Precursors Chinese and Central Asian contacts (2nd millennium BCE) and
steatite plaques, in the
Scythian-style animal art of the steppes. 4th–3rd century BCE.
British Museum.
Central Eurasia has been known from ancient times for its horse riding and horse breeding communities, and the overland
Steppe Route across the northern steppes of Central Eurasia was in use long before that of the Silk Road. From the 2nd millennium BCE,
nephrite jade was being traded from mines in the region of
Yarkand and
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 in use from very early times. Genetic study of the
Tarim mummies, found in the
Tarim Basin, in the area of
Loulan located along the Silk Road east of Yingpan, dating to as early as 1600 BCE, suggest very ancient contacts between East and West. These mummified remains may have been of people who spoke
Indo-European languages, which remained in use in the Tarim Basin, in the modern day
Xinjiang region, until replaced by Turkic influences from the
Xiongnu culture to the north and by Chinese influences from the eastern
Han dynasty, who spoke a
Sino-Tibetan language. 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. The originating source seems sufficiently reliable, but silk degrades very rapidly, so it cannot be verified whether it was cultivated silk (which almost certainly came from China) or a type of
wild silk, which might have come from the Mediterranean or Middle East. Following contacts between
China and nomadic groups along its western borders in the 8th century BCE, gold was introduced from Central Asia, and Chinese jade carvers began to imitate steppe designs, adopting the
Scythian-style
animal art depicting 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. An elite 6th century BCE burial near
Stuttgart, Germany, contained
Greek bronzes as well as Chinese silks. Similar animal-shaped pieces of art and wrestler motifs on belts have been found in
Scythian grave sites stretching from the
Black Sea region all the way to
Warring States era archaeological sites in
Inner Mongolia (at Aluchaideng) and
Shaanxi (at Keshengzhuang) in China. in the
Sampul tapestry, wool wall hanging, 3rd–2nd century BCE,
Xinjiang Museum,
Urumqi,
Xinjiang, China.
Initiation in China (130 BCE) The Silk Road was initiated and spread by China's Han dynasty through exploration and
conquests in Central Asia. With the Mediterranean linked to the
Fergana Valley, the next step was to open a route across the
Tarim Basin and the
Hexi Corridor to
China Proper. This extension came around 130 BCE, with the embassies of the Han dynasty to Central Asia following the reports of the ambassador
Zhang Qian (who was originally sent to obtain an alliance with the
Yuezhi against the
Xiongnu). Zhang Qian visited directly the kingdom of
Dayuan in
Ferghana, the territories of the Yuezhi in
Transoxiana, the
Bactrian country of
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 (
Indian subcontinent) and the
Wusun. Zhang Qian's report suggested the economic reason for Chinese expansion and wall-building westward, and trail-blazed the Silk Road, making it one of the most famous trade routes in history and in the world. After winning the
War of the Heavenly Horses and the
Han–Xiongnu War, Chinese armies established themselves in Central Asia, initiating the Silk Route as a major avenue of international trade. 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 (Dayuan
"Great Ionians") and the possessions of Bactria (
Ta-Hsia) and 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 say that Emperor Wu was mainly interested in
fighting the Xiongnu and that major trade began only after the Chinese
pacified the
Hexi Corridor. (1st–2nd century CE) of
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. They defeated the Dayuan in the
Han-Dayuan war. The Chinese subsequently sent numerous embassies, around ten every year, to these countries and as far as
Seleucid Syria. These connections marked the beginning of the Silk Road trade network that extended to the Roman Empire. The Chinese campaigned in 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, The
Han dynasty army regularly policed the trade route against nomadic bandit forces generally identified as
Xiongnu. Han general
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 expanded his conquests across the
Pamirs to the shores of the
Caspian Sea and the borders of
Parthia. It was from here that the Han general dispatched envoy
Gan Ying to
Daqin (Rome). The Silk Road essentially came into being from the 1st century BCE, following these efforts by China to consolidate a road to the Western world and
India, both through direct settlements in the area of the Tarim Basin and diplomatic relations with the countries of the Dayuan, Parthians and Bactrians further west. The Silk Roads were a "complex network of trade routes" that gave people the chance to exchange goods and culture. A maritime 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 and
Sri Lanka, all the way to
Roman-controlled ports in
Roman Egypt and the
Nabataean territories on the northeastern coast of the
Red Sea. The earliest
Roman glassware bowl found in 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. 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 and
Emperor Huan of Han. Other Roman glasswares have been found in Eastern-Han-era tombs (25–220 CE) further inland in
Luoyang,
Nanyang, and
Nanjing.
