The Silk Roads: Undeniably Influential

Christofer Smith • October 21, 2024 • 1263 Words

INTRODUCTION

When discussing the variety of networks of exchange in existence between 1200 and 1450, very few collections of trade routes can challenge the significance of the trade routes known as the Silk Roads. Dating back to 130 BC and known for its titular good (National Geographic Society), the SIlk Roads traversed approximately 4,000 miles across Eurasia and spread goods, ideas, and disease.

HISTORY AND OVERVIEW

Used as far back as the 2nd century BC (National Geographic Society), the Silk Roads fell into a state of disuse after the collapse of classical civilizations. The fall of empires like the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty concluded the first golden age of the Silk Roads, and it would not be until the 8th and 9th centuries that a second period of intense SIlk Roads usage would occur (Janis et al. 77). This second revival, due in part to Arab merchants of Abbasid origin, saw Tang China offering the Silk Roads paper, gunpowder, tea, and the compass. China also imported precious stones, cotton, and horses from other parts of Asia. While a major period of employment for the Silk Roads, this time pales in comparison to its third revival caused by the expansion of the Mongol Empire (Janis et al. 78). The Mongols, who started to actively and dramatically expand their nation in 1210, eventually controlled a portion of Asia stretching from the coast of the North China Sea to eastern Persia, thus enveloping an extensive length of the Silk Roads (Janis et al. 86). Under their control, during a period of peace known as the Pax Mongolica from approximately 1250 to 1350, the Mongols, who respected merchants, unified different portions of the Silk Roads under one authority and reinvigorated interregional trading between the Middle East, Europe, and Asia (Janis et al. 78). Additionally, this time saw the construction of a system of roads, the continued protection of merchants along trade routes (Janis et al. 91), the punishing of bandits, and the formation of new trade channels between Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. During the Pax Mongolica, travelers along the Silk Roads also learned to travel in caravans for safety and how to design saddles to drastically increase the amount of weight that camels could successfully carry (Janis et al. 78). Beyond trade and innovation, the Silk Roads also allowed for the growth of cities. An example of such was the city of Kashgar, where branches of the Silk Roads intersected and water flowed in via the Kashgar River, thus providing an abundance of water and food for travelers. Similarly, Samarkand was a point along the Silk Road where travelers stopped, while also doubling as a center of Islamic learning, artisans, and cultural exchange. Past these two examples of cities that provided rest for travelers were caravanserai. These inns were spaced around 100 miles apart and allowed animals to rest and for travelers to both rest and occasionally trade their animals for fresh ones (Janis et al. 79). The Silk Roads, in their original sense, existed until the Ottoman closing off of trade with the West in 1453, and the term “Silk Road” was first used in 1877 by Ferdinand von Richthofen, a German traveler and geographer (National Geographic Society).

GOODS AND RELIGIONS

The Silk Roads featured a variety of goods from all across the regions it connected. Goods, such as horses, saddles, and domestic animals traveled eastward along the trade network. Moreover, fruit, honey, and textiles made their way towards Asia from the eastern portions of the Silk Roads. Conversely, eastern goods, including silk, tea, spices, and dyes, progressed westward, along with porcelain, rice, paper, and gunpowder (Janis et al. 130). Additionally, precious stones like jade traveled westward from Asia (National Geographic Society). Beyond commodities, the Silk Roads also allowed for the spread of religions that left impressions on the cultures that they reached. Religions that were transmitted through the merchants on the Silk Roads included Buddhism, originating from South Asia, Neo-Confucianism of Chinese origin, and Islam from Southwest Asia (Janis et al. 130). Furthermore, archaeological evidence, found at Samarkand, revealed the remnants of a diverse array of religions, including Christianity, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism. Some of these religions imparted influential effects on the areas that they reached through the Silk Roads.

IMPACT OF RELIGION, TECHNOLOGY, AND INFECTION

One of the lasting and tangible impacts that distinguish the Silk Roads was the trade network’s facilitation of the spread of religion. Especially in the period circa 1200 to 1450, the influence of religions like Buddhism and Islam was tangible. In the case of Buddhism, the ideology spread from its birthplace of India via trade along the Silk Roads and blended with Daoism to form Chan Buddhism, a syncretic faith that is also known as Zen Buddhism. This new form of the religion was popular with Chinese citizens and eventually became incorporated into the daily lives of the nation’s scholarly class. Buddhist writers also impacted Chinese literary techniques by writing in the more casual vernacular, as opposed to the formal language of prior scholars. The vernacular approach to writing became widespread due to these writers. Just beyond the outskirts of China lay Japan and Korea, where Neo-Confucianism, a syncretic faith developed from Confucian thought and the abstract ideas of Daoism and Buddhism, took hold. In Japan, the philosophy became widespread, while in Korea, it became the state’s official ideology (Janis et al. 112) . Similarly to Buddhism, Islam made large strides in changing the religious landscape of South and Southeast Asia. After being introduced to the region through merchants and missionaries, such as those who followed the Silk Roads, Islam attracted and converted Buddhists and lower-caste Hindus while also blending with Hindu designs to influence architecture, blending with Hindi and Farsi to produce the Urdu language, and blending with traditional Javanese literature and puppetry to form new works with Muslim characters and techniques. Moreover, the Silk Roads enabled for scientific and technological innovation to spread. For instance, Islamic scholars were able to preserve classical Greek works through translation into Arabic (Janis et al. 113) while also studying Indian mathematics techniques and medicinal knowledge from Mesopotamia, Greece, and Egypt. The latter allowed for Islamic advances in hospital care and surgical success. Agricultural efficiency and population growth also saw development, since Champa Rice, a resilient Indian innovation that spread to Vietnam and China through trade, set the stage for an explosion of the Chinese population, their cities, and their industries (Janis et al. 114). While these positive influences of the Silk Roads are present, the spread of the Black Death conversely impacted Europe. In 1347, a massive epidemic broke out and caused the death of as many as 25 million people in Europe alone (Janis et al. 115), killing at least a third of Europe’s population (Janis et al. 123). While the percentage of Europe that succumbed to the Bubonic Plague may be disputed (Zimmer), the transmission of the disease through trade, such as that on the Silk Roads, undeniably devastated Europe and stirred a decline in agricultural production. Beyond Europe, a similar number of Chinese and other Asians died due to the Black Death (Janis et al. 123).

CONCLUSION

From its origins during the Classical Era to its end in 1453, the Silk Roads connected a vast world of peoples to new goods, ideologies, and technologies. While a catalyst in the death of tens of millions, its part in raising cities, developing languages, advancing knowledge, and blending religions, show that the Silk Roads have left behind a legacy of undeniable positive influence in the history of humanity.

Works Cited

Janis, Judy, et al. World History : Modern [1200-Present]. Edited by Phil Cox et al., Advanced Placement, Perfection Learning, 2022, pp. 77–133.

National Geographic Society. “The Silk Road.” National Geographic Education, National Geographic, 20 May 2022, https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/silk-road/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2024.

Zimmer, Carl. “Did the ‘Black Death’ Really Kill Half of Europe? New Research Says No.” The New York Times, 10 Feb. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/science/black-death.html. Accessed 21 Oct. 2024.

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