The
Silk
Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes connecting the
East and West which for centuries was central to cultural interaction
between them.[1][2][3] The
Silk
Silk Road refers to both the terrestrial
and the maritime routes connecting Asia with the
Middle East
.svg/440px-Middle_East_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Middle East and
southern Europe.
The
Silk
Silk Road derives its name from the lucrative trade in silk
carried out along its length, beginning in the
Han dynasty
Han dynasty (207
BCE–220 CE). The
Han dynasty
Han dynasty expanded the Central Asian section of
the trade routes around 114 BCE through the missions and explorations
of the Chinese imperial envoy Zhang Qian.[4] The Chinese took great
interest in the safety of their trade products and extended the Great
Wall of
China
China to ensure the protection of the trade route.[5]
Trade
_двор_Красная_пл.,_2.jpg/440px-Гостиный_(Меновый)_двор_Красная_пл.,_2.jpg)
Trade on the
Silk
Silk Road played a significant role in the development of
the civilizations of China, Korea,[6] Japan,[2] the Indian
subcontinent, Iran/Persia, Europe, the
Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa and Arabia,
opening long-distance political and economic relations between the
civilizations.[7] Though silk was the major trade item exported from
China, many other goods were traded, as well as religions, syncretic
philosophies, and technologies. Diseases, most notably plague, also
spread along the
Silk
Silk Road. In addition to economic trade, the Silk
Road was a route for cultural trade among the civilizations along its
network.[8]
Traders in antiquity included the Bactrians, Sogdians, Syrians, Jews,
Arabs, Iranians, Turkmens, Chinese, Indians, Somalis, Greeks, Romans,
Georgians, and Armenians.[9]
In June 2014,
UNESCO
.png/800px-Map_of_UNESCO_Intangible_cultural_heritage_(en).png)
UNESCO designated the Chang'an-Tianshan corridor of the
Silk
Silk Road as a World Heritage Site. The Indian portion is on the
tentative site list.
Contents
1 Name
2 History
2.1 Precursors
2.1.1 Chinese and Central Asian contacts
2.1.2 Persian Royal Road
2.1.3
Hellenistic
Hellenistic era
2.2 Chinese exploration of Central Asia
2.3 Roman Empire
2.4 Byzantine Empire
2.5
Tang dynasty
Tang dynasty reopens the route
2.6 Medieval
2.7 Islamic era and the
Silk
Silk Road
2.8 Mongol age
2.9 Decline and disintegration
2.10 New
Silk
Silk Road
3 Routes
3.1 Northern route
3.2 Southern route
3.3 Southwestern route
3.4 Maritime route
4 Cultural exchanges
4.1 Transmission of Christianity
4.2 Transmission of Buddhism
4.3 Transmission of art
5 Commemoration
6 Foreign language terms
7 Gallery
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
11 Sources
12 Further reading
13 External links
Name[edit]
Woven silk textile from Tomb No. 1 at Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan
province, China, dated to the Western Han Era, 2nd century BCE
The
Silk
Silk Road derives its name from the lucrative Eurasian
silk,[10][11] a major reason for the connection of trade routes into
an extensive transcontinental network.[12][13] The German terms
Seidenstraße and Seidenstraßen ("the
Silk
Silk Road(s)") were coined by
Ferdinand von Richthofen, who made seven expeditions to
China
China from
1868 to 1872.[14][15][16] The term
Silk
Silk Route is also used.[17]
Although the term was coined in the 19th century, it did not gain
widespread acceptance in academia or popularity among the public until
the 20th century.[16] The first book entitled The
Silk
Silk Road was by
Swedish geographer
Sven Hedin
Sven Hedin in 1938.[16] The fall of the Soviet
Union and 'Iron Curtain' in 1989 led to a surge of public and academic
interest in
Silk
Silk Road sites and studies in the former Soviet republics
of Central Asia.[16]
Use of the term '
Silk
Silk Road' is not without its detractors. For
instance,
Warwick Ball contends that the maritime spice trade with
India
India and
Arabia
Arabia was far more consequential for the economy of the
Roman Empire
Roman Empire than the silk trade with China, which at sea was
conducted mostly through
India
India and on land was handled by numerous
intermediaries such as the Sogdians.[18] Going as far as to call the
whole thing a "myth" of modern academia, Ball argues that there was no
coherent overland trade system and no free movement of goods from East
Asia to the West until the period of the Mongol Empire.[19] He notes
that traditional authors discussing East-West trade such as Marco Polo
and
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon never labelled any route a "silk" one in
particular.[16]
History[edit]
Precursors[edit]
Chinese and Central Asian contacts[edit]
Central Eurasia has been known from ancient times for its horse riding
and horse breeding communities, and the overland
Steppe Route
Steppe Route across
the northern steppes of Central Eurasia was in use long before that of
the
Silk
Silk Road.[11] Archeological sites such as the Berel burial ground
in Kazakhstan, confirmed that the nomadic
Arimaspians
Arimaspians were not only
breeding horses for trade but also great craftsmen able to propagate
exquisite art pieces along the
Silk
Silk Road.[20][21] From the 2nd
millennium BCE, nephrite jade was being traded from mines in the
region of Yarkand and
Khotan
Khotan to China. Significantly, these mines were
not very far from the lapis lazuli and spinel ("Balas Ruby") mines in
Badakhshan, and, although separated by the formidable Pamir Mountains,
routes across them were apparently in use from very early
times.[citation needed]
Chinese jade and steatite plaques, in the Scythian-style animal art of
the steppes. 4th–3rd century BCE. British Museum.
Some remnants of what was probably Chinese silk dating from 1070 BCE
have been found in Ancient Egypt. The Great Oasis cities of Central
Asia played a crucial role in the effective functioning of the Silk
Road trade.[22] The originating source seems sufficiently reliable,
but silk degrades very rapidly, so it cannot be verified whether it
was cultivated silk (which would almost certainly have come from
China) or a type of "wild silk", which might have come from the
Mediterranean
Mediterranean region or the Middle East.[23]
Following contacts between Metropolitan
China
China and nomadic western
border territories in the 8th century BCE, gold was introduced from
Central Asia, and Chinese jade carvers began to make imitation designs
of the steppes, adopting the Scythian-style animal art of the steppes
(depictions of animals locked in combat). This style is particularly
reflected in the rectangular belt plaques made of gold and bronze,
with other versions in jade and steatite.[citation needed] The tomb of
a
Scythian
Scythian prince near Stuttgart, Germany, dated to the 6th century
BCE, was excavated and found to have not only Greek bronzes but also
Chinese silks.[24] Similar animal-shaped pieces of art and wrestler
motifs on belts have been found in
Scythian
Scythian grave sites stretching
from the
Black Sea
Black Sea region all the way to
Warring States
Warring States era
archaeological sites in
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia (at Aluchaideng) and Shaanxi
(at Keshengzhuang) in China.[24]
The expansion of
Scythian
Scythian cultures, stretching from the Hungarian
plain and the
Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains to the Chinese
Kansu
.svg/550px-Gansu_in_China_(_all_claims_hatched).svg.png)
Kansu Corridor, and
linking the
Middle East
Middle East with Northern
India
India and the Punjab,
undoubtedly played an important role in the development of the Silk
Road.
Scythians
Scythians accompanied the Assyrian
Esarhaddon
Esarhaddon on his invasion of
Egypt, and their distinctive triangular arrowheads have been found as
far south as Aswan. These nomadic peoples were dependent upon
neighbouring settled populations for a number of important
technologies, and in addition to raiding vulnerable settlements for
these commodities, they also encouraged long-distance merchants as a
source of income through the enforced payment of tariffs. Sogdians
played a major role in facilitating trade between
China
China and Central
Asia along the
Silk
Silk Roads as late as the 10th century, their language
serving as a lingua franca for Asian trade as far back as the 4th
century.[25][26]
Persian Royal Road[edit]
Achaemenid Persian Empire
.svg/250px-Standard_of_Cyrus_the_Great_(Achaemenid_Empire).svg.png)
Achaemenid Persian Empire at its greatest extent, showing the Royal
Road.
By the time of
Herodotus
Herodotus (c. 475 BCE), the
Royal Road
Royal Road of the Persian
Empire ran some 2,857 km (1,775 mi) from the city of
Susa
Susa on
the
Karun
Karun (250 km (155 mi) east of the Tigris) to the port
of
Smyrna
Smyrna (modern
İzmir
İzmir in Turkey) on the Aegean Sea.[27] It was
maintained and protected by the
Achaemenid Empire
Achaemenid Empire (c. 500–330 BCE)
and had postal stations and relays at regular intervals. By having
fresh horses and riders ready at each relay, royal couriers could
carry messages and traverse the length of the road in nine days, while
normal travellers took about three months.[citation needed]
Hellenistic
Hellenistic era[edit]
Probable Greek soldier with a Greek mythological centaur in the Sampul
tapestry,[28] woollen wall hanging, 3rd–2nd century BCE, Sampul,
Urumqi
Urumqi
Xinjiang
_(_all_claims_hatched).svg/550px-Xinjiang_in_China_(de-facto)_(_all_claims_hatched).svg.png)
Xinjiang Museum, China.
The next major step in the development of the
Silk
Silk Road was the
expansion of the Greek empire of
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great into Central
Asia. In August 329 BCE, at the mouth of the
Fergana Valley
.JPG/600px-63_V_Osh_(42).JPG)
Fergana Valley in
Tajikistan
Tajikistan across the mountain pass from the modern Chinese province
of Xinjiang, Alexander founded the city of
Alexandria Eschate
Alexandria Eschate or
"
Alexandria
Alexandria The Furthest".[29] This later became a major staging point
on the northern
Silk
Silk Route. See
Dayuan
Dayuan (Ta-yuan; Chinese: 大宛;
literarily "Great Ionians").
