Trade has been one of the most influential principles of human civilization. It connects people from various regions and brings sellers and buyers together towards a specific agenda. Human beings have always moved from one place to another to exchange goods, services, skills as well as ideas with their neighbors. One of the regions that were characterized by such movements was Eurasia. It was a place that was categorized by both communication and paths of trade, which grew to what is commonly known as the silk roads. The initial routes cut across both land and sea, along which goods were received from Asia and the East. The primary commodity of trade was silk, which came from China and India (Liu, 2010). When establishing the network for adjoining the East and the West by sea, the traders had to come up with a commodity that was demanded in the nations. The vast networks carried more than valuable products and merchandise. The enormous mix of cultures that the Silk Road brought has been categorized as one of an essential part of the Eurasian people. The traders attracted not only the exchange of commodities but also the hubs of learning and exchange of culture.
The Silk Road has been a recent term to describe the majority of people that trade goods using online platforms. However, it was a thing of the past where merchants transversed Eurasia from East of Changan to the Mediterranean Sea. The traders were attempting to exchange goods with other commodities that were not available in Asia. They succeeded in coming up with trade lines that covered regions extending from the Asian continent to Europe and Northern Africa. The Silk Road extended over five thousand miles of land and sea, leading to both religious and cultural exchanges along the routes. The Asian people brought about the interaction of civilizations across the globe. They connected parts of the world such as Egypt, Persia, India, and Rome paving the way for modern globalization (Forbes & Henley, 2011). The Silk Road has also been associated with the connection between the East and the West, bringing together people from various cultures in an attempt to establish international lines of trade. The traders In the Pre-Mongol era transported their goods through the route that had promoted international relations and the identification of various cultures (Rossabi, 2011). The contribution to the success of the Silk Road depended on the leaders that were available in different territorial boundaries.
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Two cities had the most significant effect on the silk road, namely Rome and Changan. They were at the very ends o the long trade line which had been too long for the traders to finish the route. People commenced indirect commerce to pass merchandise from one merchant to another. It would have been impossible for one person from Eurasia to get to Europe or North Africa s the journey took several years. People from the central and Western parts of Asia that lived along the Silk Road took advantage of the opportunities that the route brought. They became a dominant part of the trade as they became the middlemen (Levy, 2012). They Persians, Greeks, and Jews were the most successful merchants along the route as they connected the East and the West. They Sogdians from Samarkand were the first traders from Central Asia, who sought the sale of their commodities along the route. From the name, it is essential to determine that the principal product for trade was silk. However, it was not the primary merchandise as the traders along the road had other goods for commerce. The westerners sold horses and seeds to China, while the easterners brought spices and exotic carpets, textiles, blankets, and curtains.
Persians took goods to China such as rags, curtains, and blankets. In turn, they received silver, scarce stones, glass products, camels, armaments, metal0like silver, and gold as well as extravagant goods. China also dealt with delicate bowls, dishes, and cups. Due to the secret production in the Near East, some of the commodities were cheaper in the Western market. Households started producing goods that would be sold at a lower price in the market. Rice, Chinese textile, and tea also became significant commodities of the trade from the East. Goods such as silk, furs, rice, and cotton were usually traded from the east to Europe, giving an opportunity to meeting between the East and the west (Levy, 2012). The exchange of culture brought about a civilization that gave people the chance to exchange ideas, social and political opportunities.
The prosperity and success of the current trade routes depend heavily on the Silk Road. The course started from mainland China and used both the land the sea to deliver commodities to various countries. The northern way started from Chang’a to Ganzu province. The southern route, on the other hand, started from the China through the Karakoram, nowadays Pakistan. The South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Mediterranean were also major trade routes. The nowadays Karakoram Highway is one of the constructed avenues of the silk road connecting the Far East to the Middle East. Since the beginning of the Silk Road, China has been a major trading partner for every country in the world (Tuladhar, 2011). They have established their importance in the production of goods and services as well as the technical ability to promote the safety and security of their people. Various dynasties that grew from the Silk Road have been responsible for China’s growth.
References
Forbes, A. & Henley, D. (2011). China's Ancient Tea Horse Road . Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books.
Levy, S. C. (2012). Early Modern Central Asia in World History. History Compass. 10 (11), 866–78.
Liu, X. (2010). The Silk Road in World History . Oxford University Press.
Rossabi, M. (2014). From Yuan to Modern China and Mongolia: The Writings of Morris Rossabi . Leiden & Boston: Brill.
Tuladhar, K. R. (2011). Caravan to Lhasa: A Merchant of Kathmandu in Traditional Tibet . Kathmandu: Lijala & Tisa.
