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Although most of us have heard of the ancient Slik route, unfortunately few know about its history and its present-day significance. The term Silk Road is first introduced to children in schools during their history lessons. In both NCERT and ICSE books, the famous Silk Road is first taught in grade 6. The concept is later expanded into class 9 books. In this week’s lessons with News18, we’ll tell you all about the Silk Road from its ancient and contemporary relevance.
What is Silk Road and why is it called the Silk Road?
Silk was first invented in China about 5,000 years ago, but the methods of making it were kept secret for years. However, some Chinese traders began to take silk with them on their world tour and the popularity of silk increased. Everyone was drawn to it because of its fine texture and soon wearing silk became a fashion.
When the rulers and rich people around the world got to know the silk, they demanded the same and then the silk trade started. So the ancient route along which the merchants carried silk began to be known as the Silk Road. The trade only expanded over the years, reaching from China to Rome. The Silk Road became so vast that it is more correct to talk about the Silk Roads in the plural rather than in the singular. The network stretched from East Asia to Europe and parts of Africa, covering nearly half of the world.
Now that the people had discovered a route to travel around the world and along with silk, the trade in other materials, such as ivory, tea, spices, fabrics such as wool and cotton, and precious metals, also began.
How difficult was the route?
The Silk Roads started in different parts of eastern China. They stretched south into the Pacific and Indian Oceans and included several major maritime trade routes to India and Ethiopia, among others. Overland, the roads ran through what are now Mongolia, Tibet, Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, and Italy; many other countries were important stops along the Silk Roads. Overall, the Silk Roads covered over 4,000 miles of land from end to end across some of the world’s most formidable landscapes, including the Gobi Desert and the Pamir Mountains. Because there was no one to take care of maintenance, the roads were usually in bad condition.
On this route, traders had to cross dangerous Himalayan mountains, desserts and many other obstacles which made this trade expensive. So to make money from this expensive trade, many tribes and rulers started collecting money from the merchants along the way in exchange for using their roads.
In India, too, the rulers tried to control the Silk Road. This was because they could take advantage of taxes, tribute, and gifts brought by merchants traveling along the route. One such kingdom that largely benefited from controlling the Silk Roads was Kushanas, who ruled most of the northern Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia in the 1st century AD.
Silk Road from land to water route?
Until then, the traders could only travel by road and used camel or horse caravans, but during the Kushana period, one of the branches of the route was expanded into a coastal route making trade easier.
Now travelers could choose from various land and sea paths to reach their destination. The opening of the Silk Road brought with it many products that would have a major impact on the West. Some of the major roads had formal names, such as the Persian Royal Road that stretched from the ancient Persian capital of Susa to the Aegean Sea. Like the Darb Zubayda that ran from Kufa to Mecca, other roads were used for both trade and religious pilgrimage routes. Many of these goods had their roots in China and contained gunpowder and paper. It was in the 13th century when the decline of the Silk Road began.
The fall of the Silk Road?
It was not just the trade in silk and other goods that made the route famous. Other things, including Buddhism and diseases like smallpox, also spread along the Silk Road. However, the speed of sea transport, the ability to carry more goods and the relative cheapness of transport resulted in the decline of the Silk Road.
What we have learned so far
The Morden Silk Road
In 2013, China announced plans to revive the Silk Road, connecting it to more than 60 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In 2013, China officially began restoring the historic Silk Road under President Xi Jinping with a $900 billion strategy called “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR). The project was a way to improve China’s interconnectivity with more than 60 other countries in Asia, Europe and East Africa.
In 2018, China invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and six cabinet colleagues to his “new Silk Road” summit. Next year, China started a huge infrastructure program. The report by US-based research group C4ADS questions China’s view of the trillion-dollar program called the Belt and Road Initiative as strictly designed to promote economic development.
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