Download Long Distance Trade and the Silk Roads Network:

The spread of economic activity,
religion, & disease through trade
What are Impacts of Long-distance Trade?
 Provides wealth to civilizations
 Gives civilizations access to foreign products
 Enables people to concentrate their efforts on
economic activities best suited to their regions
 Facilitates spread of religions
 Made transmission of disease over far distances
possible
Classical China, India, & Rome: Linked by Trade
 The Classical powers of Rome, India, and China provided
internal stability to large territories
 Improved transportation infrastructure
 Their expanding size brought each of these into closer contact
with one another
 Costs of long-distance trade were reduced
 Merchants began establishing an extensive network of trade
routes that linked much of Eurasia and northern Africa
 These overland trade routes are known as the “Silk Roads”
ROMAN
EMPIRE
CHINA
INDIA
INDIAN OCEAN
Route of the Silk Roads
 Connected the two extreme ends of Eurasia
 Linked China, India, the Roman Empire, and other cultures in
between
 Started in the Han capital of Chang’an
 Skirted the Taklamakan Desert
 Passed through oasis towns on the edge of the desert
 Continued west to Bactria (modern-day Afghanistan) and then
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forked, heading in two different directions: to northern India or to
northern Persia (modern-day Iran)
In northern Persia, the route joined with roads to ports on the
Caspian Sea & Persian Gulf
Route proceeded to Palmyra (modern Syria) in the Middle East
Met roads coming from Arabia & ports on the Red Sea
Continued west & terminated at Mediterranean ports that linked to
other Roman ports
Route of the Silk Roads
 The Silk Roads also provided access at ports like
Guangzhou in southern China that led to maritime (sea)
routes to India & Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
Organization of Long Distance Trade
on the Silk Road
 Individual merchants usually did
not travel from one end of
Eurasia to the other
 Instead, they handled long-
distance trade in stages using
camel caravans
 There were many merchants
serving as middle-men
 Chinese, Persians, Indians,
Romans, & others would
dominate the caravan or
maritime trade routes with their
empire or territory of influence
Economics
 Silk & Spices traveled west
from southeast Asia, China, &
India
 China was the only country in
classical times where
cultivators & weavers had
developed techniques for
producing high-quality silk
fabrics
 Spices served not just to
season food, but also as drugs,
anesthetics, aphrodisiacs,
perfumes, aromatics, &
magical potions
Economics
 Central Asia produced large, strong
horses & jade prized by Chinese
stone carvers
 The Roman empire traded
glassware, jewelry, works of art,
perfumes, bronze & iron goods,
wool & linen textiles, olive oil,
wine, & silver
 However, Europe offered things of
less value compared to Asian
goods. As a result, Europe had a
huge trade imbalance with Asia. It
lost money because it imported so
many rare luxury goods from Asia.
Religion: Buddhism
 Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha)
first announced his teachings
publicly in India in 528 BCE
 By the 3rd Century BCE, Buddhism
was well-established in northern
India
 Buddhism was especially
successful in attracting merchants
as converts
Religion: Buddhism
 Merchants & monks carried Buddhism along the Silk
Roads where it first established a presence in the oasis
towns where merchants & their camel caravans
stopped for food, rest, lodging, & markets.
 Dunhuang, in China, was one such spot.
Religion: Buddhism at Dunhuang
 Between 600 & 1000 CE,
Buddhists built hundreds
of cave temples around
Dunhuang depicting scenes
of Buddha
 Leaders at Dunhuang…
 assembled libraries of
Buddhist literature
 Supported missionaries
which spread Buddhism
throughout China
Silk Road Art: Buddhists at Dunhuang
Silk Road Art: Buddhists at Dunhuang
 Who is depicted in
these sculptures?
 What cultures may
have influenced the
artistic style of
these sculptures?
Religion: Christianity
 Antioch, in modern-day Turkey in
the Middle East, at the western end
of the overland Silk Roads, was an
important center in early
Christianity
 Antioch is mentioned many times in
the Bible as a site of conversion to
Christianity after Jesus’ death:
 “Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to
look for Saul, and when he found
him, he brought him to Antioch.
So for a whole year, Barnabas and
Saul met with the church and
taught great numbers of people.
The disciples were called
Christians first at Antioch.” Acts 11:
25-26
St. Peter’s Grottos Church - Antioch
Saint Paul, an early convert to Christianity, began his
missionary journeys at Antioch
45-67 CE
Religion: Christianity
 Like other religions,
Christianity followed the
trade routes and expanded
east throughout
Mesopotamia, Iran, & as far
away as India
 However, Christianity’s
greatest concentration was
in the Mediterranean Sea
area, where Roman roads,
like the Silk Roads,
provided ready
transportation
Disease
 The Antonine Plague (165-180 CE) was a
plague of either smallpox or measles
brought back to the Roman Empire by
troops returning from campaigns in the
Near East after traveling the Great Silk
Road.
 The disease broke out again 9 years later &
the Roman historian Dio Cassius reported it
caused up to 2,000 deaths a day at Rome
 Total deaths of the Antonine Plague have
been estimated at 5,000,000
 One of the reasons for the collapse of the
Roman Empire and the Han dynasty in
China was a terrible plague that spread
along the Great Silk Road due to merchant
activity.