The Great Silk Road

The Great Silk Road  

The Great Silk Road is an ancient trade route connecting China with Central and South Asia to the Middle East and Europe. Silk was the main commodity brought from China to other countries, and that is why, starting from the end of the eighteenth century, the route was named the Silk Road. The Great Silk Road takes its origin in the First millennium BC. It developed and grew until the mid-fifteenth century when the sea road was opened from Western Europe to the Far East. That is why the Great Silk Road is usually divided into two parts: the on-land road and the sea-roads road.

Consisting of many great and small branches, the Great Silk Road played an important part in the development of trade and cultural relations between India, China, Central Asia, Iran, the Middle East, and Mediterranean countries. It is not accurate to link the road’s name only to silk because, in the second millennium BC, that is 1,500 years before the opening of the Great Silk Road, precious stones such as turquoise were brought from Badakhshan to ancient Babylon and Egypt. From Arab countries spices and incense were brought to and from northern, western, and eastern countries.

The first mention of The Great Silk Road dates from 138 BC when the Chinese emperor Wudi sent out the ambassador, Zhang Qian. Zhang Qian said in his diaries that the Great Silk Road started in the city of Xian, situated on the middle stream of the Huang He River, and led to Dunhuang via Lanzhou. There it divided into two branches: one leading to the North-west, the other to the South-west.

The Northern way crossed Turfan, through the Tarim Valley and Kashgar to Davang, in the Ferghana Valley. From there the road passed through Khojend and Djizak to Samarkand, the center of Sogdia, and then on to Mevr. The Southen part of the road crossed Khotan, Yarkand, and the Pamir mountains reaching Balkh, the capital of Bakhtria. From Batkh the Southern road divided into two parts, one leading to India and the other continuing to the East joining the northern section of the Road in Merv. From Merv, the Great Silk Road led to the NIsa, the capital of the Parthian state, and to Hecatompylos in Iran, and thence via the cities of Athamia and Hamadan to Iraq. From the cities of Madoin and Baghdad, the road led to the Nisibis along the right bank of the Tigris river, passing the cities of Antioch towards Damascus, and on to Egypt.

Via the way, silk was taken from China, and various cloths, carpets, glass, metals, food, gems, dried fruits, and herbs were sent to China. Bakhtria and Ferghana used to sell horses and camels to China. Thanks to the Great Silk Road, trade and diplomatic relations between China, Central Asia, and Middle Eastern countries A.D. Every year a big trade caravan loaded with goods and accompanied by ambassadors would start from China and other caravans, loaded with goods, would travel back from the West towards China. In the year 97 A.D. a Chinese traveler, Ghang Ing, reached Persia, and in the year 100 a Macedonian traveler, Titian, reached Lanzhou.

A Byzantine monk, Zemarch, who traveled to China in the sixth century, brought back with him some silkworms, introducing silk production into Byzantium. In the course of trade and diplomatic relations exercised via the Great Silk Road the peoples of Turkestan, especially the Sogdians and Bakhtarians, served as mediators. In the third and fourth centuries, the Great Silk Road enabled Buddhists to travel from India to China.

In the eighth to ninth centuries, the Great Silk Road played an important part in connecting the Mogul Empire with its remote provinces. In the ninth to tenth centuries the international importance of the Great Silk Road increased due to the development of trade and diplomatic relations among China, the Arab Khalifat, and Byzantium. During those periods the Northern part of the Great Silk Road was used most intensively. At the end of the fifteenth century, owing to the great geographic discoveries and the opening of the new sea roads, the on-land road connecting China to Europe lost its importance. In the later centuries, the road was mainly used in the parts connecting China, Central Asia, Turkey, Iran, and Arab countries, serving the development of economic and cultural ties among these countries.