Silk Road

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Cryptocurrency marketplace

• Creator

  Ross Ulbricht

Timeline

• Silk Road is launched by Ross Ulbricht as a bitcoin-based darknet marketplace. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2011-02-01

• The Silk Road website is shut down by the FBI, and Ross Ulbricht is arrested. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2013-10-01

Silk Road

The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 km (4,000 mi) on land, it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds. The name "Silk Road" was coined in the late 19th century, but some 20th- and 21st-century historians instead prefer the term Silk Routes, on the grounds that it more accurately describes the intricate web of land and sea routes connecting Central, East, South, Southeast, and West Asia as well as East Africa and Southern Europe. In fact, some scholars criticise or even dismiss the idea of silk roads and call for a new definition or alternate term. According to them, the literature using this term has "privileged the sedentary and literate empires at either end of Eurasia" thereby ignoring the contributions of steppe nomads. In addition, the classic definition sidelines prominent civilisations such as India and Iran. The Silk Road derives its name from the highly lucrative trade of silk textiles that were primarily produced in China. The network began with the expansion of the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) into Central Asia around 114 BCE, through the missions and explorations of the Chinese imperial envoy Zhang Qian, which brought the region under unified control. The Chinese took great interest in the security of their trade products, and extended the Great Wall of China to ensure the protection of the trade route. The Parthian Empire provided a vital bridge connecting the network to the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, the rise of the Roman Empire in the west further established the western terminus of the interconnected trade system. By the first century CE, Chinese silk was widely sought after in Rome, Egypt, and Greece. Other lucrative commodities from the East included tea, dyes, perfumes, and porcelain; among Western exports were horses, camels, honey, wine, and gold. Aside from generating substantial wealth for emerging mercantile classes, the proliferation of goods such as paper and gunpowder greatly affected the trajectory of political history in several theatres in Eurasia and beyond. The Silk Road was utilized over a period that saw immense political variation across the continent, exemplified by major events such as the Black Death and the Mongol conquests. The network was highly decentralized, and security was sparse: travelers faced constant threats of banditry and nomadic raiders, and long expanses of inhospitable terrain. Few individuals traveled the entire length of the Silk Road, instead relying on a succession of middlemen based at various stopping points along the way. In addition to goods, the network facilitated an unprecedented exchange of religious (especially Buddhist), philosophical, and scientific thought, much of which was syncretised by societies along the way. Likewise, a wide variety of people used the routes. Diseases such as plague also spread along the Silk Road, possibly contributing to the Black Death. From 1453 onwards, the Ottoman Empire began competing with other gunpowder empires for greater control over the overland routes, which prompted European polities to seek alternatives while themselves gaining leverage over their trade partners. This marked the beginning of the Age of Discovery, European colonialism, and the further intensification of globalization. In the 21st century, the name "New Silk Road" is used to describe several large infrastructure projects along many of the historic trade routes; among the best known include the Eurasian Land Bridge and the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). UNESCO designated the Chang'an-Tianshan corridor of the Silk Road as a World Heritage Site in 2014, and the Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor in 2023. The Fergana-Syrdarya Corridor, the Indian and Iranian portions, and the remaining sites in China remain on the tentative lists. Despite the popular imagination, Silk Road was never a singular east-west trade route that linked China to the Mediterranean, nor was there unrestricted trade before the Mongol Empire. It was a network of routes. Even Marco Polo, often linked to the Silk Road, never used the term despite traveling during a time of Mongol-enabled ease of movement.

Web Search Results

• Silk Road - Wikipedia

  The Maritime Silk Road or Maritime Silk Route is the maritime section of the historic Silk Road that connected Southeast Asia, East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian Peninsula, eastern Africa, and Europe. It began by the 2nd century BCE and flourished until the 15th century CE. The Maritime Silk Road was primarily established and operated by Austronesian sailors in Southeast Asia who sailed large long-distance ocean-going sewn-plank and lashed-lug trade ships.: 11 The route was also utilized by the dhows of the Persian and Arab traders in the Arabian Sea and beyond,: 13 and the Tamil merchants in South Asia.: 13 China also started building their own trade ships (chuán "Junk (ship)")) and followed the routes in the later period, from the 10th to the 15th centuries CE. [...] The Silk Road consisted of several routes. As it extended westwards from the ancient commercial centres of China, the overland, intercontinental Silk Road divided into northern and southern routes bypassing the Taklamakan Desert and Lop Nur. Merchants along these routes were involved in "relay trade" in which goods changed "hands many times before reaching their final destinations". ### Northern route The northern route started at Chang'an (now called Xi'an), an ancient capital of China that was moved further east during the Later Han to Luoyang. The route was defined around the 1st century BCE when Han Wudi put an end to harassment by nomadic tribes. [...] 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.

• Silk Road | Facts, History, & Map - Britannica

  ### Is the Silk Road still used today? Parts of the Silk Road survive in the form of a paved highway connecting Pakistan and the Uyghur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang in China. In the 21st century the United Nations planned to sponsor a trans-Asian motor highway and railroad. The Silk Road also inspired China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure development strategy authored by President and General Secretary Xi Jinping. Silk Road, ancient trade route, linking China with the West, that carried goods and ideas between the two great civilizations of Rome and China. Silk went westward, and wools, gold, and silver went east. China also received Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism (from India) via the Silk Road. The Silk Road network at its peak (700–900 ce) [...] •History Top Questions ### What was the Silk Road? The Silk Road was an ancient trade route that linked the Western world with the Middle East and Asia. It was a major conduit for trade between the Roman Empire and China and later between medieval European kingdoms and China. ### Where did the Silk Road start and end? The Silk Road began in north-central China in Chang’an (modern Xi’an). A caravan track stretched west along the Great Wall of China, across the Pamirs, through Afghanistan, and into the Levant and Anatolia. Its length was about 4,000 miles (more than 6,400 km). Goods were then shipped to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea. ### What major goods traveled along the Silk Road?

