The Silk Roads were established by the Han dynasty in 130 B.C. and it was used for over 1500 years until it was closed in A.D. 1453 by the Ottoman Empire, who boycotted trade with China. It was a trade network that connected China and the Far East, with Europe and the Middle East. It cuts across Central Asia and as far Southward as India, as well as ports around the Mediterranean Sea, which shipped goods to cities in Europe and the Roman Empire. The trade network stretches approximately 4000 miles. The Silk Roads might have officially opened up trade between the East and the West in 138 B.C. when Emperor Wu sent Zhang Qian to contact different cultures in Central Asia. His reports from the journey conveyed valuable information about lands and people in the West. However, the transportation of goods along these routes dates back even further. Approximately 300 years before the Silk Road, Darius I, the Persian ruler of the Achaemenid Empire, established The Royal Road, …show more content…
Expansion by the Persians included smaller routes that connected the Indian subcontinent to Mesopotamia and North Africa, through Egypt. Using the Royal Road, Alexander the Great expanded his territory into Persia, and parts of these routes were later incorporated into the Silk Roads. Trade routes between China and Greece were first opened during the first and second centuries B.C. The Kushan and Roman Empires also benefited from the commerce created by the Silk Roads. The ancient Greek word for China is “Seres” which translates to “the land of silk”. Despite the link to this name, the term “Silk Road” was never officially used until 1877 when Ferdinand von Richthofen first used it to describe the routes. However, historians prefer using the term “Silk Routes” because it’s a more accurate description of the trade