Silk Road

The Silk Road was a network of trade routes from the Far East to the Mediterranean. Its extent stretched from the city of Changan (modern day Xi'an) in China to Constantinople. http://www.silkroadproject.org/Education/Resources/SilkRoadEncounters/tabid/339/Default.aspx The term "Silk Road" was coined by Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen, a German Scholar. http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/toc/index.html However, the Silk Road was not one road. Some passed through the oases of Central Asia and others traversed the Karakoram mountain range into India. http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html The Silk Road allowed for the exchange of ideas, beliefs, goods and manufacturing techniques across Continents. This connection was made possible by the conquests of the Persians and the Greeks in the West and the unification of the Han dynasty in the East.http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html

If one follows the Silk Road from the East, all of the routes started in Changan, but there were a few different destinations in the West, such as Damascus, Basra or Antioch. http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/toc/index.html Some of the cities along the routes were: Lanzhou, Dunhuang, Turfan, Urumqi, Kashgar, Samarqand, Khotan, Merv, Bukhara and Ectabana. http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/toc/index.html They routes crossed in between the Gobi and Taklimakan (now part of the Uighur Autonomous Region in China) Deserts. From there, they passed the Oxus River and either went South to India or North to the Caspian Sea and the Middle East. http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/toc/index.htmllhttp://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html

The routes on the Silk road were also treacherous. Nomads and bandits could attack caravans as they passed. In China, this problem was partially dealt with by extending the Great Wall of China along the routes, or having local governments protect the road. Eventually, China started to take control of areas further out along the trade route. http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html Still, the history of the Silk Road had many phases. Nomadic invasions into China and dynasty changes affect trade. The first centuries of the Tang Dynasty, which started in the 7th Century, was considered the Golden Age of the routes. When this regime collapsed, the Golden Age waned. On the other hand, kingoms that came into power along the Silk Road, such as the Kirghiz, Gaoshan and even the Arabs, helped strengthen the routes.http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/toc/index.html

Some of the goods traded on the Silk Road were gold, camels, slaves, horses, almonds, spices, glass, silk, incense and exotic fruits and vegetables. http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/toc/index.html http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html

Buddhism also flourished because of the Silk Road, spreading from India to China and Central Asia. http://www.silkroadproject.org/Education/Resources/SilkRoadEncounters/tabid/339/Default.aspx