During the period of the Kushan Empire, great progress was made in the social and economic
life of the peoples of Central Asia. The economic prosperity they enjoyed was
due to a number of factors: (a) the unification of the greater part of Central Asia’s ancient
agricultural regions under the authority of a single empire; (b) the maintenance of political
stability over long periods; (c) the rapid development of farming (with crop irrigation)
and handicrafts; and (d) the expansion and strengthening of trade relations with India,
China and the countries of the Near East. With the expansion of internal and international
trade, and the development of economic relations in Central Asia, agriculture, which had
already played a major role in the country’s economic development, acquired even greater
importance. In countries with inadequate rainfall, agriculture, the backbone of ancient civilizations,
has always depended on artificial irrigation and many aspects of the social and economic life of the peoples of Central Asia in the Kushan period are closely linked with
irrigation as an element in agricultural production and general prosperity.