Trade was formed on the foundation of human communication. Buying and selling are the one of the basic economic activity of the society which is built on social networks in the earliest stages of human civilization.

The oldest form of trade began with barter system, in simple words, a form of trade where humans would trade items instead money to what they want. During the first phase of Stone Age, people lived in a self-sufficient economy and people would trade food or weapons. The focus shifted from survival to cultivation and exploration by sea which gave rise to more opportunities and new choices. With more choices humans desire naturally grew and the long-distance trading began.

Fun Fact: Barter System is still prevalent in today’s world especially during economic crisis. Small businesses often use barter system to deal with their unused inventory.

The first recorded long-distance trade was between Mespotanium Civilization and Indus Valley Civilization around 3000 BCE. The Silk Road was a network of routes on both land and sea. If the question is how many countries were connected by Silk Road, then the list is too last, it comprises of 40 countries running through Asia, Europe and Africa.

HOW DID SILK ROAD BEGIN?

Zhang Qian was sent to an expedition by emperor of Han Dynasty and it became a journey that lasted for 13 years. Zhang Qian was on the journey to bring back ‘heavenly horses’ (as referred by Chinese because they were taller and stronger than the horses they owned) along with 100 people.

But on the way of exploring past China Wall, he was captured and imprisoned for ten years. Zhang Qian return to the dynasty was an unbelievable feat to the emperor who had lost hope. This journey laid foundation for the Silk Road in 130 BCE and made many travellers to explore the routes leading them to discover other civilization and empires.

As the name suggests, Silk Road was formed mainly to trade silk for horses but as the new route developed the trade activities expanded with variety of things. Silk was produced in China and was in high demand. Paper was invented in 2CE in China was traded, spices from South Asia, glassware trade was widespread, Jade was central part of Chinese culture, sandalwood from India, perfumes and slaves were also traded.

There were many trades between different empires and dynasties so what makes Silk Road special?

In the historic times, it was difficult for merchants to travel long distance because of political stability, lack of amenities, toll taxes and robbers. The fragmented political control over different areas left merchants with uncertainty of taxes since there was no particular laws.

The travel would cover deserts, mountains and various types of terrain, with no facilities the travel would be dangerous. ‘Highway Robbers’ were a common occurrence and there was no protection provided by the governor of the state which made merchants incur more losses than gains.

The Silk Road was first step towards what we call today ‘international trade’ and it made many merchants the wealthiest career at that time.

The operation of Silk Road was only possible due to stability brought by the unification of several smaller kingdom into few large kingdoms and it resulted in larger state control with few toll taxes.

The east was under Han Dynasty control, the Parthian Empire controlled the middle and the Roman empire ruled the West thus creating a long network of stabilized route for travelling merchants. The Silk Road flourished during Tang Dynasty period under the peaceful environment and its strong military power.

It was no coincidence that Silk Road reached its peak under the Mongol rule, the largest empire. Later, some states like Mughals and Ottomans would even provide ‘protection’ for the travel under their state with some charges which helped merchants travel without fearing robbers.

THE SILK ROAD DECILINE

The Silk Road deteriorated by 1453 CE when the Mongol empire was broken into smaller fragments and Ottomans came into power who imposed high taxes put off most of the merchants, though sea routes still remained in use.

The large number of trades build a foundation for diplomacy between nations and the envoys were seen as the ambassador of the that particular nation. The cultural exchange led to cross-cultural interaction of different kind of religion, language and culture such as Islam, Christianity and Buddhism.

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT ON THE TRADE

The main economic impact of the silk road was the facilitation of exchange of commodities and goods between states. On the routes many cities served as the major trade hubs and sea ports in the interconnected routes.

The demand for luxury goods grew sharply and the economy boomed. The wealth was redistributed as the demand increased and the artists, merchants and craftsmen businesses flourished.   

The exchange of ideas helped new discoveries spread bring about technology development in a large landscape and laid the ground work for globalization.

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