The Silk Road was a network of markets and trade routes extending 5,000 miles across
the Asian continent connecting China with the Mediterranean. From 100 BC to 1400 AD, these markets supplied and withstood the
great empires of China, Mongolia, India, Persia, Rome, Byzantium, and the
Ottomans.
Caravans traveled across vast deserts and over towering mountains to deliver silk,
tea, spices, and gemstones to and from different parts of the ancient world. Along the trade routes,
towns and cities sprang up out of the desert, providing supplies, comforts, and middle markets.
The Silk Road also served as a conduit for ideas, culture, and religion flowing east and west. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, glassmaking, paper making, printing, gunpowder, and food customs all migrated along the trade network.
Use of the Silk Road declined permanently in the late Middle Ages. China closed its
doors to foreigners, the Mongol Empire (which brought stability to the routes)
disintegrated, and sea trade increased. For more information, see this timeline.
During the 1800s, Russia expanded its territory, annexing most of Central Asia and extending its borders to Afghanistan and China. Russia's empire then became the Soviet Union until its breakup in 1991.
Using today's countries as reference, the Silk Road routes stretched from central
China, skirted the Tibetan highlands, then ran through Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, around the Caspian Sea, through Georgia, Armenia,
and Turkey -- into the Mediterranean basin.
More maps ...
Nowadays, branches of the ancient trade routes heading south from the 'Stans are being pressed into use as
supply lines for US troops fighting in Afghanistan. In a fascinating evolution that echoes the timeless ebb and flow of empires and trade goods in the region, Russian oil to power US war machines is the bulk of the trade traffic. In June 2009, Kyrgzstan and the US renewed a controversial air base agreement. And during President Obama's July '09 trip to Moscow, an agreement to allow direct US overflights of "lethal material" was reached.