The
Greeks
Greeks remained in
Central Asia
.svg/400px-Central_Asia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Central Asia for the next three centuries,
first through the administration of the
Seleucid
Seleucid Empire, and then with
the establishment of the
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (250–125 BCE) in
Bactria
Bactria (modern Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan) and the later
Indo-Greek Kingdom
Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BCE – 10 CE) in modern Northern
Pakistan
Pakistan and
Afghanistan. They continued to expand eastward, especially during the
reign of Euthydemus (230–200 BCE), who extended his control beyond
Alexandria Eschate
Alexandria Eschate to Sogdiana. There are indications that he may have
led expeditions as far as
Kashgar
Kashgar in Chinese Turkestan, leading to the
first known contacts between [
China
China and the West around 200 BCE. The
Greek historian
Strabo
Strabo writes, "they extended their empire even as far
as the
Seres
Seres (China) and the Phryni."[30]
The
Hellenistic
Hellenistic world and Classical Greek philosophy mixed with
Eastern philosophies,[31] leading to syncretisms such as
Greco-Buddhism.
Chinese exploration of Central Asia[edit]
Main articles: Sino-Roman relations, Sino-Indian relations,
Han–
Xiongnu
Xiongnu War, and History of the Han dynasty
With the
Mediterranean
Mediterranean linked to the Fergana Valley, the next step was
to open a route across the
Tarim Basin
Tarim Basin and the
Hexi Corridor
Hexi Corridor to China
Proper. This extension came around 130 BCE, with the embassies of the
Han dynasty
Han dynasty to
Central Asia
Central Asia following the reports of the ambassador
Zhang Qian[32] (who was originally sent to obtain an alliance with the
Yuezhi
Yuezhi against the Xiongnu).
Zhang Qian
Zhang Qian visited directly the kingdom
of
Dayuan
Dayuan in Ferghana, the territories of the
Yuezhi
Yuezhi in Transoxiana,
the Bactrian country of
Daxia
Daxia with its remnants of Greco-Bactrian
rule, and Kangju. He also made reports on neighbouring countries that
he did not visit, such as Anxi (Parthia), Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia),
Shendu (Pakistan) and the Wusun.[33] Zhang Qian's report suggested the
economic reason for Chinese expansion and wall-building westward, and
trailblazed the silk road which is one of the most famous trade
routes.[34] After the defeat of the Xiongnu, however, Chinese armies
established themselves in Central Asia, initiating the
Silk
Silk Route as a
major avenue of international trade.[35] Some say that the Chinese
Emperor Wu became interested in developing commercial relationships
with the sophisticated urban civilizations of Ferghana, Bactria, and
the Parthian Empire: "The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned
thus:
Ferghana
Ferghana (
Dayuan
Dayuan "Great Ionians") and the possessions of Bactria
(Ta-Hsia) and
Parthian Empire
Parthian Empire (Anxi) are large countries, full of rare
things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to
occupations somewhat identical with those of the Chinese people, but
with weak armies, and placing great value on the rich produce of
China" (Hou Hanshu, Later Han History). Others[36] say that Emperor Wu
was mainly interested in fighting the
Xiongnu
Xiongnu and that major trade
began only after the Chinese pacified the Hexi Corridor.
"
China
China snatched control of the
Silk
Silk Road from the Hsiung-nu", when the
Chinese general Cheng Ki "installed himself as protector of the Tarim
at Wu-lei, situated between Kara Shahr and Kucha." "China's control of
the
Silk
Silk Road at the time of the later Han, by ensuring the freedom of
transcontinental trade along the double chain of oases north and south
of the Tarim, favoured the dissemination of
Buddhism
.jpeg/476px-Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg)
Buddhism in the river
basin, and with it Indian literature and
Hellenistic
Hellenistic art."[37]
A ceramic horse head and neck (broken from the body), from the Chinese
Eastern
Han dynasty
Han dynasty (1st–2nd century CE)
Bronze coin of
Constantius II
.jpg/440px-Bust_of_Constantius_II_(Mary_Harrsch).jpg)
Constantius II (337–361), found in Karghalik,
Xinjiang, China
The Chinese were also strongly attracted by the tall and powerful
horses (named "Heavenly horses") in the possession of the Dayuan
(literally the "Great Ionians", the Greek kingdoms of Central Asia),
which were of capital importance in fighting the nomadic Xiongnu. The
Chinese subsequently sent numerous embassies, around ten every year,
to these countries and as far as
Seleucid
Seleucid Syria. "Thus more embassies
were dispatched to Anxi [Parthia], Yancai [who later joined the Alans
], Lijian [Syria under the Greek Seleucids], Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia),
and Tianzhu [northwestern India]... As a rule, rather more than ten
such missions went forward in the course of a year, and at the least
five or six." (Hou Hanshu, Later Han History).These connections marked
the beginning of the
Silk
Silk Road trade network that extended to the
Roman Empire.[38] The Chinese campaigned in
Central Asia
Central Asia on several
occasions, and direct encounters between Han troops and Roman
legionaries (probably captured or recruited as mercenaries by the
Xiong Nu) are recorded, particularly in the 36 BCE battle of Sogdiana
(Joseph Needham, Sidney Shapiro). It has been suggested that the
Chinese crossbow was transmitted to the Roman world on such occasions,
although the Greek gastraphetes provides an alternative origin. R.
Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy suggest that in 36 BCE, a "Han
expedition into central Asia, west of Jaxartes River, apparently
encountered and defeated a contingent of Roman legionaries. The Romans
may have been part of Antony's army invading Parthia.
Sogdiana
Sogdiana (modern
Bukhara), east of the
Oxus
Oxus River, on the
Polytimetus
Polytimetus River, was
apparently the most easterly penetration ever made by Roman forces in
Asia. The margin of Chinese victory appears to have been their
crossbows, whose bolts and darts seem easily to have penetrated Roman
shields and armour."[39] The Roman historian
Florus
Florus also describes the
visit of numerous envoys, which included Seres(China), to the first
Roman Emperor Augustus, who reigned between 27 BCE and 14 CE:
Even the rest of the nations of the world which were not subject to
the imperial sway were sensible of its grandeur, and looked with
reverence to the Roman people, the great conqueror of nations. Thus
even
Scythians
Scythians and
Sarmatians
.JPG/440px-0_Sarcophage_-_Soumission_des_sarmates_-_Museo_Pio-Clementino_(2).JPG)
Sarmatians sent envoys to seek the friendship of
Rome. Nay, the
Seres
Seres came likewise, and the Indians who dwelt beneath
the vertical sun, bringing presents of precious stones and pearls and
elephants, but thinking all of less moment than the vastness of the
journey which they had undertaken, and which they said had occupied
four years. In truth it needed but to look at their complexion to see
that they were people of another world than ours.
— Henry Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither (1866)
The Han army regularly policed the trade route against nomadic bandit
forces generally identified as Xiongnu. Han general
Ban Chao
Ban Chao led an
army of 70,000 mounted infantry and light cavalry troops in the 1st
century CE to secure the trade routes, reaching far west to the Tarim
basin.
Ban Chao
Ban Chao expanded his conquests across the
Pamirs
Pamirs to the shores
of the
Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea and the borders of Parthia.[40] It was from here
that the Han general dispatched envoy
Gan Ying to
Daqin
Daqin (Rome).[41]
The
Silk
Silk Road essentially came into being from the 1st century BCE,
following these efforts by
China
China to consolidate a road to the Western
world and India, both through direct settlements in the area of the
Tarim Basin
Tarim Basin and diplomatic relations with the countries of the Dayuan,
Parthians
Parthians and Bactrians further west. The
Silk
Silk Roads were a "complex
network of trade routes" that gave people the chance to exchange goods
and culture.[42]
A maritime
Silk
Silk Route opened up between Chinese-controlled Giao Chỉ
(centred in modern Vietnam, near Hanoi), probably by the 1st century.
It extended, via ports on the coasts of
India
India and Sri Lanka, all the
way to Roman-controlled ports in Roman
Egypt
Egypt and the Nabataean
territories on the northeastern coast of the Red Sea. The earliest
Roman glassware
Roman glassware bowl found in
China
China was unearthed from a Western Han
tomb in Guangzhou, dated to the early 1st century BCE, indicating that
Roman commercial items were being imported through the South China
Sea.[43] According to Chinese dynastic histories, it is from this
region that the Roman embassies arrived in China, beginning in 166 CE
during the reigns of
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius and Emperor Huan of
Han.[44][45][46] Other Roman glasswares have been found in
Eastern-Han-era tombs (25–220 CE) more further inland in
Nanjing
Nanjing and
Luoyang.[47] P.O. Harper asserts that a 2nd or 3rd-century Roman gilt
silver plate found in Jingyuan, Gansu,
China
China with a central image of
the Greco-Roman god
Dionysus
Dionysus resting on a feline creature, most likely
came via
Greater Iran
Greater Iran (i.e. Sogdiana).[48]
Valerie Hansen
Valerie Hansen (2012)
believed that earliest Roman coins found in
China
China date to the 4th
century, during
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity and the
Dominate
Dominate period, and come from
the Byzantine Empire.[49] However,
Warwick Ball (2016) highlights the
recent discovery of sixteen Principate-era Roman coins found in Xi'an
(formerly Chang'an, one of the two Han capitals) that were minted
during the reigns of Roman emperors spanning from
Tiberius
.jpg/440px-Tiberius,_Romisch-Germanisches_Museum,_Cologne_(8115606671).jpg)
Tiberius to Aurelian
(i.e. 1st to 3rd centuries CE).[50] It is true that these coins were
found in China, but they were deposited there in the twentieth
century, not in ancient times, and therefore they do not shed light on
historic contacts between
China
China and Rome.[51] Roman golden medallions
made during the reign of
Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius and quite possibly his
successor
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius have been found at
Óc Eo in southern
Vietnam, which was then part of the
Kingdom of Funan
Kingdom of Funan bordering the
Chinese province of
Jiaozhi
Jiaozhi in northern Vietnam.[52][53] Given the
archaeological finds of
Mediterranean
Mediterranean artefacts made by Louis Malleret
in the 1940s,[53]
Óc Eo may have been the same site as the port city
of
Kattigara
Kattigara described by
Ptolemy
Ptolemy in his Geography (c. 150 CE),[52]
although
Ferdinand von Richthofen
_-_Ernst_(...)Milster_Ernst_btv1b84510245_(cropped).jpg/440px-(Ferdinand_von_Richthofen)_-_Ernst_(...)Milster_Ernst_btv1b84510245_(cropped).jpg)
Ferdinand von Richthofen had previously believed it was
closer to Hanoi.[54]
Roman Empire[edit]
Central Asia
Central Asia during Roman times, with the first
Silk
Silk Road
Soon after the Roman conquest of
Egypt
Egypt in 30 BCE, regular
communications and trade between China, Southeast Asia, India, the
Middle East, Africa, and
Europe
Europe blossomed on an unprecedented scale.
