Linguists and computer scientists have announced the successful decipherment of a collection of birch-bark fragments found in the Wakhan Corridor. Written in the Kharosthi script, these 4th-century documents detail previously unknown diplomatic protocols used by the Kushan Empire to manage trade relations with the Wei Dynasty. The texts contain precise legal definitions for 'sovereign transit' and 'mercantile immunity' along the high-altitude Silk Road passes.
Using a novel neural paleography model, the team reconstructed missing syntax that describes a sophisticated administrative hierarchy of 'Pass-Wardens' and 'Duty-Assessors.' This research provides the most detailed look yet at the bureaucratic mechanisms that allowed the Kushan Empire to maintain economic dominance in the Pamir and Karakoram ranges during Late Antiquity.