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The Age of Exploration
The great Elizabethan Age of Exploration was at first dominated by the Portuguese and the Spanish. The Golden Age of Exploration also saw the emergence of English explorers such as Sir Francis Drake (1542-1596), Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618), Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1539-1583), Sir John Hawkins (1532-1595), Sir Richard Grenville (1541-1591) and Sir Martin Frobisher (1535-1594).

Picture of Sir Walter Raleigh

Exploration Biography and Timeline
A biography, timeline, facts, pictures and information has been included about the most famous Explorers and their explorations who made such momentous voyages during the Age of Exploration. For specific facts and information about the clanisation of America please refer to our Colonial America website.

The Elizabethan Age of Exploration
The Elizabethan Age of Exploration. Many motives prompted the Age of exploration including Scientific curiosity, bred of the Renaissance spirit of free inquiry, the crusading spirit in which Europeans thrilled at the thought of spreading Christianity among heathen peoples. And the opportunities to acquire wealth, fame and power. The scientific improvements in Navigation during the Age of Exploration.

The Elizabethan Explorers during the Age of Exploration
The Elizabethan Times saw the emergence of the bravest and skilful English seamen who revelled in the Renaissance Age of Exploration. New discoveries could bring untold riches in terms of gold and silver and spices - the Elizabethan explorers were searching for adventure, glory and wealth offered during the Age of Exploration. The Greatest English Explorers of the Age of Exploration were Sir Francis Drake , Sir Walter Raleigh , Sir Humphrey Gilbert , Sir John Hawkins , Sir Richard Grenville and Sir Martin Frobisher

Explorers Timeline covering the Age of Exploration
The Elizabethan Explorers Timeline, covering the Age of Exploration dates from the Early Explorers from 1000 - 1500 (this early Explorers Timeline provides a 'backdrop' to the achievements and voyages of discovery by the Renaissance and Elizabethan Explorers in the Age of Exploration) to the Timeline covering 1500 - 1600.

Spanish Explorers

Picture of Christopher Columbus

The Spanish Explorers in the Age of Exploration
The Renaissance saw the success of the Spanish explorers in acquiring monopolies on much of the Eastern spice trade and their expeditions to the New World brought great wealth and power to Spain during the Age of Exploration. Rodrigo de Bastidas, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Juan Diaz de Solis, Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro were the greatest Spanish Explorers in the great Age of Exploration.

Picture of Ferdinand Magellan

Famous Pirates during the Age of Exploration
The Age of Exploration saw the emergence of some Famous Pirates and the Golden Age of Pirates. The lucrative slave trade, spice trade and the spoils of gold and silver encouraged the activities of Pirates. Many explorers such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Martin Frobisher were referred to as pirates. Read about the real Pirates of the Caribbean.

Interesting Facts and Information about the Age of Exploration
Some interesting facts and information about the Age of Exploration
Canadian Explorer

Picture of Blackbeard the Pirate

The Age of Exploration
Additional details, facts and information about the Age of Exploration can be accessed via the Elizabethan Era Sitemap and the links at the top of the page.

Age of Exploration

Interesting Facts & information about the Age of Exploration

The Age of Exploration

Motives surrounding the Age of Exploration

The scientific improvements in Navigation during the Age of Exploration

The English and Spanish Explorers during the great Age of Exploration

Famous Pirates in the Age of Exploration

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Queen Elizabeth's Coat of Arms

The Age of Exploration

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The Age of Exploration The great Elizabethan Age of Exploration was at first dominated by the Portuguese and the Spanish. The Golden Age of Exploration also saw the emergence of English explorers such as Sir Francis Drake (1542-1596), Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618), Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1539-1583), Sir John Hawkins (1532-1595), Sir Richard Grenville (1541-1591) and Sir Martin Frobisher (1535-1594).

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Explorers from the 1600's - EnchantedLearning.com

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These top tips were formulated by the project team and provide 10 tips for running a successful school-museum residency. The team have drawn upon their knowledge gained through the first-hand experience of planning, establishing, and running the existing three pilots, along with knowledge gained through extensive research into establishing a successful and long-lasting relationship between schools and museums

1. Plan for the life of the school - when planning ensure you take into account the life of the whole school when designing extended school residencies for example, assemblies, school plays, lunch clubs etc.

