Amazing Trading Network-The Great Silk Road

The Silk Road is a world-famous trade route network that connects China and other far eastern countries to Europe via Anatolia and the Mediterranean. This is a road where not only merchants but also scholars, soldiers and missionaries travel from east to west and from west to east. Therefore, not only exotic goods were bought and sold in the ancient trade network, but also the knowledge, technology and religious beliefs that reshaped ancient civilizations were transferred to different civilizations. Products traded on this road for thousands of years; bears the traces of religions and cultures and offers an extraordinary historical richness.

-Silk

Silk is the most unusual and valuable item transported on the Silk Road for the Western world. So much so that this substance even gave its name to the trade route. For the first time BC. Silk produced in China as early as 3000 had quite a number of consumers. Traders and diplomats traveled thousands of kilometers to access silk. The carrying capacity of caravans in the early periods was quite limited. For this reason, traders wanted to take the most valuable and lightest item to their countries. İpek, on the other hand, fully suited all of these features. This high value and low weight product was versatile and could be used in many areas. For this reason, silk became one of the products that merchants carried the most.

2. Horse

Horses were first used in BC. It was domesticated in the Central Asian steppes around 3700 BC. Later, nomadic tribes living in China, India, Iran and Mediterranean countries began to domesticate horses. After agricultural societies discovered that the horse could be used for transportation, the horse became a sought-after means of transportation. The silk trade for horses was one of the most important and long-lasting trades on the Silk Road. Chinese traders paid in silk for well-bred horses from the Mongolian steppes and the Tibetan plateau. On the other hand, nomadic societies used silk to make clothes. At the same time, they could buy other products they needed with silk.

-Paper

Invented in China in the 2nd century, paper began to be used in all Asian lands with the spread of Buddhism. The use of paper became widespread in the Islamic world when Arab forces clashed with the Tang Dynasty in the 751 Battle of Talas. This product reached Europe in the 12th century when Caliph Harun al-Rashid built a paper mill in Baghdad. Traders on the Silk Road carried paper documents that served as passports to cross nomadic lands or spend the night in a caravanserai. However, the most important function of paper is; It was the transmission of ideas, thoughts, and religions to the rest of the world. One of the most important features of the Silk Road is the interaction of different cultures in this region. Paper, on the other hand, served as an important conduit to disseminate interactions.

- Spices

Spices from South Asia, cinnamon from Sri Lanka, and cassia from China were the most coveted commercial products of the West. Spices were not only used to preserve food. It was also highly valued for religious ceremonies and drug making. If the silkworm could be kept alive, silk could be produced anywhere in the world. However, spices were obtained only from plants grown in very specific environments. For this reason, spices, all of which were in the luxury category, were very valuable.

-jade

Hundreds of years before the Silk Road existed, China traded with its western neighbors on a network called the Jade Road. Used for centuries to make jewellery, this gemstone was central to Chinese ritual culture. For the Chinese, jade represented health and longevity. This belief in China spread over time to other parts of the world. Therefore, jade became one of the most traded products on the Silk Road.

- Glassware

When we say Silk Road trade, we assume that the exotic goods of the East go to the West. However, trade on the Silk Road did not just flow from East to West. E.g; Archaeologists excavating burial mounds in China, Korea, Thailand and the Philippines have found glassware made in Rome in the tombs of Asian elites. Many glassware products such as vases, glasses and plates were traveling from European countries to Asian countries via the Silk Road.

-Furs

The taiga is one of the world's largest evergreen forests, running through Siberia and stretching from North America to Canada. At the height of Silk Road trade, there were brave people in the taiga forests who gathered fox, sable, beaver, and ermine skins. These people made a living by making luxury coats and hats for the elite of the East. After a short time, the famous furs of Siberia became one of the luxury products in European societies. Although it was not traded as much as silk and spices, fur was one of the most valuable products of the Silk Road, as it was a status symbol.