What two things did the "Silk Road" allow to be moved for East to West?

The Silk Road was a network of aboriginal trade routes, formally established during the Han Dynasty of Prc in 130 BCE, which linked the regions of the aboriginal world in commerce betwixt 130 BCE-1453 CE. The Silk Route was not a single route from east to westward so historians favor the name 'Silk Routes', though 'Silk Road' is ordinarily used.

The European explorer Marco Polo (l.1254-1324 CE) traveled on these routes and described them in depth in his famous work but he is not credited with naming them. Both terms for this network of roads - Silk Road and Silk Routes - were coined by the German geographer and traveler, Ferdinand von Richthofen, in 1877 CE, who designated them 'Seidenstrasse' (silk route) or 'Seidenstrassen' (silk routes). Polo, and subsequently von Richthofen, brand mention of the appurtenances which were transported back and forth on the Silk Road.

From West to East these appurtenances included:

  • Horses
  • Saddles and Riding Tack
  • The grapevine and grapes
  • Dogs and other animals both exotic and domestic
  • Beast furs and skins
  • Dear
  • Fruits
  • Glassware
  • Woolen blankets, rugs, carpets
  • Textiles (such as curtains)
  • Golden and Silverish
  • Camels
  • Slaves
  • Weapons and armor

From Due east to W the goods included:

  • Silk
  • Tea
  • Dyes
  • Precious Stones
  • Communist china (plates, bowls, cups, vases)
  • Porcelain
  • Spices (such equally cinnamon and ginger)
  • Statuary and aureate artifacts
  • Medicine
  • Perfumes
  • Ivory
  • Rice
  • Newspaper
  • Gunpowder

The network was used regularly from 130 BCE, when the Han Dynasty (202 BCE - 220 CE) officially opened trade with the west, to 1453 CE, when the Ottoman Empire boycotted trade with the w and airtight the routes. By this time, Europeans had become used to the goods from the east and, when the Silk Road airtight, merchants needed to find new trade routes to run across the demand for these goods.

Camel with Guide, Tang Dynasty

Camel with Guide, Tang Dynasty

Jan van der Crabben (CC Past-NC-SA)

The closure of the Silk Road initiated the Historic period of Discovery (also known every bit the Age of Exploration, 1453-1660 CE) which would exist defined by European explorers taking to the bounding main and charting new water routes to supersede over-land trade. The Historic period of Discovery would touch on cultures around the world as European ships claimed some lands in the name of their god and country and influenced others by introducing western culture and religion and, at the same time, these other nations influenced European cultural traditions. The Silk Road - from its opening to its closure - had so great an bear upon on the development of world civilization that information technology is difficult to imagine the modern earth without it.

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Persian Majestic Road

The history of the Silk Route pre-dates the Han Dynasty in practice, nonetheless, as the Persian Regal Road, which would come to serve as one of the main arteries of the Silk Road, was established during the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE). The Western farsi Regal Road ran from Susa, in north Persia (modern day Iran) to the Mediterranean Ocean in Asia Pocket-size (modern-day Turkey) and featured postal stations along the route with fresh horses for envoys to quickly deliver messages throughout the empire. Herodotus, writing of the speed and efficiency of the Persian messengers, stated that:

There is nothing in the world that travels faster than these Persian couriers. Neither snowfall, nor pelting, nor heat, nor darkness of night prevents these couriers from completing their designated stages with utmost speed. (Histories 8.98)

These lines would, centuries after, form the creed of the United States of America's post office. The Persians maintained the Royal Road carefully and, in time, expanded information technology through smaller side roads. These paths eventually crossed downwardly into the Indian subcontinent, across Mesopotamia, and over into Egypt.

Persian Royal Road

Persian Royal Road

Fabienkhan (CC By-SA)

China & the West

After Alexander the Dandy conquered the Persians, he established the urban center (later the Greek Kingdom) of Alexandria Eschate in 339 BCE in the Fergana Valley of Nib (mod Tajikistan). Leaving backside his wounded veterans in the city, Alexander moved on. In time, these Macedonian warriors intermarried with the ethnic populace creating the Greco-Bactrian civilization which flourished under the Seleucid Empire following Alexander's death.

Under the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus I (r. 260-195 BCE) the Greco-Bactrians had extended their holdings. According to the Greek historian Strabo (63-24 CE) the Greeks "extended their empire as far equally the Seres" (Geography Eleven.ii.i). `Seres' was the name by which the Greeks and Romans knew China, significant `the land where silk came from' in Eastern asia. It is thought, then, that the showtime contact between China and the west came around the year 200 BCE.

Emperor Wu was eager to gain new bolt through trade with the due west & the Silk Route was opened in 130 BCE.

The Han Dynasty of People's republic of china was regularly harassed by the nomadic tribes of the Xiongnu on their northern and western borders. In 138 BCE, Emperor Wu sent his emissary Zhang Qian to the due west to negotiate with the Yuezhi people for help in defeating the Xiongnu.

Zhang Qian's expedition led him into contact with many dissimilar cultures and civilizations in cardinal Asia and, among them, those whom he designated the `Dayuan', the `Great Ionians', who were the Greco-Bactrians descended from Alexander the Corking's army. The Dayuan had mighty horses, Zhang Qian reported back to Wu, and these could be employed finer against the marauding Xiongnu.

