Silk Road (Trade Route)

The Silk Road is a network of trade and cultural transmission routes central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East by merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads, and urban dwellers from China and India to the Mediterranean Sea.

Extending 4,000 miles, the Silk Road derives its name from the lucrative trade in Chinese silk carried out along its length. The Central Asian sections of the trade routes were expanded by the Han dynasty. The Chinese took great interest in the safety of their trade products and extended the Great Wall of China to ensure the protection of the trade route.

Trade on the Silk Road is a significant factor in the development of the civilizations of China, the Indian subcontinent, Persia, Europe, the Horn of Africa and Arabia, opening long-distance, political and economic relations between the civilizations. Though silk is certainly the major trade item from China, many other goods are traded, and religions, syncretic philosophies, and various technologies, as well as diseases, also travels along the Silk Routes. In addition to economic trade, the Silk Road serves as a means of carrying out cultural trade among the civilizations along its network.