The Silk Road Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Silk Road - Essay Example And it was during 200 BC that Han rulers took control of Tarim region. The Silk Road was subsequently opened under China's control and the route to the Western part of the world started working. Chinese traders used Silk Road for the trade, which resulted in establishing of the Silk Road. Subsequently other countries also started using the road for carrying out their trade related activities thus strengthening the mutual relationship. In fact the 'silk road' is not a road as such, but a long stretch of trade route taken by the trading community. The trail spread mainly across Central Asia, resulted in prosperity not only along the route but in nearby regions as well, as branches from the main route emerged out of the Silk Road towards newer destinations in the interiors of the region. During those early days, the Roman, Parthian, Kushan, and Chinese worked towards providing stability to the Silk Road. Different countries had on offer different types of merchandise for China while Chinese started off with silk and then added more items on the trade. For example India traded with China in gems & jewelry, semiprecious stones, and glass which are the forte of India for many centuries. Buddhism also spread to from India to China through the silk route. The famous Chinese philosopher Fa-hsien, was one of first known Chinese travelers who took Silk Road for traveling towards India around 300 AD. Marco Polo, the famous traveler took 24 years while traveling through Asia. He also chose the Silk Road for his adventurous journey. His travels ignited the urge for industrialization in the Asian subcontinent. Today we can very well boast of the ICT era led technological boom in the industrial world, but historians credit Marco Polo's travelogue for bringing about the technological changes. In fact silk route led industrialization in this part of the world proved to be a turning point for the technological advancements. Marco Polo with his entourage did lot of purchasing from one region and sold it in another region along the silk route, which strengthened the trade practices along the Silk Road. The products sold by him were appreciated by the people, because till then people did not have much idea about the products being made by neighboring countries and regions. Though Osterhammel and Petersson identify the period from 1750 to 1880 as an era which gave rise to the phenomenon of free trade development and as an important step towards globalisation but Marco Polo's trade along the silk route, during the first half of 14th century could very well be termed as the beginning of globalisatio n. Trade along the Silk Road prospered during the times when China was ruled by a succession of non-Chinese dynasties belonging to different ethnic groups, as these groups depended to a great extent on outsiders for trade. Trade activities along the Silk Road suffered a decline owing to change in political equations in China and neighboring India. When power passed on to the Song dynasty, it proved to be weak in retaining control over strategically important central and northern part of China, which resulted in loss of control over Central Asian trade, thus diminishing the role of Silk Road. Subsequently Chinese rulers started paying more attention towards the sea route for carrying out trade. Subsequently when Mongols came to power during the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century, the Silk Road was once again revived for trade.