CONNECTING EAST AND WEST

Amy King (OHS)

Satellites. Telecom stations. Underwater telephone cables. To the modern reader in the Information Age, these methods of communication seem ubiquitous. Indeed it is difficult to imagine a world where Nomadic tribes passed along information and instead of a Messages app, there were designated messengers to deliver important news. At the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, however, the Scythians started to trade between different powers and thus one of the most defining moments of history was born. The Silk Road. A myriad of routes that flow together to form one of the most important trade networks that the world has ever seen. Perhaps unexpectedly, the name itself arose relatively late. In 1877 the term “Seidenstraße” was coined by the German geographer, cartographer and explorer Ferdinand von Richthofen. The southern stretches of the Silk Road, from Khotan (Xinjiang) to Eastern China, were first used for jade and not silk, as long ago as 5000 BCE, and are still in use to this day. Perhaps the term “Jade Road” would have been more appropriate than “Silk Road” had it not been for the far larger and geographically wider nature of the silk trade. The “Seidenstraße” was central to the economic, cultural, political and religious interactions between East and West from the 2nd century BCE to the 18th century. Its two millennia history continues to have lasting impacts on the global powers we recognise today. This 4000 mile journey spans almost the entirety of the Asian continent, crossing into the Mediterranean and extending by sea to Europe, Arabia and North Africa. Samarkand and Bukhara, both cities in Uzbekistan would not have existed had it not been for the success they received from the Silk Road. The eastern part of the Silk Road grew considerably under the Chinese Han Dynasty (202BC – AD 220) and the lucrative silk trade relied heavily upon this trading route. In the interest of protecting their 2 valuable goods, the Chinese extended the Great Wall of China to increase the route’s protection. Arguably the most important transfer was not of silk or jade but of religion. Originating in India, Buddhism migrated to China and Japan becoming prominent religions in both countries. Islam spread from the Arabian peninsula to form a new religion, Sikhism. Warfare also evolved as a result of the silk road. Gunpowder’s migration to the West forged the futures of the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughul empires. Unfortunately, microbes managed to spread as successfully as ideas, inventions and interests across the Silk Road. According to Mark Welford, author of the 2018 book Geography of Plague Pandemic, “the Silk Road allowed, possibly for the first time, the sustained transition of diseases endemic to Central Asia to move out along the Road to Europe”. The plague, the Black Death, which was one of the first great pandemics - travelled along the Silk Road to kill more than 75 million people between 1346 and 1352. Interestingly, the Silk Road was not always the beating heart of Central Asia that it is often thought to have been. As the Roman empire fell and the Arabian power in the Levant rose, the Silk Road was no longer a desirable hub of trade. However, the Mongols revived the route in the 13th and 14th centuries, and the Venetian Marco Polo used it to travel to what was then Cathay (now: China). The Silk Road’s origins lie in two concurrent and significant eras, Pax Sinica (Chinese Peace) and Pax Romana (Roman Peace). A mutual desire for trade combined with an extended period of political stability meant an increased demand in luxury goods. This represented an unprecedented transition towards global trade.

As for the first official plotting of the Silk Road, it is largely thought to have been as early as 60 CE. The Roman Empire had expanded to the Central Asian Silk Road and created one of the first “travel guides” to better govern their extended empire. In many ways the success of the Silk Road eventually caused its demise as the transfer of information led to the use of maritime compasses, rendering longer land routes obsolete. Although it’s been nearly 600 years since the Silk Road was solely used for international trade, it seems as if a new project is on the horizon. A so-called 21st century Silk Road, President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road” Initiative, follows similar trade patterns to those of the Silk Road. In fact, “belt” is short for “Silk Road Economic Belt”; whereas “road” is short for “21st Century Maritime Silk Road”. The Silk Road, which was made a UNESCO world heritage site in 2014, has irrevocably shaped our world.

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