2. Draw from the experience of others - there's a wealth of best practice examples of teaching the whole or parts of the curriculum in museums and cultural organisations to a very high standard across the sector that can help inform planning - check out our blog for ideas.

3. Think creatively about spaces - museums have lots of existing spaces and it's useful to think about their use really creatively when planning a school residency don't just use your usual school spaces. Child protection issues are particularly important to tackle early on in planning.

4. Evaluate! - collecting robust evidence will help everyone involved learn as much as possible from the experience and show evidence of impact to advocate for future school residencies.

5. Training - provide training in how to maximise cross-curricular learning, using not only the collection but also the physical building, behind-the-scenes storage, shop and café facilities and external spaces.

6. Develop bespoke resources for literacy skills - as well as improving children's oral communication skills, extended residencies can develop their literacy skills.

7. Co-create educational experiences - with teachers and museum staff working collaboratively, extended residencies offer opportunities for deeper engagement and for involving children in co-creating learning experiences.

8. Engage all museum staff - from front of house and security to curatorial departments, all museum staff can play an important part in an extended residency. Training and briefings should be organised so that all staff are clear about their contribution and the value of such experiences for children.

9. Understanding - extended residencies require both schools and museums to understand each other's organisational cultures and ways of working. Regular meetings and briefings with museum and school staff are essential.

10. Explore the use of outdoor spaces - when planning a residency, staff should consider the most effective use of the museum's external spaces in order to provide children with access to outdoor play and learning.

These top tips are also available in the 'resources' page of the blog. If you have any suggestions for further top tips, or comments on the tips above, please leave us a comment! You can comment on this article, using the contact form on the right-hand side, or post in the discussion forum.

Picture credits: Kings College London

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TOP TIPS for creating a successful school-museum residency

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These top tips were formulated by the project team and provide 10 tips for running a successful school-museum residency.

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bernard

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By Geneviève Angio-Morneau

Exhibition making is a creative process and as such, there are thankfully no absolute rules as to what can make a project soar or slump. However, over the 10 years plus that I have been working in the field, there are some personal observations that I have made that I always like to keep in mind. The process of creating an exhibition is most often than not collaborative and involves many stakeholders with diverse agendas. Keeping a strong vision from A to Z is a challenge on every project and so here's a short checklist that can help any team navigate some common pitfalls when it comes to creating exciting and engaging exhibitions.

1. Your exhibition is unique. Don't copy others.
Although it's great to begin a creative process with mood boards, a review of best practices, inspiring images and a list of "cool" up and coming technologies, its good to keep in mind that there is no better process than beginning a project with a clean slate. What is the unique story that THIS exhibition will tell? What kind of interactive experiences could allow the visitors to engage with the stories to be told? With today's easy access to gazillions of inspiration images, it can be tempting - and timesaving - to cut and paste. It's much harder to come up with the right content and the best stories than the right technology or the right means of display.

2. You can't please everybody. It's a fact.
It's tempting to want to create an exhibition that is everything for everybody. We've come to realize that the most interesting projects are those that do more of one thing and less of another. An exhibition is a creative act, and focus and constraints gives it strength. Memorable exhibitions are those where the list of what is not shown is as important as what is shown. A good creative brief should include what the project will not be. Targeting specific audiences can also help give an editorial edge to an exhibition, and will not necessarily mean that other audiences will not enjoy it.

3. You're creating an experience. Not a content grid.
Many exhibition projects begin with a strong curatorial input that translates into messages and exhibition zones via a content grid. All too often however, no room is left in the creative process to brainstorm on the exhibition's content and experience with the design team - and many valuable ideas can come out of this forum as well. In certain cases, approaching content and messaging from a design perspective can also bring solutions to the table that are more playful or that use various senses or involve different learning approaches. All too often this process is not valued or budgeted and interesting opportunities are not given the light of day.

4. This is 2017. Physical and digital environments are a fact.
In more and more of our projects, we see a larger percentage of the production budget allocated to media. Traditional and interactive media can provide invaluable depth to exhibition subjects as well as opportunities for transmedia storytelling, thus expanding the exhibition into the spheres of the web or social media, augmenting audience outreach and creating potential new partnerships for a museum. A good creative brief should include strategic budget allocations from the get go.

