Silk Road

Dunhuang

The Silk Road orSilk Route was an ancient network of trade routes that for centuries were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting theEast and Westfrom China to the Mediterranean Sea. While the term is of modern coinage, the Silk Road derives its name from the lucrative trade in Chinese silk carried out along its length, beginning during theHan dynasty (207 BCE – 220 CE). The Han dynasty expanded Central Asian sections of the trade routes around 114 BCE, largely through missions and explorations of the Chinese imperial envoy, Zhang Qian. 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 played a significant role 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 was certainly the major trade item exported from China, many other goods were traded, and religions, syncretic philosophies, and various technologies, as well as diseases, also spread along the Silk Routes. In addition to economic trade, the Silk Road was a route for cultural trade among the civilizations along its network. The main traders during antiquity included the Chinese, Arabs, Turks, Indians, Persians,Somalis, Greeks, Syrians, Romans, Georgians, Armenians, Bactrians, and (from the 5th to the 8th century) the Sogdians. Source: Wikipedia 

Han dynasty Granary west of Dunhuang on the Silk Road.

The ruins of a Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) Chinese watchtower
 made of rammed earth at Dunhuang, Gansu province

Ancient Chinese customs post on Silk Road near Dunhuang

Zeinodin Caravanserai

Taldyk pass

Selim Pass caravanserai

Sultanhani caravanserai

18th century caravanserai in Sheki, Azerbaijan

Silk Road at Lanzhou, Gansu Province

Caravan on the Silk Road, 1380

The Round city of Baghdad between 767 and 912 was
the most important urban node along the Silk Road.

Port cities on the maritime silk route featured on the voyages of Zheng He.^[

Map of Eurasia and Africa showing trade networks, c. 870

The Silk Road in the 1st century

Central Asia during Roman times, with the first Silk Road

Main routes of the Silk Road