The eastern trade routes from the earlier
Hellenistic
Hellenistic powers and the
Arabs
Arabs that were part of the
Silk
Silk Road were inherited by the Roman
Empire. With control of these trade routes, citizens of the Roman
Empire would receive new luxuries and greater prosperity for the
Empire as a whole.[55] The Roman-style glassware discovered in the
archeological sites of Gyeongju, capital of the
Silla
Silla kingdom (Korea)
showed that Roman artifacts were traded as far as the Korean
peninsula.[6] The Greco-Roman trade with
India
India started by Eudoxus of
Cyzicus in 130 BCE continued to increase, and according to Strabo
(II.5.12), by the time of Augustus, up to 120 ships were setting sail
every year from
Myos Hormos
Myos Hormos in Roman
Egypt
Egypt to India.[56] The Roman
Empire connected with the Central Asian
Silk
Silk Road through their ports
in Barygaza (known today as
Bharuch
Bharuch [57]) and Barbaricum (known today
as the cities of Karachi, Sindh, and
Pakistan
Pakistan [58]) and continued
along the western coast of India.[59] An ancient "travel guide" to
this
Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean trade route was the Greek Periplus of the Erythraean
Sea written in 60 CE.
The travelling party of Maës Titianus penetrated farthest east along
the
Silk
Silk Road from the
Mediterranean
Mediterranean world, probably with the aim of
regularising contacts and reducing the role of middlemen, during one
of the lulls in Rome's intermittent wars with Parthia, which
repeatedly obstructed movement along the
Silk
Silk Road. Intercontinental
trade and communication became regular, organised, and protected by
the 'Great Powers.' Intense trade with the
Roman Empire
Roman Empire soon followed,
confirmed by the Roman craze for Chinese silk (supplied through the
Parthians), even though the Romans thought silk was obtained from
trees. This belief was affirmed by
Seneca the Younger
Seneca the Younger in his Phaedra
and by
Virgil
Virgil in his Georgics. Notably,
Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder knew better.
Speaking of the bombyx or silk moth, he wrote in his Natural Histories
"They weave webs, like spiders, that become a luxurious clothing
material for women, called silk."[60] The Romans traded spices,
glassware, perfumes, and silk.[61]
A Westerner on a camel,
Northern Wei dynasty
Northern Wei dynasty (386–534)
Roman artisans began to replace yarn with valuable plain silk cloths
from
China
China and the
Silla
Silla Kingdom in Gyeongju, Korea.[62][6] Chinese
wealth grew as they delivered silk and other luxury goods to the Roman
Empire, whose wealthy Roman women admired their beauty.[63] The Roman
Senate issued, in vain, several edicts to prohibit the wearing of
silk, on economic and moral grounds: the import of Chinese silk caused
a huge outflow of gold, and silk clothes were considered to be
decadent and immoral.
I can see clothes of silk, if materials that do not hide the body, nor
even one's decency, can be called clothes... Wretched flocks of maids
labour so that the adulteress may be visible through her thin dress,
so that her husband has no more acquaintance than any outsider or
foreigner with his wife's body.[64]
The Roman Empire, and its demand for sophisticated Asian products,
crumbled in the West around the 5th century.
The unification of
Central Asia
Central Asia and Northern
India
India within Kushan
Empire in the 1st to 3rd centuries reinforced the role of the powerful
merchants from
Bactria
Bactria and Taxila.[65] They fostered multi-cultural
interaction as indicated by their 2nd century treasure hoards filled
with products from the Greco-Roman world, China, and India, such as in
the archeological site of Begram.
Byzantine Empire[edit]
Further information: Byzantine-Mongol alliance
Byzantine Greek historian
Procopius
Procopius stated that two Nestorian
Christian monks eventually uncovered the way of how silk was made.
From this revelation, monks were sent by the Byzantine Emperor
Justinian
.jpg/440px-Mosaic_of_Justinianus_I_-_Basilica_San_Vitale_(Ravenna).jpg)
Justinian (ruled 527–565) as spies on the
Silk
Silk Road from
Constantinople
Constantinople to
China
China and back to steal the silkworm eggs, resulting
in silk production in the Mediterranean, particularly in Thrace in
northern Greece,[66] and giving the
Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire a monopoly on
silk production in medieval Europe. In 568 the Byzantine ruler Justin
II was greeted by a Sogdian embassy representing Istämi, ruler of the
Turkic Khaganate, who formed an alliance with the Byzantines against
Khosrow I
Khosrow I of the
Sasanian Empire
Sasanian Empire that allowed the Byzantines to bypass
the Sasanian merchants and trade directly with the
Sogdians
Sogdians for
purchasing Chinese silk.[67][68][69] Although the Byzantines had
already procured silkworm eggs from
China
China by this point, the quality
of Chinese silk was still far greater than anything produced in the
West, a fact that is perhaps emphasized by the discovery of coins
minted by
Justin II
Justin II found in a Chinese tomb of
Shanxi
.svg/550px-Shanxi_in_China_(_all_claims_hatched).svg.png)
Shanxi province dated
to the
Sui dynasty
Sui dynasty (581–618).[70]
Coin of
Constans II
.jpg)
Constans II (r. 641–648), who is named in Chinese sources as
the first of several Byzantine emperors to send embassies to the
Chinese Tang dynasty[44]
Both the
Old Book of Tang
Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang, covering the history
of the Chinese
Tang dynasty
Tang dynasty (618–907), record that a new state
called Fu-lin (拂菻; i.e. Byzantine Empire) was virtually identical
to the previous
Daqin
Daqin (大秦; i.e. Roman Empire).[44] Several Fu-lin
embassies were recorded for the Tang period, starting in 643 with an
alleged embassy by
Constans II
Constans II (transliterated as Bo duo li,
波多力, from his nickname "Kōnstantinos Pogonatos") to the court
of Emperor Taizong of Tang.[44] The
History of Song describes the
final embassy and its arrival in 1081, apparently sent by Michael VII
Doukas (transliterated as Mie li sha ling kai sa, 滅力沙靈改撒,
from his name and title Michael VII Parapinakēs Caesar) to the court
of Emperor Shenzong of the
Song dynasty
Song dynasty (960–1279).[44] However, the
History of Yuan claims that a Byzantine man became a leading
astronomer and physician in Khanbaliq, at the court of Kublai Khan,
Mongol founder of the
Yuan dynasty
Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) and was even granted
the noble title 'Prince of Fu lin' (Chinese: 拂菻王; Fú lǐn
wáng).[71] The Uyghur
Nestorian
Nestorian Christian diplomat Rabban Bar Sauma,
who set out from his Chinese home in
Khanbaliq
Khanbaliq (Beijing) and acted as
a representative for
Arghun
Arghun (a grandnephew of Kublai
Khan),[72][73][74][75] traveled throughout
Europe
Europe and attempted to
secure military alliances with Edward I of England, Philip IV of
France, Pope Nicholas IV, as well as the Byzantine ruler Andronikos II
Palaiologos.[76][74] Andronikos II had two half-sisters who were
married to great-grandsons of Genghis Khan, which made him an in-law
with the Yuan-dynasty Mongol ruler in Beijing, Kublai Khan.[77] The
History of Ming preserves an account where the Hongwu Emperor, after
founding the
Ming dynasty
.svg/500px-Ming_Empire_cca_1580_(en).svg.png)
Ming dynasty (1368–1644), had a supposed Byzantine
merchant named Nieh-ku-lun (捏古倫) deliver his proclamation about
the establishment of a new dynasty to the Byzantine court of John V
Palaiologos in September 1371.[78][44]
Friedrich Hirth
Friedrich Hirth (1885), Emil
Bretschneider (1888), and more recently Edward Luttwak (2009) presumed
that this was none other than Nicolaus de Bentra, a Roman Catholic
bishop of Khanbilaq chosen by
Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII to replace the previous
archbishop John of Montecorvino.[79][80][44]
Tang dynasty
Tang dynasty reopens the route[edit]
Further information: Tang campaigns against the Western Turks,
Conquest of the Western Turks, Tang campaign against the Eastern
Turks, and
Tang dynasty
Tang dynasty §
Trade
Trade and spread of culture
A Chinese sancai statue of a Sogdian man with a wineskin, Tang dynasty
(618–907)
Although the
Silk
Silk Road was initially formulated during the reign of
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han (141–87 BCE), it was reopened by the Tang Empire
in 639 when
Hou Junji conquered the Western Regions, and remained open
for almost four decades. It was closed after the Tibetans captured it
in 678, but in 699, during Empress Wu's period, the
Silk
Silk Road reopened
when the Tang reconquered the
Four Garrisons of Anxi
Four Garrisons of Anxi originally
installed in 640,[81] once again connecting
China
China directly to the West
for land-based trade.[82] The Tang captured the vital route through
the
Gilgit
Gilgit Valley from
Tibet
Tibet in 722, lost it to the Tibetans in 737,
and regained it under the command of the Goguryeo-Korean General Gao
Xianzhi.[83]
While the Turks were settled in the Ordos region (former territory of
the Xiongnu), the Tang government took on the military policy of
dominating the central steppe. The
Tang dynasty
Tang dynasty (along with Turkic
allies) conquered and subdued
Central Asia
Central Asia during the 640s and
650s.[84] During Emperor Taizong's reign alone, large campaigns were
launched against not only the Göktürks, but also separate campaigns
against the Tuyuhun, the oasis states, and the Xueyantuo. Under
Emperor Taizong, Tang general Li Jing conquered the Eastern Turkic
Khaganate. Under Emperor Gaozong, Tang general
Su Dingfang
Su Dingfang conquered
the Western Turkic Khaganate, which was an important ally of Byzantine
empire.[85] After these conquests, the
Tang dynasty
Tang dynasty fully controlled
the Xiyu, which was the strategic location astride the
Silk
Silk Road.[86]
This led the
Tang dynasty
Tang dynasty to reopen the
Silk
Silk Road.
