SILK ROAD
Silk Road named in the middle of the 19th century by the
German scholar,Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen
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the greatest East
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West trade route andvehicle for the cross cultural exchange.
The early trade in silk was carried onagainst incredible odds by great caravans of merchants and animals traveling at asnail 's speed over some of the most inhospitable territory on the face of the earththrough waterless deserts and snowbound mountain passes. The journeys ofChina's emissary, Zhang Qian , in the third century BC brought the Han Dynasty( 206 BC - AD 220 ) into political contact with the many kingdoms of Central Asiaand opened up the great East - West trade route. The long route was divided intoareas of influence both political and economic. The Chinese traders escorted theirmerchandise beyond the Great Wall to Loulan, where it was sold or bartered toCentral Asian middlemen - Parthians, Sogdians, Pakistanis and Kushans - whocarried the trade on to the cities of the Persian, Pakistan, Syrians and Greekmerchants. Each transaction increased the cost of end product , which reachedthe Roman empire in the hands of Greek and Jewish entrepreneurs. At Kashgarthere were many choices. Some went westwards over the Terek Pass across theOxus River to Merv . Others crossed the high Pamirs to the south nearTashkurgan and went over the Khunjarab Pass and down into Pakistan. Eitherthrough land route crossing the desert of Cholistan and Tharr to port of Thatta orthrough boats from different river ports of Pakistan. It takes 40 days river journey from port of Lahore to reach Thatta for onward journey to Port of Aqba( JORDAN )and to Rome (ITALY).
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