Three Routes Of The Silk Road example essay topic

The greatest East-West trade route, The Silk Road, was named so by the German scholar Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen in the middle of the 19th century. Later on it became the information super highway of its age, serving to trade not only goods but also knowledge and ideas between Western and Eastern civilizations. 1. The Silk Road was founded in the second century BC for military and political purpose instead of for trade. A court official named Zhang Qian was sent to the Western Regions by Han Wud i of the Han dynasty (206 BC AD 220) in order to seek for the allies to repel the repeated invasions by Xiongnu.

However, on the way to the Western Regions, the Xiongnu managed to capture Zhang and imprisoned him for ten years. Escaped from Xiongnu's detention, Zhang Qian continued his journey to the Central Asia. While at that time, the Asian rulers were satisfied with their status and refused to ally with Han Empire. Although the mission failed in its original purpose, the information about Central Asia that Zhang Qian brought to China, and vice versa, made people in each area desire goods produced in the other (Elise eff, 9). Later silk that was favored by Persians and Romans, who inaugurated the trade along the Silk Road. 2.

However, there was no direct contact of Roman World and China. The main reason was the fact that all Eastern neighbors of the Roman Empire were its constant enemies. This primarily concerns Parthia and Persia. First time the Romans saw the silk in 53 BC. The legionnaires of Marcus Licinius Crassus noticed the unusually bright banners of their enemies, which were made from unknown marvelous textile.

But Crassus was defeated and killed, his army was forced to withdraw, peace was signed between two empires. This opened the trade route from China to Parthia and, through Asia Minor, to Rome itself. In only few decades all the Roman nobility was anxious to attire themselves in silk. By AD 14 it had gotten so out of hand that Emperor Tiberius (AD 14 37), disgusted by the revelatory bulges of this light and delicate fabric, forbade all men from wearing it. It has to be mentioned that it was inappropriate for men to wear the exquisite clothes. The Parthian wars of Emperor Trajan (AD 97 117) in 2nd century AD did not result in the establishment of the direct trade between Roman Empire and China as well, partially because the period of Roman rule in Parthia was quite short.

For the long time the mystery of silk manufacture sucked Rome's intellectuals into a blazing fervor. Pliny affirmed that "silk was obtained by removing the down from the leaves with the help of water". Others countered that it grew like wool in the forest. But no one among Romans actually knew the secret of Sericulture, the growth of silk. One way or another the silk clothes were the most exquisite in the Roman world, popular among the noble ladies and idiotic emperors, like Caligula (AD 37 41) or Geliogabal (AD 218 222). The first direct contact between Rome and China didn't happen until the second century after Rome Empire defeated Parthia and controlled the Persian Gulf.

In 166 the first Roman envoy was sent by Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 161 180), from the Persian Gulf and successfully arrived China. But this is not a typical fact. Usually Parthians and Persians played the role of the middlemen between China and Pax Romana. 3. To imagine the difficulties and dangers faced by the ancient traders on their way along the great trade rout we have to trace their way from China to Europe. The Han-dynasty Silk Road began at the magnificent capital city of Chang " an (today's Xian).

The route took traders westwards into Gansu Province through Lanzhou, Tian shui, Zhang ye, along the Hexi Corridor to Jiayuguan - the giant barrier of the Great Wall and the first key point of the route- Dunhuang. Dunhuang is in the west end of the Hexi Corridor of Gansu Province. It is one of the well-known Chinese historical and cultural cities, and the bright pearl on the ancient Silk Road. When the ancient Silk Road came out of the Hexi Corridor into Xinjiang, it broke into three main routes. The southern route ran west along the northern foot of Kunlun Mountains, via Charkhilk (Ruoqiang), Cherche n (Quem o), Min feng (N iya), and He tian (Hot an), then reached Kashgar - another key point on the Silk Road, afterwards went over the Pamirs, and reached India or passed through Afghanistan and Russian Central Asia to reach the coast of the Mediterranean or Arabia.

