The Silk Route: An Ancient Connection Between East and West

Running head: ASIA 100A
Asia 100A
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1ASIA 100A
The Silk Route is an ancient route, which provided a connection between the Eastern and
the Western countries, this route maintained the business interactions as well as the cultural link
between the countries in the east and the west. This route was established during the Han
Dynasty, which is about 207 BCE to 220C by Zhang Quian who was a Chinese official and
diplomat. The name of the road has been derived from the valuable silk, which was carried by
the merchants through this route. The route stretched from the China to Mediterranean. The
valuable fabric of silk was produced in China at that time. The Silk Route or Road now connects
the countries of China, India, Persia, Arabia, Greece and Italy. Other important trade items like
spices, fruits, grains and handcrafted items were also traded through this route.
The Silk Road stretches across a huge area covering several countries in Eurasia; the road
has different types of climate and vegetation and all sorts of terrain (Alavidze). Before the
advancements in technology and science, the physical features of an area or country used to
determine the location of the people. The modern states have created the boundaries, which did
not exist at that time (Li). The most important feature of Eurasia is the vastly spread landmass
which is about 7500 Km in length from the Mediterranean to the China Sea and 500 Km from
Indian Ocean to Arctic Ocean. This means the climate of the region can extend from very hot to
very cold, there is lack of moisture in the landmass as the water bodies are far away from the
landmasses, and thus the temperature of the land cannot be moderated as it is far away from the
sea (Lim). The location of human beings along the Silk Road can be determined with the
availability of water in the region. The regions which are far away from the ocean are drier in
climate than those which are near the sea.
The vast areas of the inner regions inside Asia is made up of deserts and mountains, there
are some of the highest mountains present in those regions (Rastogi). During the year 400 there