindu-Buddhist culture of India, marked by a great diversity of race and language; and thirdly, the Confucian tradition of East Asia with China as the centre. Special emphasis is given to the governments within each culture and tot he contacts between the Asian world. En- counter with traditions of European origin, Hellenism and Roman is examined. Especially noteworthy are the continent = s trading centres and their routes - the silk trade and the spice trade.