The central route meandered west along the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains dotted by Lo ulan, Korea, Chuch a, and A ksu, then crossed the Pamirs and led to Mari in Russia. The northern route rambled along the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, starting at Ham i wound through Turpin, Urumqi, westward reached the Ili River Valley, and led to area as near the Black Sea. The three routes of the Silk Road ran between mountain ranges and long edges of deserts, going through oases inhabited by ancient tribes. These tribes also opened some branch roads across mountain passes to join the three routes together. The ancient Silk Road in Xinjiang traversed desolate desert areas and wound over snow-capped peaks. It was full of difficulties and obstacles and more dangerous and fascinating than other sections of the road.

It was the only way for China to get in touch with the West between the second century B.C. and the 10th century A.D. Various ancient cultures of the West and East, including some lost cultures, have left traces of themselves in Xinjiang. Although sections of the Silk Road have been buried by sand in deserts, the local dry climate has miraculously preserved sites and relics several thousand years old. Some relics are as good as they were centuries ago. As we can easily notice the way is by far too long. Moreover, its great part lies through the deserts of Gobi and Karakul. The desert was the main danger at that time: the burning sun, the absence of water and frequent sandstorms.

All this factors were enough to make the way as difficult as possible. But there were also the bandits and semi wild nomadic tribes to add to the merciless nature (Whitfield, 46). These nomadic peoples had perfected the arts of archery and horsemanship. With an eye to expanding their sphere of influence, they met in 1206 and elected a leader for their unified forces; he took the title Great Khan.

Under the leadership of Genghis Khan, they rapidly proceeded to conquer a huge region of Asia. The former Han city of Jiao he, to the west of Turf an, was decimated by the Mongols as they passed through on their way westwards. The Empire they carved out enveloped the whole of Central Asia from China to Persia, and stretched as far west as the Mediterranean (Hopkirk, 28). This Mongol empire was maintained after Genghis' death, with the western section of the empire divided into three main lordships, falling to various of his descendants as lesser Khans, and with the eastern part remaining under the rule of the Great Khan, a title which was inherited by Kublai Khan. Kublai completed the conquest of China, subduing the Song in the South of the country, and established the Yuan dynasty (Rossabi, 11).

4. The main force that allowed the Mongols to defeat any enemy they met was cavalry, to be more precise cavalry archers. The army of nomads incorporated the mobility of their small, fast and tough horses with the marksmanship of their archers and the developed strategy and tactics of their Khans. Neither the camel riders of Kwarasm and Persia, nor the heavy infantry of Russians could stand against the onslaught of the Mongol cavalry. Even the Teutonic Knights, who were thought to be the most capable soldiers of Europe, lost the battle to Mongols. The horse was the main instrument of warfare for the nomadic tribes.

It proved to be suitable for the large scaled wars as well. It provided the mobility of the army. It allowed to get closer to the enemy, shoot a salvo of arrows into him, and escape from the well armored Europeans and slow camels just to repeat the same procedure over and over, until the victory. The horse was the key to all the great conquests made by Mongols. It was the most important thing for the nomadic warriors (Christian, 35). The history of such a great thing as the Silk Road is very rich.

It was the witness of many historical events. It was the rout of history itself.

Bibliography

The Silk Roads: Highways of Culture and Commerce by Vadim e Elisseeff; Berg hahn Books; ; (June 2000);
ISBN: 1571812210;
Page. 1 to 10; 127 to 142 Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk; Univ. of Massachusetts Press 1984;
ISBN: 087023435 Page 13 to 31; Page 156 to 176. Buried Treasures of Chinese Turkestan (Oxford in Asia Paperbacks) by Albert Von Le Coq, Coq Le, Peter Hopkirk, Albert Von Le Coq; Oxford University Press 1990;
ASIN: 0195838785;
Page 52 to 70; Page 143 to 151 Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times by Morris Rossabi; University of California Press 1988;
ASIN: 0520059131;
Page 1 to 11 Lunette Boul nois, The Silk Road, London: Allen & Unwin, 1966.
David Christian, A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, Blackwell, 1998 Ya sushi In ous, Tun-huang.
A novel. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1978 Susan Whitfield, Life along the Silk Road, John Murray, 1999.