The
Tang dynasty
Tang dynasty established a second Pax Sinica, and the
Silk
Silk Road
reached its golden age, whereby Persian and Sogdian merchants
benefited from the commerce between East and West. At the same time,
the Chinese empire welcomed foreign cultures, making it very
cosmopolitan in its urban centres. In addition to the land route, the
Tang dynasty
Tang dynasty also developed the maritime
Silk
Silk Route. Chinese envoys
had been sailing through the
Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean to
India
India since perhaps the
2nd century BCE,[87] yet it was during the
Tang dynasty
Tang dynasty that a strong
Chinese maritime presence could be found in the
Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf and Red
Sea into Persia,
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia (sailing up the
Euphrates
Euphrates River in
modern-day Iraq), Arabia, Egypt,
Aksum
Aksum (Ethiopia), and
Somalia
Somalia in the
Horn of Africa.[88]
Medieval[edit]
Further information: Europeans in Medieval China
Caravan on the
Silk
Silk Road, 1380
The
Silk
Silk Road represents an early phenomenon of political and cultural
integration due to inter-regional trade. In its heyday, it sustained
an international culture that strung together groups as diverse as the
Magyars, Armenians, and Chinese. The
Silk
Silk Road reached its peak in the
west during the time of the Byzantine Empire; in the Nile-Oxus
section, from the
Sassanid Empire
Sassanid Empire period to the
Il Khanate
Il Khanate period; and
in the sinitic zone from the
Three Kingdoms
Three Kingdoms period to the Yuan dynasty
period.
Trade
Trade between East and West also developed across the Indian
Ocean, between
Alexandria
Alexandria in
Egypt
Egypt and
Guangzhou
Guangzhou in China. Persian
Sassanid coins emerged as a means of currency, just as valuable as
silk yarn and textiles.[89]
Under its strong integrating dynamics on the one hand and the impacts
of change it transmitted on the other, tribal societies previously
living in isolation along the
Silk
Silk Road, and pastoralists who were of
barbarian cultural development, were drawn to the riches and
opportunities of the civilisations connected by the routes, taking on
the trades of marauders or mercenaries.[citation needed] "Many
barbarian tribes became skilled warriors able to conquer rich cities
and fertile lands and to forge strong military empires."[90]
Map of Eurasia and Africa showing trade networks, c. 870
The
Sogdians
Sogdians dominated the East-West trade after the 4th century up to
the 8th century, with
Suyab
Suyab and Talas ranking among their main centres
in the north. They were the main caravan merchants of Central Asia.
Their commercial interests were protected by the resurgent military
power of the Göktürks, whose empire has been described as "the joint
enterprise of the
Ashina clan and the Soghdians".[65][91] A.V. Dybo
noted that "according to historians, the main driving force of the
Great
Silk
Silk Road were not just Sogdians, but the carriers of a mixed
Sogdian-Türkic culture that often came from mixed families."[92]
Their trade, with some interruptions, continued in the 9th century
within the framework of the Uighur Empire, which until 840 extended
across northern
Central Asia
Central Asia and obtained from
China
China enormous
deliveries of silk in exchange for horses. At this time caravans of
Sogdians
Sogdians travelling to Upper Mongolia are mentioned in Chinese
sources. They played an equally important religious and cultural role.
Part of the data about eastern Asia provided by
Muslim
Muslim geographers of
the 10th century actually goes back to Sogdian data of the period
750–840 and thus shows the survival of links between east and west.
However, after the end of the Uighur Empire, Sogdian trade went
through a crisis. What mainly issued from
Muslim
Muslim
Central Asia
Central Asia was the
trade of the Samanids, which resumed the northwestern road leading to
the Khazars and the Urals and the northeastern one toward the nearby
Turkic tribes.[65]
The
Silk
Silk Road gave rise to the clusters of military states of nomadic
origins in North China, ushered the Nestorian, Manichaean, Buddhist,
and later Islamic religions into
Central Asia
Central Asia and China.
Islamic era and the
Silk
Silk Road[edit]
Further information: History of Islamic economics
The
Round city of Baghdad
Round city of Baghdad between 767 and 912 was the most important
urban node along the
Silk
Silk Road.
A lion motif on Sogdian polychrome silk, 8th century, most likely from
Bukhara
By the
Umayyad
Umayyad era,
Damascus
Damascus had overtaken
Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon as a major trade
center until the
Abbasid dynasty
Abbasid dynasty built the city of Baghdad, which
became the most important city along the silk road.
At the end of its glory, the routes brought about the largest
continental empire ever, the Mongol Empire, with its political centres
strung along the
Silk
Silk Road (
Beijing
Beijing in North China, Karakorum in
central Mongolia,
Sarmakhand
Sarmakhand in Transoxiana,
Tabriz
Tabriz in Northern Iran,
Sarai and
Astrakhan
Astrakhan in lower Volga,
Solkhat
Solkhat in Crimea,
Kazan
Kazan in
Central Russia,
Erzurum
Erzurum in eastern Anatolia), realising the political
unification of zones previously loosely and intermittently connected
by material and cultural goods.[citation needed]
The
Islamic world
Islamic world was expanded into
Central Asia
Central Asia during the 8th
century, under the
Umayyad
Umayyad Caliphate, while its successor the Abbasid
Caliphate put a halt to Chinese westward expansion at the Battle of
Talas in 751 (near the
Talas River
Talas River in modern-day Kyrgyzstan).[93]
However, following the disastrous
An Lushan Rebellion
An Lushan Rebellion (755–763) and
the conquest of the
Western Regions
.png/600px-Western_Regions_1st_century_BC(en).png)
Western Regions by the Tibetan Empire, the Tang
Empire was unable to reassert its control over Central Asia.[94]
Contemporary Tang authors noted how the dynasty had gone into decline
after this point.[95] In 848 the Tang Chinese, led by the commander
Zhang Yichao, were only able to reclaim the
Hexi Corridor
Hexi Corridor and Dunhuang
in
Gansu
Gansu from the Tibetans.[96] The Persian
Samanid Empire
.GIF/500px-Samanid_dynasty_(819–999).GIF)
Samanid Empire (819–999)
centered in
Bukhara
Bukhara (Uzbekistan) continued the trade legacy of the
Sogdians.[93] The disruptions of trade were curtailed in that part of
the world by the end of the 10th century and conquests of Central Asia
by the Turkic Islamic Kara-Khanid Khanate, yet
Nestorian
Nestorian Christianity,
Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and
Buddhism
Buddhism in
Central Asia
Central Asia virtually
disappeared.[97]
During the early 13th century Khwarezmia was invaded by the early
Mongol Empire. The Mongol ruler
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan had the once vibrant
cities of
Bukhara
Bukhara and
Samarkand
Samarkand burned to the ground after besieging
them.[98] However, in 1370
Samarkand
Samarkand saw a revival as the capital of
the new Timurid Empire. The Turko-Mongol ruler
Timur
Timur forcefully moved
artisans and intellectuals from across Asia to Samarkand, making it
one of the most important trade centers and cultural entrepôts of the
Islamic world.[99]
Mongol age[edit]
See also: Mongol Empire, Pax Mongolica, Franco-Mongol alliance,
Europeans in Medieval China, and Fonthill Vase
Map of Marco Polo's travels in 1271–1295
The Mongol expansion throughout the Asian continent from around 1207
to 1360 helped bring political stability and re-established the Silk
Road (via Karakorum). It also brought an end to the dominance of the
Islamic Caliphate over world trade. Because the Mongols came to
control the trade routes, trade circulated throughout the region,
though they never abandoned their nomadic lifestyle.
The Mongol rulers wanted to establish their capital on the Central
Asian steppe, so to accomplish this goal, after every conquest they
enlisted local people (traders, scholars, artisans) to help them
construct and manage their empire.[100]
The Mongol diplomat
Rabban Bar Sauma
Rabban Bar Sauma visited the courts of
Europe
Europe in
1287–88 and provided a detailed written report to the Mongols.