Roman Empire (30 BCE – 3rd century CE) Soon after the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE, regular communications and trade between China, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe blossomed on an unprecedented scale. The Roman Empire inherited eastern trade routes that were part of the Silk Road from the earlier Hellenistic powers and the Arabs. With control of these trade routes, citizens of the Roman Empire received new luxuries and greater prosperity for the Empire as a whole. The Roman-style glassware discovered in the archeological sites of
Gyeongju, the capital of the
Silla kingdom (Korea) showed that Roman artifacts were traded as far as the Korean peninsula. The Greco-
Roman trade with 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 in Roman Egypt to India. The Roman Empire connected with the Central Asian Silk Road through their ports in
Barygaza (present-day
Bharuch) and
Barbarikon (near present-day
Karachi) and continued along the western coast of India. An ancient "travel guide" to this Indian Ocean trade route was the Greek
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea written in 60 CE. also found its way into Italy: in 1938 the
Pompeii Lakshmi was found in the ruins of
Pompeii (destroyed in an eruption of
Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE). The travelling party of
Maës Titianus penetrated farthest east along the Silk Road from the 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 Road. Intercontinental trade and communication became regular, organised, and protected by the "Great Powers." Intense
trade with the 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 in his
Phaedra and by
Virgil in his
Georgics. Notably,
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." The Romans traded spices, glassware, perfumes, and silk. (386–534) Roman artisans began to replace yarn with valuable plain silk cloths from China and the
Silla Kingdom in
Gyeongju, Korea. 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. The Silk Road trade did not sell only textiles, jewels, metal and cosmetic, but also slaves, connecting the Silk Road slave trade to the
Bukhara slave trade as well as the
Black Sea slave trade, particularly slave girls.
Byzantine Empire (6th–14th centuries) period of fragmentation.
Byzantine Greek historian
Procopius stated that two
Nestorian Christian monks eventually uncovered the way silk was made. From this revelation, monks were sent by the Byzantine Emperor
Justinian (ruled 527–565) as spies on the Silk Road from
Constantinople to China and back to
steal the silkworm eggs, resulting in silk production in the Mediterranean, particularly in
Thrace in northern Greece, and giving the
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
First Turkic Khaganate, who formed an alliance with the Byzantines against
Khosrow I of the
Sasanian Empire that allowed the Byzantines to bypass the Sasanian merchants and trade directly with the Sogdians for purchasing Chinese silk. Although the Byzantines had already procured silkworm eggs from 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 found in a Chinese tomb of
Shanxi province dated to the
Sui dynasty (581–618). of
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 The
Uyghur Nestorian Christian diplomat
Rabban Bar Sauma, who set out from his Chinese home in Khanbaliq (Beijing) and acted as a representative for
Arghun (a grandnephew of Kublai Khan), traveled throughout 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. once again connecting China directly to the West for land-based trade. The Tang captured the vital route through the
Gilgit Valley from Tibet in 722, lost it to the Tibetans in 737, and regained it under the command of the Goguryeo General
Gao Xianzhi. 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 (along with Turkic allies) conquered and subdued Central Asia during the 640s and 650s. 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 conquered the Western Turkic Khaganate, an important ally of the Byzantine empire. After these conquests, the Tang dynasty fully controlled the
Xiyu, which was the strategic location astride the Silk Road. This led the Tang dynasty to reopen the Silk Road, with this portion named the
Tang-Tubo Road ("Tang-Tibet Road") in many historical texts. The Tang dynasty established a second
Pax Sinica, and the 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 also developed the maritime Silk Route. Chinese envoys had been sailing through the
Indian Ocean to
India since perhaps the 2nd century BCE, yet, it was during the Tang dynasty that a strong Chinese maritime presence could be found in the
Persian Gulf and
Red Sea into
Persia,
Mesopotamia (sailing up the
Euphrates River in modern-day
Iraq),
Arabia,
Egypt,
Aksum (Ethiopia), and
Somalia in the
Horn of Africa.
Sogdian–Türkic tribes (4th–8th centuries) 's caravan on the Silk Road, 1380 The 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 Road reached its peak in the west during the time of the
Byzantine Empire; in the Nile-
Oxus section, from the
Sassanid Empire period to the
Il Khanate period; and in the
sinitic zone from the
Three Kingdoms period to the
Yuan dynasty period. Trade between East and West also developed across the
Indian Ocean, between Alexandria in Egypt and
Guangzhou in China. Persian Sassanid coins emerged as a means of currency, just as valuable as silk yarn and textiles. 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 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. "Many barbarian tribes became skilled warriors able to conquer rich cities and fertile lands and to forge strong military empires." The
Sogdians dominated the east–west trade after the 4th century up to the 8th century. They were the main caravan merchants of Central Asia. The 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 and China.