5. Yes, there is such a thing as way too much content
We frequently embark on projects where the educational objectives are numerous. Many stories to tell, much information to deliver, but a limited amount of square feet. The more we try to fit all the content in, the less space we leave visitors to make up their own minds, to experiment with their own ideas, to dream, to escape, to formulate their own impressions and ideas. We live in a time where many online resources exist, relieving museums from the burden of being encyclopaedic. More and more visitors come to museums equipped with smart phones that allow them to Google any fact at any time. Does the exhibition really need to explain everything? What experiences can only be lived inside the museum space and should therefore be valued over others? What will create a memorable experience that will be resonate weeks after a visit in a visitor's mind? Leaving some creative space in exhibitions is never a bad idea.

Read these 5 tips over and over again. During the design of your exhibition, take some distance and come back to them. An exhibition should be a learning space, and as such, it should inspire through its content and also the experience it offers.

About the Author

Geneviève Angio-Morneau is Creative Director and Head of Content at GSM Project

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Designing an Exhibition: These 5 Tips Should Be Your Mantra - MuseumNext

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By Geneviève Angio-Morneau Exhibition making is a creative process and as such, there are thankfully no absolute rules as to what can make a project soar or slump. However, over the 10 years plus that I have been working in the field, there are some personal observations that I have made that I always like to keep in mind.

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Liv

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10 Tips for Museum Exhibit Design Success | DesignShop

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Designing a museum exhibit? Here are 10 tips for designing successful permanent and temporary museum exhibits.

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bernard

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There are many reasons to visit a museum, but one of the things that can make you love the museum experience is their way of telling stories and their way of presenting them. Imagine a Roald Dahl book without Quentin blake's illustration - can't even imagine it, right? And you definitely want your museum exhibit to be memorable. Here's a round up of learnings from some amazing and inspiring exhibits to help you create a powerful exhibition design.

1. Tell the story in a compelling way.

Take cue from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata - epics that have constantly been told over and over again, and yet the audience wants to lap it up every time a new medium adapts it. Its because the epics tell not just one story, but many stories, within the story. Design your exhibit to tell smaller stories within a larger narrative.

2. Divide large exhibitions

Separate your content into sections to make it easier for the visitor to digest. Nobody likes to feel intimidated or overloaded, and so, the exhibition design should be seamless in a way that all sections tie into each other bit by bit, making the visitor feel like exploring more.

3. Use games

Games are not just for children. In fact, adults enjoy them more. Gaming can be leveraged to creating engaging, fun and interactive experiences for visitors. For instance, this game from the Oriental Institute Museum (University of Chicago) , allows you to digitally understand the process of mummification by choosing the right ingredients for embalming the body; experimenting with hieroglyphs and more! Kids and parents both can't get enough of this!

4. Use interesting graphic design to create interest, flow and focus.

Labels, banners, picture postcards, content graphs, the possibilities are enormous, but you need to know what goes with your exhibit and what visitors would really like. Here's how Anne Morgan asked visitors how the museum exhibit could creatively use labels - without being all very fancy!

5. Innovate - when it comes to presenting your art and artefacts.

What are some of the new ways in which you can display? By creating immersive and creative displays, you'll enhance visitor engagement with the exhibition. For example, the Asian Civilizations Museum during their Ramayana Revisited exhibition, had visitors engage with the various forms the Ramayana has taken in Southeast Asia.

6. Embrace technology:

7. Have a clear plan in mind:

Make sure you know your target audience. Who are the audiences you're aiming at entertaining, educating or engaging? Design your museum experience keeping them in mind at each step.

8. Remember to create a buzz

Finally, plan the communication around your exhibit and plan it in advance. Your communication strategy is going to be your ace card. If you have a great exhibition design, but people don't know about it, what's the point really? Encourage visitors to tweet / use social media using the appropriate hashtags. Create a behind the scenes blog. Keep your social network alive!

I found this interesting graphic to go with the post :

If you're a museum professional reading this, do let me know if the above helped you in any way. Feel free to throw in your suggestions / your experience of designing a memorable Museum Exhibit!
Photo by Rob Young

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8 tips to create a powerful Museum Exhibition Design

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There are many reasons to visit a museum, but one of the things that can make you love the museum experience is their way of telling stories and their way of presenting them. Imagine a Roald Dahl book without Quentin blake's illustration - can't even imagine it, right?