Around the same time, the Venetian explorer
Marco Polo
Marco Polo became one of
the first Europeans to travel the
Silk
Silk Road to China. His tales,
documented in The Travels of Marco Polo, opened Western eyes to some
of the customs of the Far East. He was not the first to bring back
stories, but he was one of the most widely read. He had been preceded
by numerous Christian missionaries to the East, such as William of
Rubruck, Benedykt Polak, Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, and Andrew of
Longjumeau. Later envoys included Odoric of Pordenone, Giovanni de'
Marignolli, John of Montecorvino, Niccolò de' Conti, and Ibn Battuta,
a Moroccan
Muslim
Muslim traveller who passed through the present-day Middle
East and across the
Silk
Silk Road from
Tabriz
Tabriz between 1325–54.[101]
In the 13th century efforts were made at forming a Franco-Mongol
alliance, with an exchange of ambassadors and (failed) attempts at
military collaboration in the
Holy Land
.jpg/440px-The_map_of_the_Holy_Land_by_Marino_Sanudo_(drawn_in_1320).jpg)
Holy Land during the later Crusades.
Eventually the Mongols in the Ilkhanate, after they had destroyed the
Abbasid
Abbasid and
Ayyubid
Ayyubid dynasties, converted to
Islam
Islam and signed the 1323
Treaty of Aleppo
Treaty of Aleppo with the surviving
Muslim
Muslim power, the Egyptian
Mamluks.[citation needed]
Some studies indicate that the Black Death, which devastated Europe
starting in the late 1340s, may have reached
Europe
Europe from Central Asia
(or China) along the trade routes of the Mongol Empire.[102] One
theory holds that Genoese traders coming from the entrepot of
Trebizond in northern
Turkey
Turkey carried the disease to Western Europe;
like many other outbreaks of plague, there is strong evidence that it
originated in marmots in
Central Asia
Central Asia and was carried westwards to the
Black Sea
Black Sea by
Silk
Silk Road traders.[103]
Decline and disintegration[edit]
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Port cities on the maritime silk route featured on the voyages of
Zheng He.[104]
The fragmentation of the
Mongol Empire
Mongol Empire loosened the political,
cultural, and economic unity of the
Silk
Silk Road.
Turkmeni
Turkmeni marching lords
seized land around the western part of the
Silk
Silk Road from the decaying
Byzantine Empire. After the fall of the Mongol Empire, the great
political powers along the
Silk
Silk Road became economically and
culturally separated. Accompanying the crystallisation of regional
states was the decline of nomad power, partly due to the devastation
of the
Black Death
Black Death and partly due to the encroachment of sedentary
civilisations equipped with gunpowder.[citation needed]
The consolidation of the Ottoman and
Safavid
Safavid empires in the Middle
East led to a revival of overland trade, interrupted sporadically by
warfare between them. The silk trade continued to flourish until it
was disrupted by the collapse of the
Safavid
Safavid Empire in the 1720s.[105]
New
Silk
Silk Road[edit]
A silk banner from Mawangdui, Changsha,
Hunan
.svg/550px-Hunan_in_China_(_all_claims_hatched).svg.png)
Hunan province; it was draped
over the coffin of
Lady Dai
Lady Dai (d. 168 BCE), wife of the Marquess Li
Cang (利蒼) (d. 186 BCE), chancellor for the Kingdom of
Changsha.[106]
After an earthquake that hit
Tashkent
Tashkent in
Central Asia
Central Asia in 1966, the
city had to rebuild itself. Although it took a huge toll on their
markets, this commenced a revival of modern silk road cities.[107]
The
Eurasian Land Bridge
Eurasian Land Bridge (a railway through China, Kazakhstan,
Mongolia and Russia) is sometimes referred to as the "New Silk
Road".[108] The last link in one of these two railway routes was
completed in 1990, when the railway systems of
China
China and Kazakhstan
connected at Alataw Pass (Alashan Kou). In 2008 the line was used to
connect the cities of
Ürümqi
Ürümqi in China's
Xinjiang
Xinjiang Province to Almaty
and
Astana
Astana in Kazakhstan.[109] In October 2008 the first Trans-Eurasia
Logistics train reached
Hamburg
Hamburg from Xiangtan. Starting in July 2011
the line has been used by a freight service that connects Chongqing,
China
China with Duisburg, Germany,[110] cutting travel time for cargo from
about 36 days by container ship to just 13 days by freight train. In
2013,
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard began moving large freight trains of laptop
computers and monitors along this rail route.[108]
In September 2013, during a visit to Kazakhstan, Chinese President Xi
Jinping introduced a plan for creating a New
Silk
Silk Road from
China
China to
Europe. The latest iterations of this plan, dubbed "One Belt, One
Road" (OBOR), includes a land-based
Silk
Silk Road Economic Belt and
Maritime
Silk
Silk Road, with primary points in Ürümqi, Dostyk, Astana,
Gomel, Brest, and the Polish cities of
Małaszewicze
Małaszewicze and Łódź,
which would be hubs of logistics and transshipment to other countries
of Europe.[111][112][113][114]
On 15 February 2016, with a change in routing, the first train
dispatched under the OBOR scheme arrived from eastern Zhejiang
Province to Tehran.[115] Though this section does not complete the
Silk
Silk Road–style overland connection between
China
China and Europe, plans
are underway to extend the route past Tehran, through Istanbul, into
Europe.[114] The actual route went through Almaty, Bishkek, Samarkand,
and Dushanbe.[114]
In January 2017, the service sent its first train to London. The
network additionally connects to
Madrid
Madrid and Milan.[116][117]
Routes[edit]
Further information: Cities along the
Silk
Silk Road
The
Silk
Silk Road consisted of several routes. As it extended westwards
from the ancient commercial centres of China, the overland,
intercontinental
Silk
Silk Road divided into northern and southern routes
bypassing the
Taklamakan Desert
Taklamakan Desert and Lop Nur.
Northern route[edit]
Main article: Northern
Silk
Silk Road
The
Silk
Silk Road in the 1st century
The
Silk
Silk Road
The northern route started at
Chang'an
Chang'an (now called Xi'an), an ancient
capital of
China
China that was moved further east during the Later Han to
Luoyang. The route was defined around the 1st century BCE when Han
Wudi put an end to harassment by nomadic tribes.[citation needed]
The northern route travelled northwest through the Chinese province of
Gansu
Gansu from
Shaanxi
.svg/550px-Shaanxi_in_China_(_all_claims_hatched).svg.png)
Shaanxi Province and split into three further routes, two
of them following the mountain ranges to the north and south of the
Taklamakan Desert
Taklamakan Desert to rejoin at Kashgar, and the other going north of
the
Tian Shan
Tian Shan mountains through Turpan, Talgar, and
Almaty
Almaty (in what is
now southeast Kazakhstan). The routes split again west of Kashgar,
with a southern branch heading down the Alai Valley towards
Termez
Termez (in
modern Uzbekistan) and
Balkh
Balkh (Afghanistan), while the other travelled
through
Kokand
Kokand in the
Fergana Valley
Fergana Valley (in present-day eastern
Uzbekistan) and then west across the Karakum Desert. Both routes
joined the main southern route before reaching ancient Merv,
Turkmenistan. Another branch of the northern route turned northwest
past the
Aral Sea
Aral Sea and north of the Caspian Sea, then and on to the
Black Sea.
A route for caravans, the northern
Silk
Silk Road brought to
China
China many
goods such as "dates, saffron powder and pistachio nuts from Persia;
frankincense, aloes and myrrh from Somalia; sandalwood from India;
glass bottles from Egypt, and other expensive and desirable goods from
other parts of the world."[118] In exchange, the caravans sent back
bolts of silk brocade, lacquer-ware, and porcelain.
Southern route[edit]
The southern route or
Karakoram
Karakoram route was mainly a single route
running from
China
China through the
Karakoram
Karakoram mountains, where it persists
in modern times as the international paved road connecting Pakistan
and
China
China as the
Karakoram
Karakoram Highway.[citation needed] It then set off
westwards, but with southward spurs enabling the journey to be
completed by sea from various points. Crossing the high mountains, it
passed through northern Pakistan, over the
Hindu Kush
Hindu Kush mountains, and
into Afghanistan, rejoining the northern route near Merv,
Turkmenistan. From Merv, it followed a nearly straight line west
through mountainous northern Iran, Mesopotamia, and the northern tip
of the
Syrian Desert
Syrian Desert to the Levant, where
Mediterranean
Mediterranean trading ships
plied regular routes to Italy, while land routes went either north
through
Anatolia
Anatolia or south to North Africa. Another branch road
travelled from
Herat
Herat through
Susa
Susa to
Charax Spasinu
Charax Spasinu at the head of the
Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf and across to
Petra
Petra and on to
Alexandria
Alexandria and other
eastern
Mediterranean
Mediterranean ports from where ships carried the cargoes to
Rome.[citation needed]
Southwestern route[edit]
See also: Tea Horse Road
Woven silk textiles from Tomb No. 1 at Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan
province, China, Western
Han dynasty
Han dynasty period, dated 2nd century BCE
The southwestern route is believed to be the Ganges/
Brahmaputra
Brahmaputra Delta,
which has been the subject of international interest for over two
millennia. Strabo, the 1st-century Roman writer, mentions the deltaic
lands: "Regarding merchants who now sail from Egypt...as far as the
Ganges, they are only private citizens..." His comments are
interesting as Roman beads and other materials are being found at
Wari-Bateshwar ruins, the ancient city with roots from much earlier,
before the Bronze Age, presently being slowly excavated beside the Old
Brahmaputra
Brahmaputra in Bangladesh. Ptolemy's map of the
Ganges
Ganges Delta, a
remarkably accurate effort, showed that his informants knew all about
the course of the
Brahmaputra
Brahmaputra River, crossing through the Himalayas
then bending westward to its source in Tibet. It is doubtless that
this delta was a major international trading center, almost certainly
from much earlier than the Common Era.
Gemstones
Gemstones and other merchandise
from
Thailand
Thailand and
Java
Java were traded in the delta and through it.
Chinese archaeological writer Bin Yang and some earlier writers and
archaeologists, such as Janice Stargardt, strongly suggest this route
of international trade as Sichuan-Yunnan-Burma-
Bangladesh
Bangladesh route.