• The Great Silk Road: A History That Changed the World

  Luxurious silk robes of emperors, the deaths of millions and technological revolutions. What connects them? The Silk Road. For some, it brought wealth. For others, misfortune. And long before our time, it became the beginning of globalization. Stay with us to learn the full story of the Silk Road. The Great Silk Road was one of the key elements of international trade in the ancient world. This mostly overland trade network emerged in the 2n century BC and lasted until the late middle ages. The Silk Road was a network of routes stretching thousands of kilometers across Eurasia. It became one of the first and most important international business networks in history connecting the most famous ancient civilizations Roman, Chinese and Persian. In this episode, we will explain how the Silk [...] Asia, Europe, and Africa, and stimulate broad economic cooperation encompassing both overland routes and a maritime silk road. Today, the term New Silk Road, refers to several large infrastructure projects, including the Eurasian Landbridge, a railway route for overland freight transport connecting Pacific ports in the Far East with Mediterranean ports in Europe and Africa. The international community recognizes the special significance of the Silk Road. In 2014, UNESCO added the Chongan Tenshan corridor to the World Heritage Sites list. and in 2023 the Zarav Shan Karakum corridor. These are not only architectural landmarks but also living witnesses to the grand history of humanity and the legacy of the Silk Road. [...] the 19th century, coined by the German geographer Ferdinand Fenriktophen. As mentioned, the Silk Road was not a single road. Rather, it was a complex network of closely connected routes stretching thousands of kilometers across deserts and steps. Caravans traveled these routes with hundreds of horses and camels carrying countless goods. Journeys along the Silk Road could last months and sometimes even years. Few merchants dared to travel the entire route from China to Rome on their own. As a result, goods changed hands several times from one merchant to another. This made transportation more expensive, but also safer for traders. Each intermediary added their own markup, which increased the price of silk, spices, and other goods. By the time they reached the buyer, the silk road consisted

• The Silk Road - National Geographic Education

  The Silk Road is neither an actual road nor a single route. The term instead refers to a network of routes used by traders for more than 1,500 years, from when the Han dynasty of China opened trade in 130 B.C.E. until 1453 C.E., when the Ottoman Empire closed off trade with the West. German geographer and traveler Ferdinand von Richthofen first used the term “silk road” in 1877 C.E. to describe the well-traveled pathway of goods between Europe and East Asia. The term also serves as a metaphor for the exchange of goods and ideas between diverse cultures. Although the trade network is commonly referred to as the Silk Road, some historians favor the term Silk Routes because it better reflects the many paths taken by traders. [...] The Silk Road extended approximately 6,437 kilometers (4,000 miles) across some of the world’s most formidable landscapes, including the Gobi Desert and the Pamir Mountains. With no one government to provide upkeep, the roads were typically in poor condition. Robbers were common. To protect themselves, traders joined together in caravans with camels or other pack animals. Over time, large inns called caravanserais cropped up to house travelling merchants. Few people traveled the entire route, giving rise to a host of middlemen and trading posts along the way.

• The Silk Road: Connecting People and Cultures

  The Silk Road spanned the Asian continent and represented a form of global economy when the known world was smaller but more difficult to traverse than nowadays. A network of mostly land but also sea trading routes, the Silk Road stretched from China to Korea and Japan in the east, and connected China through Central Asia to India in the south and to Turkey and Italy in the west. The Silk Road system has existed for over 2,000 years, with specific routes changing over time. For millennia, highly valued silk, cotton, wool, glass, jade, lapis lazuli, gold, silver, salt, spices, tea, herbal medicines, foods, fruits, flowers, horses, musical instruments, and architectural, philosophical, and religious ideas traveled those routes. The roads themselves were generally in poor condition. [...] During this "third" Silk Road, silk, while still a highly valued Chinese export, was no longer the primary commodity. Europeans wanted pearls and gems, spices, precious metals, medicines, ceramics, carpets, other fabrics, and lacquerware. All kingdoms needed horses, weapons, and armaments. Besides, silk production already was known in the Arab world and had spread to southern Europe. Silk weavers and traders — Arabs, "Saracens," Jews, and Greeks from Sicily and the eastern Mediterranean — relocated to new commercial centers in northern Italy. Italian silk-making eventually became a stellar Renaissance art in Venice, Florence, Genoa, and Lucca in the 14th and 15th centuries. New stylistic techniques were added, like alto-e-basso for velvets and brocades, while old motifs, like the stylized [...] In 198 B.C.E., the Han dynasty concluded a treaty with a Central Asian people, the Xiongnu. The emperor agreed to give his daughter to the Xiongnu ruler and pay an annual gift in gold and silk. By the 1st century B.C.E. silk reached Rome, initiating the first "Silk Road." Pliny, writing about silk, thought it was made from the down of trees in Seres. It was very popular among the Romans. People wore rare strips of silk on their clothing and sought more; they spent increasing amounts of gold and silver, leading to a shortage in precious metals. Coinciding with the development of ruling elites and the beginnings of empire, silk was associated with wealth and power — Julius Caesar entered Rome in triumph under silk canopies. Over the next three centuries, silk imports increased, especially

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