Silk Road
Geography
Established during Han Dynasty by nomads. Silk Roads existed across Central Asia.
Terminals: Antioch (Syria) and Chang’an (China), shorter trunk lines to India, Across Russia, to
Africa.
Products
Chinese paid nomads tribute in silk, traded for horses. Nomads traded silk, horses for glass, iron
in west.
Products
-Silks, teas and porcelain from Guangzhou,China
-Woolen cloth, horses, and ivory from Central Asia. India was a major importer of horses from
Central and West Asia and by the third century was regularly transshipping them to Indonesia.
-Rubies, silver, pepper, and ebony from India
-Carpets, linen, brocade, ceramics, iron from Muslim world
-Wine, perfume, glass, silk, slaves, olive oil from Byzantines
-Furs, wood, amber, slaves, and grain from Kievan Russia
Religions
Spread Religions:
Islam to Central, Western Asia, China
Buddhism to China, Korea, Japan
Christianity to Russia, China, India
Islamic Pilgrimages:
Pilgrimage was more formally structured into Islam. By the tenets of the faith, all Muslims were
expected to go on pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. By the eighth
century, that city was receiving thousands of pilgrims from all over West Asia during the month
of pilgrimage each year. By the tenth century, still more arrived and from much farther afield:
India, West and North Africa, and Spain. Mecca became the largest pilgrimage town site in the
world. Muslim pilgrims also visited the tombs of prophets in Palestine and the tombs of saints
elsewhere, but in smaller numbers.
Buddhist Pilgrimages:
Buddhists, on the other hand, took part in long-distance pilgrimages. By the first century C.E.,
Buddhist pilgrims from Central and Southeast Asia, as well as from all over India, regularly
visited places in northern India where the Buddha had lived. By the seventh century, the
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Buddhist pilgrimage network had been expanded to include China, Japan, and much of
Southeast Asia. Pilgrims traveled not only to India but also to temples holding relics of the
Buddha in such places as Sri Lanka and Burma.
Technology and Exchanges
Technology diffused throughout Eurasia:
Foodstuffs, germs, flora/fauna diffused
Mongolians kept trade routes open, working
Influenced European desire to get to China
Influence European desire to bypass Muslims
Exchanges
Ideas
Diseases especially the Black Death
Technology especially gunpowder and fire arms
Merchants
Merchant Associations:
Merchant associations were another feature of world trade before 1500 that maintained
connections and encouraged commerce in the centers and along the routes of exchange. Based
sometimes on common kinship ties or ethnic background and sometimes on a commonly held
legal system or shared religious outlook, these associations provided financial, legal, and
logistical support that facilitated the enterprise and helped protect the commercial monopolies
of their members.
Byzantine Empire: Major terminus on the Silk Roads until 1206
Stole technology to raise silk from Chinese
Provided a large market and stable currency for whole region
Silk Road long distance trade handled by middlemen:
Jews between Europe and Muslim world
Armenians, Nestorians between Muslim world and Asia
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