Silk Road

The Silk Road was not a single road, but a changing network of routes linking East Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and parts of Europe. From antiquity onward, merchants, travelers, diplomats and religious teachers crossed deserts, mountains, steppes and oasis towns. Chinese silk helped give the network its later name, but other goods also circulated, including horses, spices, metals, glass and textiles.

Goods usually changed hands several times, so few merchants traveled the whole distance. Cities such as Chang'an, Samarkand, Merv and Baghdad connected distant regions and supported exchange. The routes also carried knowledge, technologies, languages and religions. Buddhism spread through several routes into Central and East Asia, while Islam later expanded across much of Central Asia.

Papermaking moved westward from China, and contacts between distant societies encouraged exchanges in mathematics, medicine, astronomy and crafts. Travel was difficult, making caravans, resting places, markets and local guides important. Routes changed in importance with political power, security and economic interests.

From the fifteenth century, growing maritime trade reduced the importance of some overland connections, although long-distance exchange across Eurasia continued. The Silk Road is therefore best understood as a changing network of human connections, not one permanent highway.