During the medieval period, the climate of Central and southern Asia was one of contact and transformation. While Indian merchants sailed throughout Southeast Asia introducing Buddhism and Hinduism, Muslim merchants and, later, Muslim armies brought their own religion into India. In Central Asia, nomadic groups of Turks and Mongols began to abandon their traditional transitory lifestyles as they came into contact with settled civilizations. The Mongols evolved into cultural brokers who facilitated the exchange of people and ideas throughout their far-reaching empire. The Mongols never conquered India, allowing Indian traditions to develop as a complex blend of Hindu and Islamic customs. The sources in this chapter examine the changes under way in Central and southern Asia from approximately the fourth to the fifteenth centuries, with a special emphasis on the Mongol experience and empire.