13th Century Silk Road

During the first century C.E through the thirteenth century C.E, the silk road was a network of trade routes that stretched from Eastern Mediterranean to Central Asia and from Central Asia to China. In breaking down the patterns of interaction that occurred along the Silk Road from 1 C.E to 1299 C.E, one can conclude that it was the constant change in the participants engaged in the interaction due to the rise and fall of empires and the changing in the creation of various inventions that impacted trade relations. Despite these changes, the spread of religion remained continuous and the value of silk.

At the start of the first century C.E, Chinese goods including silk and lacquerware, were being sent to the eastern part of the Roman Empire.

By the tenth century C.E the Song Dynasty lost control over the Silk Road trade route and in 1276 the Mongols conquered China and continued the trade route. The Silk Road experienced constant changes throughout the first century C.E through the thirteenth century C.E in the participants engaged in the trade route due to the social status of merchants evolving and the rise and fall of empires. Due to surplus of supplies allowing people to specialize in an occupation, people were able to specialize in trade and engage in the trade network. As a result, rather than the merchant class being considered lowly, merchants began to engage in trading due to their contribution to society becoming a vital aspect. During the fall of empires, the location of empires was displaced by invaders and caused the trade routes to be susceptible to armed bandits, war, and tax collectors and as a result, partners involved in the route shifted. Another

Buddhism becomes the most popular religion in Central Asia. By 300 C.E Fa-Hsien, a Chinese Buddhist monk traveled the Silk Road to India. By 500 C.E, Buddhism reached Japan. During the 7th-8th centuries C.E, Christianity spread along the trade routes in western Asia, but was blocked from spreading any further eastward than the Byzantine Empire due to the rise of Islam. In the 7th century C.E, the religion of Islam began to dominate the area of Central Asia. The major religions- Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam continued to spread along the Silk Road for a multitude of reasons. First, by merchants converting to the religions it made business transactions easier. For example, merchants converted to Islam as a result of emperors favoring Islam more than all the other religions. Second, people adopted it because the values of the religions coincided with their own personal values. The religions promise an afterlife and appealed most to women and lower classes. Third, the religions remained prevalent as a result of the spread from missionaries and merchants. Christianity and Buddhism spread through missionaries while Islam spread as a result of merchants. The last pattern of interaction is the value of silk on the Silk Road. At the start of the first century, silk first appears in Rome due its high demand by the upper class. By 400 C.E, silkworm farms appear in Central Asia. The process and techniques