The consequences of Zhang Qian's journey was not only further contact between China and the w but an organized and efficient equus caballus breeding program throughout the land in gild to equip a cavalry. The equus caballus had long been known in China and had been used in warfare for cavalry and chariots as early every bit the Shang Dynasty (1600 – 1046 BCE) simply the Chinese admired the western horse for its size and speed. With the western horse of the Dayuan, the Han Dynasty defeated the Xiongnu. This success inspired Emperor Wu to speculate on what else might be gained through trade with the west and the Silk Road was opened in 130 BCE.

Between 171-138 BCE, Mithridates I of Parthia campaigned to expand and consolidate his kingdom in Mesopotamia. The Seleucid King Antiochus VII Sidetes (r. 138-129 BCE) opposed this expansion and, also wishing revenge for the death of his brother, Demetrius, waged state of war confronting the Parthian forces of Phrates Two, Mithridates successor. With the defeat of Antiochus, Mesopotamia came under Parthian rule and, with information technology, came control of the Silk Route. The Parthians and then became the central intermediaries betwixt Cathay and the west.

Women Checking Silk, Song China.

Women Checking Silk, Song China.

Unknown Creative person (Public Domain)

Appurtenances Traded via the silk road

While many different kinds of merchandise traveled along the network of trade of the Silk Road, the proper name comes from the popularity of Chinese silk with the west, especially with Rome. The Silk Road routes stretched from Mainland china through India, Asia Minor, up throughout Mesopotamia, to Egypt, the African continent, Hellenic republic, Rome, and Great britain.

The northern Mesopotamian region (present-day Iran) became China'south closest partner in merchandise, as part of the Parthian Empire, initiating of import cultural exchanges. Paper, which had been invented by the Chinese during the Han Dynasty, and gunpowder, besides a Chinese invention, had a much greater impact on civilization than did silk. The rich spices of the east, also, contributed more than the fashion which grew upward from the silk industry. Notwithstanding, by the time of the Roman Emperor Augustus (r. 27 BCE – 14 CE) trade between China and the west was firmly established and silk was the most sought-after commodity in Egypt, Greece, and, especially, in Rome.

the Roman love of silk

Prior to becoming Emperor Augustus, Octavian Caesar seized on the controversial topic of silk vesture to denounce his adversaries Marker Antony (l. 83-30 BCE) and Cleopatra Seven (l. 69-thirty BCE) equally immoral. As they both favored Chinese silk, which was increasingly condign associated with licentiousness, Octavian exploited the link to deprecate his enemies. Octavian would triumph over Antony and Cleopatra; he could do naught, however, to curtail the popularity of silk.

The historian Volition Durant writes:

The Romans thought [silk] a vegetable product combed from trees and valued information technology at its weight in gold. Much of this silk came to the island of Kos, where it was woven into dresses for the ladies of Rome and other cities; in A.D. 91 the relatively poor state of Messenia had to forbid its women to wear transparent silk dresses at religious initiations. (329)

The island of Kos became wealthy & luxurious through their manufacture of silk clothing.

Past the fourth dimension of Seneca the Younger (l. 4 BCE – 65 CE), conservative Romans were more than ardent than Augustus in decrying the Chinese silk as immoral dress for women and effeminate attire for men. These criticisms did nothing to finish the silk trade with Rome, however, and the island of Kos became wealthy and luxurious through their industry of silk clothing.

As Durant writes, "Italia enjoyed an 'unfavorable' rest of trade – cheerfully [buying] more than she sold" but still exported rich appurtenances to Communist china such as "carpets, jewels, amber, metals, dyes, drugs, and glass" (328-329). Up through the time of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (r.161-180 CE), silk was the most valued commodity in Rome and no amount of conservative criticism seemed to be able to dull the merchandise or stop the fashion.

Tyrian Purple Shroud of Charlemagne

Tyrian Royal Shroud of Charlemagne

Unknown Creative person (Public Domain)

Even later Aurelius, silk remained popular, though increasingly expensive, until the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE. Rome was survived by its eastern one-half which came to be known as the Byzantine Empire and which carried on the Roman infatuation with silk. Around threescore CE the westward had become aware that silk was not grown on the trees in China only was actually spun by silkworms. The Chinese had very purposefully kept the origin of silk a secret and, once information technology was out, carefully guarded their silkworms and their process of harvesting the silk.

The Byzantine emperor Justinian (r. 527- 565 CE), tired of paying the exorbitant prices the Chinese demanded for silk, sent two emissaries, disguised every bit monks, to People's republic of china to steal silkworms and smuggle them back to the west. The program was successful and initiated the Byzantine silk manufacture. When the Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks in 1453 CE, the Ottoman Empire closed the ancient routes of the Silk Route and cutting all ties with the west.

the Silk Road Legacy

The greatest value of the Silk Road was the exchange of culture. Art, organized religion, philosophy, technology, linguistic communication, science, architecture, and every other element of civilization was exchanged along these routes, carried with the commercial goods the merchants traded from country to state. Along this network disease traveled besides, as evidenced in the spread of the bubonic plague of 542 CE which is thought to have arrived in Constantinople past way of the Silk Road and which decimated the Byzantine Empire.

The closing of the Silk Route forced merchants to take to the sea to ply their trade, thus initiating the Age of Discovery which led to earth-broad interaction and the beginnings of a global community. In its time, the Silk Road served to augment people'due south understanding of the world they lived in; its closure would propel Europeans across the bounding main to explore, and somewhen conquer, the and so-chosen New Earth of the Americas initiating the and then-chosen Columbian Exchange by which goods and values were passed betwixt those of the Old Globe and those of the New, universally to the detriment of the indigengous people of the New World. In this way, the Silk Road can be said to have established the groundwork for the development of the modernistic globe.

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This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication.

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Source: https://www.worldhistory.org/Silk_Road/

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