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The Persian Philosophers of the Silk Road really were an impressive group and perhaps more relevant to the modern world than their remoteness would suggest. I once traced the Mathematical lineage of Fields Medalists and something like 2/3 trace their intellectual origin to thinkers in Central Asia.
A review of a book about Ibn Sina (aka Avicienna - <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avicenna>) and al-Biruni (<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Biruni>) who were Persian polymaths of the late 900s CE.

Well I say 'Persian', but both were born in what is now Uzbekistan (Ibn Sina in 'Transoxiana') apparently.

not as technical, but for KZ I'd recommend Abai Qunanbaiuly for a series of short essays on what it means to prefer culture and education over the blind pursuit of short-term profit... (our age is apparently not alone in this opposition; he felt solitary enough in his opinions that he committed them to text in the hopes of eventually finding a sympathetic reader)