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by liv

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We find that an exhibit that uses real objects, or which demonstrates real phenomena, is far and away more interesting to interact with that an exhibit which uses a model, or a picture, or an explanation of a phenomena.

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bernard

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By Liv

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Creating a school exhibition about the history of their local area brings a real sense of meaning to learning about the past and a purpose to students' literacy and creative work. It's also a great way to organise topic planning and bring together an entire half-term's worth of activity.

Developed in close partnership with local teachers and museums, this toolkit is a practical, step-by-step guide to producing a rich and engaging exhibition in your school.

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Follow our easy guide in 5 simple steps with tools and tips to help you along the way

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Creating a school exhibition about the history of their local area brings a real sense of meaning to learning about the past and a purpose to students' literacy and creative work. It's also a great way to organise topic planning and bring together an entire half-term's worth of activity.

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what makes display look supa terrific awesome!:D

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what makes display look supa terrific awesome!:D

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Bernard

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Spit and polish: upkeep at the prize-winning Yorkshire Sculpture Garden. Lynne Cameron/PA

On July 9, the annual Museum of the Year Prize, run by the Museum Prize Trust and sponsored since 2008 by the Art Fund, awarded £100,000 to the winner: the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which shone in a shortlist of six museums and galleries.

The prize's stated aim is to highlight the role of museums in society, to encourage more people to visit and to recognise the very best exhibiting institutions in the UK - but pinning down the characteristics of what the Art Fund calls "truly outstanding" museums is harder than it sounds.

As someone who studies museums, I have strong opinions about what makes a good one. To get my vote, a museum has to be prepared to take some risks, to remain intellectually (and physically) accessible while challenging its audiences. It should present different views and ideas and avoid neutrality, or rather, refrain from perpetuating the myth that the museum (and knowledge) is objective - we know it is not.

Museums with these characteristics are inspiring. They will also probably play a role in society that encompasses, as the UK Museums Association puts it, not simply just the collection, preservation and sharing of collections (although these of course remain core roles).

They will also act as catalysts for community cohesion and regeneration, and be places where social issues can be publicly explored.

What matters?

That said, everyone has a different opinion, as do many of my colleagues. When I asked them what makes a good museum, they all had different answers. It should have a clear identity; it should have an environmental conscience and a commitment to sustainability; it should be innovative and involved with its local community.

This was hardly a scientific poll, of course, but the range of answers I got highlights the considerable impact individual preferences and priorities have on perceptions of what a good museum does.

Pinpointing excellence in the museum sector is a tricky business, and is partly (if not entirely) shaped by the concerns and policies of the day. The Art Fund's five-person judging panel will select the winner for the Museum of Year Prize, from six shortlisted institutions, each judged to have had a "transformative" effect on their users and audiences.

The big six

The Ditching Museum of Art + Craft in East Sussex presents examples of work by artists and craftspeople who formed a community in the village during the 20th century. In recent years, the museum has undergone major renovation and reopened last year. It has been praised by the judges for its " dedicated learning space " and fully accessible site.

The Hayward Gallery, on London's Southbank, has been dedicated to displaying contemporary art since its creation in 1968. Its touring programme and exhibitions, which focus on " important issues in contemporary artistic practice", attracted " record-breaking audiences " in 2013.

Opened to the public in May 2013, the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, houses the remains of Henry VIII's flagship, sunk in 1545 and recovered in 1982. Its selection recognises the engaging and " intensely personal nature" of the museum's narrative, which provides visitors with " an inimitable insight into Tudor life ".

The Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts, Norwich, designed by Norman Foster to house the Sainsbury collection of art and artefacts and opened in 1978, relaunched last year after major renovation. The new SCVA features a redisplay of the permanent collection, and new exhibition and retail spaces.

Similarly, the oldest part of Tate Britain was restructured to bring nine galleries up to contemporary standards, and to allow for the creation of new spaces for schools and learning activities. On reopening, visitors were also able to experience a new chronological display of British art.

Lynne Cameron/PA

And finally, the winner: the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield, which features works by major sculptors from around the world. Among other things, it was highlighted by the judges for "engaging new audiences and providing a unique art experience for hard-to-reach groups" via its learning programmes.