According to Bin Yang, especially from the 12th century the route was
used to ship bullion from
Yunnan
.svg/550px-Yunnan_in_China_(_all_claims_hatched).svg.png)
Yunnan (gold and silver are among the
minerals in which
Yunnan
Yunnan is rich), through northern Burma, into modern
Bangladesh, making use of the ancient route, known as the 'Ledo'
route. The emerging evidence of the ancient cities of Bangladesh, in
particular Wari-Bateshwar ruins, Mahasthangarh, Bhitagarh, Bikrampur,
Egarasindhur, and Sonargaon, are believed to be the international
trade centers in this route.[119][120][121]
Maritime route[edit]
Main article: Maritime
Silk
Silk Road
Maritime
Silk
Silk Road or Maritime
Silk
Silk Route refer to the maritime
section of historic
Silk
Silk Road that connects
China
China to Southeast Asia,
Indonesian archipelago, Indian subcontinent, Arabian peninsula, all
the way to
Egypt
Egypt and finally Europe.[122]
The trade route encompassed numbers of bodies of waters; including
South
China
China Sea, Strait of Malacca, Indian Ocean, Gulf of Bengal,
Arabian Sea,
Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. The maritime route overlaps
with historic Southeast Asian maritime trade, Spice trade, Indian
Ocean trade and after 8th century – the Arabian naval trade
network. The network also extend eastward to East
China
China Sea and Yellow
Sea to connect
China
China with
Korean Peninsula
Korean Peninsula and Japanese archipelago.
Cultural exchanges[edit]
The
Nestorian
Nestorian Stele, created in 781, describes the introduction of
Nestorian Christianity
Nestorian Christianity to China
Richard Foltz, Xinru Liu, and others have described how trading
activities along the
Silk
Silk Road over many centuries facilitated the
transmission not just of goods but also ideas and culture, notably in
the area of religions. Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism,
Christianity, Manichaeism, and
Islam
Islam all spread across Eurasia through
trade networks that were tied to specific religious communities and
their institutions.[123] Notably, established Buddhist monasteries
along the
Silk
Silk Road offered a haven, as well as a new religion for
foreigners.[124]
The spread of religions and cultural traditions along the
Silk
Silk Roads,
according to Jerry H. Bentley, also led to syncretism. One example was
the encounter with the Chinese and
Xiongnu
Xiongnu nomads. These unlikely
events of cross-cultural contact allowed both cultures to adapt to
each other as an alternative. The
Xiongnu
Xiongnu adopted Chinese agricultural
techniques, dress style, and lifestyle, while the Chinese adopted
Xiongnu
Xiongnu military techniques, some dress style, music, and dance.[125]
Perhaps most surprising of the cultural exchanges between
China
China and
the Xiongnu, Chinese soldiers would sometimes defect and convert to
the
Xiongnu
Xiongnu way of life and stay in the steppes for fear of
punishment.[125]
Transmission of Christianity[edit]
Further information:
Nestorian Christianity
Nestorian Christianity and Church of the East
The transmission of Christianity was primarily known as Nestorianism
on the
Silk
Silk Road. In 781, an inscribed stele shows
Nestorian
Nestorian Christian
missionaries arriving on the
Silk
Silk Road. Christianity had spread both
east and west, simultaneously bringing Syriac language and evolving
the forms of worship.[126]
Transmission of Buddhism[edit]
Main articles:
Silk
Silk Road transmission of
Buddhism
Buddhism and Greco-Buddhism
A blue-eyed Central Asian monk teaching an East-Asian monk, Bezeklik,
Turfan, eastern Tarim Basin, China, 9th century; the monk on the right
is possibly Tocharian,[127] although more likely Sogdian.[128][129]
The transmission of
Buddhism
Buddhism to
China
China via the
Silk
Silk Road began in the
1st century CE, according to a semi-legendary account of an ambassador
sent to the West by the Chinese Emperor Ming (58–75). During this
period
Buddhism
Buddhism began to spread throughout Southeast, East, and
Central Asia.[130] Mahayana, Theravada, and Tibetan
Buddhism
Buddhism are the
three primary forms of
Buddhism
Buddhism that spread across Asia via the Silk
Road.[131]
The Buddhist movement was the first large-scale missionary movement in
the history of world religions. Chinese missionaries were able to
assimilate Buddhism, to an extent, to native Chinese Daoists, which
would bring the two beliefs together.[132] Buddha's community of
followers, the Sangha, consisted of male and female monks and laity.
These people moved through
India
India and beyond to spread the ideas of
Buddha.[133] As the number of members within the
Sangha
Sangha increased, it
became costly so that only the larger cities were able to afford
having the Buddha and his disciples visit.[134] It is believed that
under the control of the Kushans,
Buddhism
Buddhism was spread to
China
China and
other parts of Asia from the middle of the first century to the middle
of the third century.[135] Extensive contacts started in the 2nd
century, probably as a consequence of the expansion of the Kushan
empire into the Chinese territory of the Tarim Basin, due to the
missionary efforts of a great number of Buddhist monks to Chinese
lands. The first missionaries and translators of Buddhists scriptures
into Chinese were either Parthian, Kushan, Sogdian, or Kuchean.[136]
Bilingual edict (Greek and Aramaic) by Indian Buddhist King Ashoka,
3rd century BCE; see Edicts of Ashoka, from Kandahar. This edict
advocates the adoption of "godliness" using the Greek term Eusebeia
for Dharma.
Kabul
Kabul Museum.
One result of the spread of
Buddhism
Buddhism along the
Silk
Silk Road was
displacement and conflict. The Greek Seleucids were exiled to
Iran
Iran and
Central Asia
Central Asia because of a new Iranian dynasty called the
Parthians
Parthians at
the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, and as a result the Parthians
became the new middle men for trade in a period when the Romans were
major customers for silk. Parthian scholars were involved in one of
the first ever Buddhist text translations into the Chinese language.
Its main trade centre on the
Silk
Silk Road, the city of Merv, in due
course and with the coming of age of
Buddhism
Buddhism in China, became a major
Buddhist centre by the middle of the 2nd century.[137] Knowledge among
people on the silk roads also increased when Emperor Ashoka of the
Maurya dynasty (268–239 BCE) converted to
Buddhism
Buddhism and raised the
religion to official status in his northern Indian empire.[138]
From the 4th century CE onward, Chinese pilgrims also started to
travel on the
Silk
Silk Road to
India
India to get improved access to the
original Buddhist scriptures, with Fa-hsien's pilgrimage to India
(395–414), and later
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (629–644) and Hyecho, who traveled
from
Korea
Korea to India.[139] The travels of the priest
Xuanzang
Xuanzang were
fictionalized in the 16th century in a fantasy adventure novel called
Journey to the West, which told of trials with demons and the aid
given by various disciples on the journey.
A statue depicting Buddha giving a sermon, from Sarnath, 3,000 km
(1,864 mi) southwest of Urumqi, Xinjiang, 8th century
There were many different schools of
Buddhism
Buddhism travelling on the Silk
Road. The Dharmaguptakas and the Sarvastivadins were two of the major
Nikaya schools. These were both eventually displaced by the Mahayana,
also known as "Great Vehicle". This movement of
Buddhism
Buddhism first gained
influence in the
Khotan
Khotan region.[138] The Mahayana, which was more of a
"pan-Buddhist movement" than a school of Buddhism, appears to have
begun in northwestern
India
India or Central Asia. It formed during the 1st
century BCE and was small at first, and the origins of this "Greater
Vehicle" are not fully clear. Some Mahayana scripts were found in
northern Pakistan, but the main texts are still believed to have been
composed in
Central Asia
Central Asia along the
Silk
Silk Road. These different schools
and movements of
Buddhism
Buddhism were a result of the diverse and complex
influences and beliefs on the
Silk
Silk Road.[140] With the rise of
Mahayana Buddhism, the initial direction of Buddhist development
changed. This form of
Buddhism
Buddhism highlighted, as stated by Xinru Liu,
"the elusiveness of physical reality, including material wealth." It
also stressed getting rid of material desire to a certain point; this
was often difficult for followers to understand.[141]
During the 5th and 6th centuries CE, merchants played a large role in
the spread of religion, in particular Buddhism.
Merchants
Merchants found the
moral and ethical teachings of
Buddhism
Buddhism to be an appealing alternative
to previous religions. As a result, merchants supported Buddhist
monasteries along the
Silk
Silk Road, and in return the Buddhists gave the
merchants somewhere to stay as they traveled from city to city. As a
result, merchants spread
Buddhism
Buddhism to foreign encounters as they
traveled.[142]
Merchants
Merchants also helped to establish diaspora within the
communities they encountered, and over time their cultures became
based on Buddhism. As a result, these communities became centers of
literacy and culture with well-organized marketplaces, lodging, and
storage.[143] The voluntary conversion of Chinese ruling elites helped
the spread of
Buddhism
Buddhism in East Asia and led
Buddhism
Buddhism to become
widespread in Chinese society.[144] The
Silk
Silk Road transmission of
Buddhism
Buddhism essentially ended around the 7th century with the rise of
Islam
Islam in Central Asia.
Transmission of art[edit]
Main article:
Silk
Silk Road transmission of art
Iconographical evolution of the Wind God. Left: Greek Wind God from
Hadda, 2nd century. Middle: Wind God from Kizil, Tarim Basin, 7th
century. Right: Japanese Wind God Fujin, 17th century.
Many artistic influences were transmitted via the
Silk
Silk Road,
particularly through Central Asia, where Hellenistic, Iranian, Indian
and Chinese influences could intermix.
Greco-Buddhist art
Greco-Buddhist art represents
one of the most vivid examples of this interaction.
