Silk Road Trade Flashcards, test questions and answers
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What is Silk Road Trade?
The Silk Road Trade was a network of trade routes that connected the East and West, which first developed during the Han Dynasty in China. It is believed to have been established around 200 B.C., with merchants travelling along it for over 1500 years. This ancient trading route allowed goods and ideas to travel between Europe, North Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, and even extended as far as Japan and Korea. The Silk Road had an immense impact on many different cultures due to increased contact between them; this led to cultural exchange of art and technology from one side of Eurasia to another. One of the most notable items traded along the Silk Road was silk itself; Chinese silks were highly sought after by traders from throughout Eurasia who would purchase them for their own use or resell them at a great profit. Other valuable commodities included spices, tea, horses, fur pelts and other luxury goods such as jewelry and jade carvings. Along with these physical items being exchanged there was also a significant amount of information sharing among travelers on the route; this included religious beliefs including Buddhism spreading into Central Asia where it became dominant in countries such as Afghanistan. The Silk Road also enabled two-way communication between merchants across vast distances due to its efficient use of relay stations provided by rulers along its length; this made it possible for traders to send messages across hundreds or even thousands of miles quickly without having wait weeks or months for replies otherwise required through slower methods such as horseback riding or sailing ships. This significantly improved communications between East Asian empires like China with those in Central Asia such as Persia (modern day Iran) making diplomatic relations easier than ever before in history leading up to modern times today.