This paper will focus on the interaction through the centuries between nomadic and sedentary populations of northern Balochistan, which lies at the heart of a cultural landscape of mountain valleys cutting through the Suleiman Mountains at the eastern margin of the Central Asian world. As Islam spread eastward across the arid zone of Asia, it carried with it an Arab agricultural revolution that pushed back frontiers into the these mountainous margins, increasing investment and population pressure and bringing karez water technology to meet critical water needs. The system of karez and the cultural landscape that evolved around them testify to the way nomadic society fostered movement and change along a little known section of the Silk Route. This shaped Asia and ultimately Europe for centuries to come. The resulting watered landscape generated settlement and agriculture, and this supported caravans from Kandahar, the horses of Ghazni and the movement of trade goods, crossing high mountain passes into the heart of the Suleiman Mountains. These traders, armies and explorers were led by nomadic pastoralists following their traditional annual migrations along routes that linked the empires of Persia and Central Asia with India and beyond. Within the valleys of the karez cultural landscape there are still thousands of these karez water channels, many still in use, and the villages they supported. Around the periphery of these settlements there are the seasonal camps of the nomads with their camels and herds who live as they have for centuries in this shared cultural landscape. In the mountain passes a pattern of camps, cemeteries, tracks, fortified structures and caravanserai. Multiple kinds of movement characterize this landscape which can be read using models and methods that are new to a region with severely limited access and data.