Silk
Silk was also a
representation of art, serving as a religious symbol. Most
importantly, silk was used as currency for trade along the silk
road.[145]
These artistic influences can be seen in the development of Buddhism
where, for instance, Buddha was first depicted as human in the Kushan
period. Many scholars have attributed this to Greek influence. The
mixture of Greek and Indian elements can be found in later Buddhist
art in
China
China and throughout countries on the
Silk
Silk Road.[146]
The production of art consisted of many different items that were
traded along the
Silk
Silk Roads from the East to the West. One common
product, the lapis lazuli, was a blue stone with golden specks, which
was used as paint after it was ground into powder.[147]
Commemoration[edit]
On 22 June 2014, the
United Nations
United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named the
Silk
Silk Road a World Heritage
Site at the 2014 Conference on World Heritage. The United Nations
World Tourism Organization
World Tourism Organization has been working since 1993 to develop
sustainable international tourism along the route with the stated goal
of fostering peace and understanding.[148]
Bishkek
.jpg/500px-Ala-too_Square_in_Bishkek,_Kyrgyzstan,_2007-09-11_(color-corrected).jpg)
Bishkek and
Almaty
Almaty each have a major east-west street named after the
Silk
Silk Road (Kyrgyz: Жибек жолу, Jibek Jolu in Bishkek, and
Kazakh: Жібек жолы, Jibek Joly in Almaty).
Foreign language terms[edit]
Language
Text
Transliteration (if applicable)
Chinese
絲綢之路 (traditional)
丝绸之路(simplified)
Sīchóu zhī lù
Persian
جادهی ابریشم
Jâdeye Abrišam
Shâhrâh-i Abrešim
Punjabi
ਕੌਸ਼ਿਆ ਮਾਰਗ
Kausheya Māraga
Urdu
شاہراہ ریشم
shah rah resham
Hindi
रेशम सड़क
Resham sadak
Kawi language
Sutra dalan
Tamil
பட்டு வழி
Paṭṭu vaḻi
Uzbek
إيباك يولي
Ipak yo'li
Turkmen
Ýüpek ýoly
Turkish
İpek yolu
Azeri
İpək yolu
Arabic
طريق الحرير
Tarīq al-Ḥarīr
Hebrew
דרך המשי
Derekh ha-Meshi
Greek
Δρόμος του μεταξιού
Drómos tou metaxioú'
Latin
Via Serica
Armenian
Մետաքսի ճանապարհ
Metaksi chanaparh
Tagalog language
Daang Sutla, Daang Seda
Somali language
وادادا وادادا
Waddada Waddada
Korean
비단길
Bidangil
Gallery[edit]
Silk
Silk Road and artifacts
Caravanserai
Caravanserai of Sa'd al-Saltaneh
Sultanhani caravanserai
Sultanhani caravanserai
Shaki Caravanserai, Azerbaijan
Orbelian's Caravanserai, Armenia
bridge in Ani, capital of medieval Armenia
Taldyk pass
Zeinodin Caravanserai
Sogdian man on a Bactrian camel, sancai ceramic glaze, Chinese Tang
dynasty (618-907)
The ruins of a
Han dynasty
Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) Chinese watchtower
made of rammed earth at Dunhuang,
Gansu
Gansu province
A late Zhou or early Han Chinese bronze mirror inlaid with glass,
perhaps incorporated Greco-Roman artistic patterns
A Chinese Western
Han dynasty
Han dynasty (202 BCE – 9 CE) bronze rhinoceros
with gold and silver inlay
Han dynasty
Han dynasty
Granary
Granary west of
Dunhuang
Dunhuang on the
Silk
Silk Road.
Green
Roman glass
Roman glass cup unearthed from an Eastern
Han dynasty
Han dynasty (25-220
CE) tomb, Guangxi, southern China
See also[edit]
Dvaravati–Kamboja route
Dzungarian Gate
Global silver trade from the 16th to 18th centuries
Godavaya
Hippie trail
History of silk
Incense Route
Mount Imeon
One Belt One Road Initiative
Pan-American Highway
Serica
Silk
Silk Road Economic Belt
Silk
Silk Road Fund
Silk
Silk Road Numismatics
Steppe Route
Tea Horse Road
The
Silk
Silk Roads
Three hares
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
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^ Jerry Bentley, Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and
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^ Compare: Hansen, Valerie (2012-10-11). The
Silk
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^
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2nd edition,
London
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^
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2nd edition,
London
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^
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2nd edition,
London
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^ Hanks, Reuel R. (2010), Global Security Watch: Central Asia, Santa
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^ Mark J. Dresden (2003), "Sogdian Language and Literature", in Ehsan
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^ Please refer to Royal Road.
^ Christopoulos, Lucas (August 2012), "Hellenes and Romans in Ancient
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^ Prevas, John. (2004). Envy of the Gods: Alexander the Great's
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^ "
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^ Jerry H. Bentley, Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and
Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times (New York: Oxford University Press,
1993), 54.
^ The Megalithic
Portal
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Silk
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^ Yiping Zhang (2005). Story of the
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Silk Road. 五洲传播出版社.
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^ Julia Lovell (2007). The Great Wall:
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^ Li & Zheng 2001, p. 254
^ Di Cosmo,'Ancient
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China and its Enemies', 2002
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York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993), 133, apparently relying on
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^
Ban Chao
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^ Frances Wood, The
Silk
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^ Jerry H. Bentley, Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and
Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times (New York: Oxford University Press,
1993), 32.
^ An, Jiayao. (2002), "When
Glass
Glass Was Treasured in China," in Annette
L. Juliano and Judith A. Lerner (eds),
Silk
Silk Road Studies VII: Nomads,
Traders, and Holy Men Along China's
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^ An, Jiayao. (2002), "When
Glass
Glass Was Treasured in China," in Annette
L. Juliano and Judith A. Lerner (eds),
Silk
Silk Road Studies VII: Nomads,
Traders, and Holy Men Along China's
Silk
Silk Road, 79–94, Turnhout:
Brepols Publishers, ISBN 2503521789, pp. 83–84.
^ Harper, P.O. (2002), "Iranian Luxury Vessels in
China
China From the Late
First Millennium B.C.E. to the Second Half of the First Millennium
C.E.," in Annette L. Juliano and Judith A. Lerner (eds),
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Studies VII: Nomads, Traders, and Holy Men Along China's
Silk
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95–113, Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, ISBN 2503521789, pp.
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^ Hansen, Valerie (2012), The
Silk
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^
Warwick Ball (2016), Rome in the East: Transformation of an Empire,
2nd edition,
London
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ISBN 978-0-415-72078-6, p. 154.
^
Helen Wang (2004) "Money on the
Silk
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British Museum
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^ a b For further information on Oc Eo, see Milton Osborne (2006), The
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Unwin, revised edition, first published in 2000,
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^ Xinru Liu, The
Silk
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^ "Strabo's Geography Book II Chapter 5 "
^ Bharuch,
Bharuch
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^ Barbarikon Karachi, Sindh,
Pakistan
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^ Xinru Liu, The
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Silk Road in World History (New York: Oxford
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^ Pliny the Elder,
Natural Histories
Natural Histories 11.xxvi.76
^ Xinru, Liu, The
Silk
Silk Road in World History (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2010), 21.
^ Xinru Liu, The
Silk
Silk Road in World History (New York: Oxford
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^ Xinru, Liu, The
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Silk Road in World History (New York: Oxford
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^
Seneca the Younger
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^ Howard, Michael C. (2012), Transnationalism in Ancient and Medieval
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^ Mark J. Dresden (1981), "Introductory Note," in Guitty Azarpay,
Sogdian Painting: the Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art, Berkeley, Los
Angeles, London: University of California Press, p. 9,
ISBN 0-520-03765-0.
^ Liu, Xinru, "The
Silk
Silk Road: Overland
Trade
Trade and Cultural Interactions
in Eurasia", in Michael Adas (ed), Agricultural and Pastoral Societies
in Ancient and Classical History, American Historical Association,
Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001, p. 168.
^ Luttwak, Edward N. (2009). The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine
Empire. Cambridge and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University
Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03519-5, pp. 168–69.
^ Bretschneider, Emil (1888), Medieval Researches from Eastern Asiatic
Sources: Fragments Towards the Knowledge of the Geography and History
of Central and Western Asia from the 13th to the 17th Century, Vol. 1,
Abingdon: Routledge, reprinted 2000, p. 144.
^ Moule, A. C., Christians in
China
China before 1500, 94 & 103; also
Pelliot, Paul in T'oung-pao 15(1914), pp. 630–36.
^ Peter Jackson (2005), The Mongols and the West, 1221–1410, Pearson
Education, p. 169, ISBN 0-582-36896-0.
^ a b Kathleen Kuiper & editors of Encyclopædia Britannica (Aug
31, 2006). "Rabban bar Sauma: Mongol Envoy Archived 2016-10-11 at the
Wayback Machine.." Encyclopædia Britannica (online source). Accessed
16 September 2016.
^ Morris Rossabi (2014). From Yuan to Modern
China
China and Mongolia: The
Writings of Morris Rossabi. Leiden & Boston: Brill, pp. 385–86,
ISBN 978-90-04-28529-3.
^ Morris Rossabi (2014). From Yuan to Modern
China
China and Mongolia: The
Writings of Morris Rossabi. Leiden & Boston: Brill, pp. 386–421,
ISBN 978-90-04-28529-3.
^ Luttwak, Edward N. (2009). The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine
Empire. Cambridge and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University
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Sogdians
Sogdians have been identified as the Caucasian figures seen
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Mariachiara. "A Mathematic Expression of Art: Sino-Iranian and Uighur
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Universität Heidelberg, No 1 (2014), pp. 134–63.
ISSN 2191-6411. See also endnote #32 Archived 2017-05-25 at the
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^ For information on the Sogdians, an Eastern Iranian people, and
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Turfan
Turfan as an ethnic minority community during
the phases of Tang Chinese (7th–8th century) and Uyghur rule
(9th–13th century), see Hansen, Valerie (2012), The
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^ Jerry H. Bentley, Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and
Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times (New York: Oxford University Press,
1993), 69,73.
