Tarim Basin

The Tarim Basin in the 3rd century

Silk Road routes from India to China; image from Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tarim Basin is a large geographic formation in Central Asia, in what is now Xinjiang provice, China. The Tamrim is an endorheic basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other bodies of waters (i.e. rivers or oceans). Most of the basin is occupied by the Taklamakan Desert which is too dry for permanent habitation. As a result, the Silk Road routes from India to China passed around the outer edges of the Tarim Basin in two directions, with a northern route skirting the northern edge of the basin, and the southern route along the southern edge of the basin.

The oasis cities along these routes "served as crucial stations in the transmission of Buddhism from India to China."

Further reading

• Tarim basin, Wikipedia