The Silk Road: The Rise Of The Song Dynasty

After 600 CE there were many different adaptions of trade. First there is the the Silk road, maritime networks of the Indian Ocean, as well as the straights of Malacca and Sunda straights. The Silk Road was the general term for a web of overland routes. These roads were not the same as the type of roads one would think of when thinking of Roman roads. These roads that were comprised within the Silk Road were in fact worn paths. The path a traveler and their goods took on the Silk road depended on where they came from and where they were going mainly, as it was not common until after about 1,200 CE for one to travel the full length of the Silk Road. Typically, goods that moved east moved the full length of the Silk Road. These goods came

These goods consisted of luxury goods and raw materials unavailable to the countries they were traveling to, which were able to be manufactured at a faster speed thanks to the inventions such as the piston and hydraulic bellows by the Song. In fact, the way the Silk Road got its name was through the trade of the luxury good Silk. Silk is extremely difficult to work with and was valuable to outsiders of Asia due to its qualities of being very soft, yet strong, and even warm when worn in the winter. During this time span the Song dynasty was established and was a huge beacon for wealth in Asia. It is well known that “…the Song cast a long shadow across the entire Eurasian landmass and especially over its immediate neighbors.” (Beyond the Song) Thanks to this long shadow many “…residents of the Korean Peninsula, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia all drank deeply of Song culture.” (Beyond the Song) A group that also rose to power in the Silk road were the Sogdians, which were and Endo-European group roughly related to Persians. They came into power around 400 CE after the fall of the Han. They went on to dominate trade and their language became the default language of trade in Asia. The Chinese respected them for their power but hated them at the same time for being

The Chinese sent out Zheng He to establish new connections. He traveled with a huge fleet of treasure ships to travel and seek for new Islands and countries to make tributary states, but after the 7th voyage no more fleets went out due to the cost vs. benefit aspect. The Ottomans also conquer the Mamluks and Adrianople in the century which gave them a total monopoly on maritime networks. This Reordered the Ottoman empire towards the Indian Ocean, as well as cleverly imposing huge taxes on anyone wishing to travel through the Red Sea, the fastest path to the Indian Ocean This was done specifically to encourage trade in the Persian Gulf. This hold of the Indian ocean continued until eventually Portugal came about with Henry the navigator and his creation of the caribel ships in the 15th Century. Additional Europe sent out Columbus who idiotically believed he found Asia, when he really found the Americas (which had already been found of