^ Anderson, James A. (2009). "China's Southwestern
Silk
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History". World History Connected. 6 (1). Archived from the original
on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
^ Jerry Bentley, Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and
Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times (New York: Oxford University Press,
1993), 16.
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Silk
Silk Road: Overland Trade
and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century. New
York: St Martin's Press. p. 37.
^ Xinru Liu, "The
Silk
Silk Road in World History" (New york: Oxford
University Press, 2010), pp. 51.
^ Xinru Liu, "The
Silk
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^ Foltz, "Religions of the
Silk
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^ Foltz, Richard C. (1999). Religions of the
Silk
Silk Road: Overland Trade
and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century. New
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^ a b Foltz, Richard C. (1999). Religions of the
Silk
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Trade
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New York: St Martin's Press. p. 38.
^ Silkroad Foundation; Adela C.Y. Lee. "Ancient
Silk
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^ Foltz, Richard C. (1999). Religions of the
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York: St Martin's Press. p. 41.
^ Xinru Liu, "The
Silk
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University Press, 2010), p. 21.
^ Jerry H. Bentley, Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and
Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times (New York: Oxford University Press,
1993), 43–44.
^ Jerry H. Bentley, Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and
Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times (New York: Oxford University Press,
1993), 48.
^ Jerry H. Bentley, Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and
Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times (New York: Oxford University Press,
1993), 50.
^ Xinru, Liu,The
Silk
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University Press, 2010), 21.
^ Foltz, Richard C. (1999). Religions of the
Silk
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and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century. New
York: St Martin's Press. p. 45.
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Silk
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Further reading[edit]
Boulnois, Luce.
Silk
Silk Road: Monks, Warriors and
Merchants
Merchants on the Silk
Road. Odyssey Publications, 2005. ISBN 962-217-720-4
Bulliet, Richard W. 1975. The Camel and the Wheel. Harvard University
Press. ISBN 0-674-09130-2.
Christian, David (2000). "
Silk
Silk Roads or Steppe Roads? The
Silk
Silk Roads
in World History". Journal of World History. University of Hawaii
Press. 2.1 (Spring): 1.
de la Vaissière, E., Sogdian Traders. A History, Leiden, Brill, 2005,
Hardback ISBN 90-04-14252-5 Brill Publishers, French version
ISBN 2-85757-064-3 on [6]
Elisseeff, Vadime. Editor. 1998. The
Silk
Silk Roads: Highways of Culture
and Commerce.
UNESCO
UNESCO Publishing. Paris. Reprint: 2000.
ISBN 92-3-103652-1 softback; ISBN 1-57181-221-0;
ISBN 1-57181-222-9 softback.
Forbes, Andrew ; Henley, David (2011). China's Ancient Tea Horse
Road. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN: B005DQV7Q2
Hansen, Valerie. The
Silk
Silk Road: A New History (Oxford University
Press; 2012) 304 pages; Combines archaeology and history in a study of
seven oases
Hallikainen, Saana: Connections from
Europe
Europe to Asia and how the
trading was affected by the cultural exchange (2002)
Hill, John E. (2004). The Peoples of the West from the Weilüe 魏略
by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between
239 and 265. Draft annotated English translation. [7]
Hopkirk, Peter: The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central
Asia; Kodansha International, New York, 1990, 1992.
Kuzmina, E. E. The Prehistory of the
Silk
Silk Road. (2008) Edited by
Victor H. Mair. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.
ISBN 978-0-8122-4041-2
Larsen, Jeanne.
Silk
Silk Road: A Novel of Eighth-Century China. (1989;
reprinted 2009)
Levy, Scott C. (2012). "Early Modern
Central Asia
Central Asia in World History".
History Compass. 10 (11): 866–78. doi:10.1111/hic3.12004.
Li et al. "Evidence that a West-East admixed population lived in the
Tarim Basin
Tarim Basin as early as the early Bronze Age".
BMC Biology 2010, 8:15.
Liu, Xinru, and Shaffer, Lynda Norene. 2007. Connections Across
Eurasia: Transportation, Communication, and Cultural Exchange on the
Silk
Silk Roads. McGraw Hill, New York. ISBN 978-0-07-284351-4.
Miller, Roy Andrew (1959): Accounts of Western Nations in the History
of the Northern Chou Dynasty. University of California Press.
Omrani, Bijan; Tredinnick, Jeremy (2010). Asia Overland: Tales of
Travel on the Trans-Siberian and
Silk
Silk Road. Hong Kong New York:
Odyssey Distribution in the US by W.W. Norton & Co, Odyssey
Publications. ISBN 962-217-811-1.
Polo, Marco, Il Milione.
Thubron, C., The
Silk
Silk Road to
China
China (Hamlyn, 1989)
Tuladhar, Kamal Ratna (2011). Caravan to Lhasa: A Merchant of
Kathmandu in Traditional Tibet. Kathmandu: Lijala & Tisa.
ISBN 99946-58-91-3
Watt, James C.Y.; Wardwell, Anne E. (1997). When silk was gold:
Central Asian and Chinese textiles. New York: The Metropolitan Museum
of Art. ISBN 0870998250.
Weber, Olivier, Eternal
Afghanistan
Afghanistan (photographs of Reza), (Unesco-Le
Chêne, 2002)
Yap, Joseph P. Wars With the
Xiongnu
Xiongnu – A Translation From Zizhi
Tongjian. AuthorHouse (2009) ISBN 978-1-4490-0604-4
National Institute of Informatics – Digital
Silk
Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books
Digital
Silk
Silk Road > Toyo Bunko Archive > List of Books
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Silk
Silk Road.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for
Silk
Silk Road.
Silk
Silk Road Atlas (University of Washington)
The
Silk
Silk Road, a historical overview by Oliver Wild
The
Silk
Silk Road Journal, a freely available scholarly journal run by
Daniel Waugh
The New
Silk
Silk Road – a lecture by Paul Lacourbe at TEDxDanubia 2013
Escobar, Pepe (February 2015). Year of the Sheep, Century of the
Dragon? New
Silk
Silk Roads and the Chinese Vision of a Brave New (Trade)
World, an essay at Tom Dispatch
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Four Commanderies
Protectorate of the
Western Regions
Western Regions (Chief Official)
List of government titles
Economy
Ancient Chinese coinage
Silk
Silk Road
Sino-Roman relations
Science and technology
Cai Lun
Ding Huan
Du Shi
Hua Tuo
Ma Jun
Wang Chong
Zhang Heng
Zhang Zhongjing
Zhuge Liang
Balanced Discourse
Book on Numbers and Computation
Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Cabinet
The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art
Huangdi Neijing
Jin Gui Yao Lue
Treatise on Cold Injury and Miscellaneous Disorders
Zhoubi Suanjing
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Silk
General
History of silk
Magnanery
Sericulture
Silk
Silk Road
Silk
Silk waste
Types
Ahimsa silk
Assam silk
Atlas silk
Byzantine silk
Eri silk
Japanese silk
Lao silk
Mysore silk
Rajshahi silk
Thai silk
Tussar silk
Wild silk
Industries
Silk
Silk in the Indian subcontinent
Silk
Silk industry in China
Silk
Silk industry of Cheshire
Products
Saree
Tenun Pahang Diraja
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Part of a series on trade routes
Amber Road
Hærvejen
Incense Route
Dvaravati–Kamboja route
King's Highway
Rome-
India
India routes
Royal Road
Salt road
Siberian Route
Silk
Silk Road
Maritime
Silk
Silk Road
Spice Route
Tea Horse Road
Varangians to the Greeks
Via Maris
Triangular trade
Volga
Volga trade route
Trans-Saharan trade
Old Salt Route
Maritime republics
Hanseatic League
Grand Trunk Road
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World Heritage Sites in China
East
Classical Gardens of Suzhou
Fujian Tulou
Lushan
Huangshan
Mount Sanqing
Mount Tai
Wuyi Mountains
Temple and
Cemetery of Confucius
Cemetery of Confucius and Kong Family Mansion in Qufu
Xidi, and Hongcun
West Lake
Kulangsu
South Central
Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains
Historic Centre of Macau
Shennongjia
Kaiping
Diaolou
Diaolou and Villages
Longmen Grottoes
Historic Monuments of Dengfeng, including the
Shaolin Monastery
Shaolin Monastery and
Gaocheng Observatory
Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art
Wulingyuan
Yinxu
Southwest
Chengjiang Fossil Site
Dazu Rock Carvings
Potala Palace, including the
Jokhang
Jokhang and Norbulingka
Honghe Hani Rice Terraces
Huanglong
Jiuzhaigou
Old Town of Lijiang
Mount Emei
Mount Emei and Leshan Giant Buddha
Mount Qingcheng
Mount Qingcheng and Dujiangyan
Sichuan
Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries
Three Parallel Rivers
North
Mount Wutai
Chengde Mountain Resort, including Putuo Zongcheng Temple, Xumi Fushou
Temple and Puning Temple
Forbidden City
Zhoukoudian
Pingyao
Summer Palace
Temple of Heaven
Xanadu
Yungang Grottoes
Northeast
Koguryo sites
Mukden Palace
Northwest
Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
Mogao Caves
Xinjiang
Xinjiang Tianshan
Qinghai Hoh Xil
Multiple regions
Great Wall
China
China Danxia
Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
South
China
China Karst
Grand Canal
Silk
Silk Roads
Tusi Sites
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World Heritage Sites in Kazakhstan
Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi
Saryarka — Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan
Tamgaly
Tamgaly Petroglyphs
Silk
Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 315127655
LCCN: sh85122554
GND: 4054299-3
BNF: cb11970767h (d