Islamic era (8th–13th centuries) between 767 and 912 was the most important urban node along the Silk Road. on
Sogdian
polychrome silk, 8th century, most likely from
Bukhara By the
Umayyad era,
Damascus had overtaken
Ctesiphon as a major trade center until the
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 Road (
Beijing) in North China,
Karakorum in central Mongolia,
Samarkand in
Transoxiana,
Tabriz in Northern Iran, realising the political unification of zones previously loosely and intermittently connected by material and cultural goods. The
Islamic world expanded into Central Asia during the 8th century, under the
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 in modern-day
Kyrgyzstan). However, following the disastrous
An Lushan Rebellion (755–763) and the conquest of the
Western Regions by the
Tibetan Empire, the Tang Empire was unable to reassert its control over Central Asia. Contemporary Tang authors noted how the dynasty had gone into decline after this point. In 848 the Tang Chinese, led by the commander
Zhang Yichao, were only able
to reclaim the
Hexi Corridor and
Dunhuang in
Gansu from the Tibetans. The Persian
Samanid Empire (819–999) centered in Bukhara (
Uzbekistan) continued the trade legacy of the
Sogdians. During the early 13th century,
Khwarazm was invaded by the Mongol Empire. The Mongol ruler
Genghis Khan had the once vibrant cities of Bukhara and
Samarkand burned to the ground after besieging them. However, in 1370 Samarkand saw a revival as the capital of the new
Timurid Empire. The Turko-Mongol ruler
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.
Mongol Empire (13th–14th centuries) era
celadon vase from
Mogadishu. The
Mongol expansion throughout the Asian continent from around 1207 to 1360 helped bring political stability and re-established the Silk Road (via
Karakorum and
Khanbaliq). 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. The Mongols developed overland and maritime routes throughout the Eurasian continent, Black Sea and the Mediterranean in the west, and the Indian Ocean in the south. In the second half of the thirteenth century Mongol-sponsored business partnerships flourished in the Indian Ocean connecting Mongol Middle East and Mongol China The Mongol diplomat
Rabban Bar Sauma visited the courts of Europe in 1287–88 and provided a detailed written report to the Mongols. Around the same time, the
Venetian explorer
Marco Polo became
one of the first Europeans to travel the 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 traveller who passed through the present-day Middle East and across the Silk Road from
Tabriz between 1325 and 1354. Some Europeans were also living in China for longer periods around this time. Tombstones of the siblings Caterina and Antonio Vilioni, who died in 1342 and 1344, respectively, were unearthed in the twentieth century in Yangzhou. 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 during the later
Crusades. Eventually, the Mongols in the
Ilkhanate, after they had destroyed the
Abbasid and
Ayyubid dynasties, converted to Islam and signed the 1323
Treaty of Aleppo with the surviving Muslim power, the Egyptian
Mamluks. Some studies indicate that the
Black Death, which devastated Europe starting in the late 1340s, may have reached Europe from Central Asia (or China) along the trade routes of the Mongol Empire. One theory holds that Genoese traders coming from the entrepôt of
Trebizond in northern
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 and was carried westwards to the Black Sea by Silk Road traders.
Decline (15th century–present) The fragmentation of the Mongol Empire loosened the political, cultural, and economic unity of the Silk Road.
Turkmeni marching lords seized land around the western part of the Silk Road from the decaying Byzantine Empire. After the fall of the Mongol Empire, the great political powers along the 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 and partly due to the encroachment of sedentary civilisations equipped with
gunpowder. Significant is
Armenians' role in making Europe–Asia trade possible by being located in the crossing roads between these two. Armenia had a monopoly on almost all trade roads in this area and a colossal network. From 1700 to 1765, the total export of Persian silk was entirely conducted by Armenians. They were also exporting raisins, coffee beans, figs, Turkish yarn, camel hair, various precious stones, rice, etc., from Turkey and Iran.
Caravanserais in
Iran.
This particular caravanserai is located in the city of
Nishapur which was one of the central Silk Road cities of
Greater Khorasan. The silk trade continued to flourish until it was disrupted by the collapse of the
Safavid Empire in the 1720s. ==Expansion of religions==