More than money

In addition to the cash prize, Yorkshire Sculpture Park will benefit from an enhanced profile and wider public recognition - and in turn, a more secure future, something the Prize has done for winners before.

Last year's victor, the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, had been been under threat of closure just six years earlier. But after winning the prize, the gallery experienced a massive increase in visitor numbers, which the local head of cultural services hoped would bring increased funding and stave off the threat of future cuts.

Just as we all came up with different definitions of what makes a "good" museum, I expect me and my colleagues would each have a strong opinion about which of the shortlisted museums most deserves to win the prize. We may not all fully agree with the final decision, but ultimately, anything that gives " immediate national attention " to museums, promotes excellence in the sector, and demonstrates their immense social and cultural value deserves our wholehearted support.

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What makes a good museum? The Art Fund knows

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On July 9, the annual Museum of the Year Prize, run by the Museum Prize Trust and sponsored since 2008 by the Art Fund, awarded £100,000 to the winner: the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which shone in a shortlist of six museums and galleries.

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To give your visitors an experience they will remember, you must make sure that your exhibits are not only interesting, but also . How can you do that? Check out these tips from Design Display in Birmingham, AL.

Grab Their Attention from the Get-Go

Start with something "low-risk," like a catchy title or themed entrance. Don't be afraid to be a little funny or controversial. The title should represent the feel of the exhibit. The entrance should suggest something bigger to come. Fitting your title and entrance into your theme is always a safe bet.

Once your visitors step inside, the design should be captivating and inviting. Though it should remain comfortable physically, it should be stimulating aesthetically. Remember the message of your exhibit. Do not distract from the focus of your message. Keep your design simple, yet intentional.

Two Lefts Make a Right?

It is very important that your exhibit be easily accessible as well as easy to maneuver. If your visitors have trouble navigating through your exhibit or do not know where to go next, they will most likely leave unsatisfied. Use good mapping signage and appropriate design. Visibility is important. Before you open your exhibit, ensure that you can see every sign, arrow, and railing.

Wait for the Wow Factor

Why do people visit museums? They want to see things they have never seen before. They want to experience new things. They want to be wowed! Design emotionally engaging experiences that will wow your guests. Stimulate their senses, or simply encourage interaction with your exhibit using technology and innovative design.

Staff Interaction

Museums are full of interesting facts, figures, and objects. Their design, however, is only part of the experience. Add the "human touch." Invest in an experienced, engaging, amiable museum staff that will work hard to encourage visitor interaction. The more the museum itself interacts with its visitors, the more engaged its visitors will likely become. Demonstrators and speakers are often great complements to good museum designs .

Staff workers should be helpful and kind, as well as sociable. Your staff, in congruence with your signage, should be able to help visitors navigate through your museum without stress. They should be able to provide exhibit instructions, answer questions, questions, comment on museum pieces, and give context to certain exhibits. They should be trained in visitor safety, as well.

Contact Design Display Today!

Ready to start designing a mind-blowing museum exhibit? We've got you covered. Our design experts specialize in museum exhibit design, trade show displays , environmental graphic design, and more. They have the expertise and experience to help you realize your vision and spread your message in a totally unique way. Learn more. Contact us today!

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What Makes for a Good Museum Exhibit? - Design Display

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To give your visitors an experience they will remember, you must make sure that your exhibits are not only interesting, but also . How can you do that? Check out these tips from Design Display in Birmingham, AL. Start with something "low-risk," like a catchy title or themed entrance.

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9 TIPS TO MAKE YOUR DISPLAY LOOK AWESOME

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9 TIPS TO MAKE YOUR DISPLAY LOOK AWESOME

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naia

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Effective displays are essential tools for supporting pupils' learning and making the classroom feel welcoming and engaging. They're also something that most teachers enjoy doing-and sometimes overdoing! It's tempting to cover classroom walls with bright, beautiful and teacher-chosen resources. It's equally tempting to put up multiple copies of the same thing in order to please all the children in the classroom. So how can a classroom display be more effective? Read on to find out. Below are 9 tips for making better classroom displays.
1.Remember that less is more. Covering every possible space will make the room seem cluttered and overstimulating. Leave a good amount of wall space and shelf tops clear. Overdoing it can interfere with your efforts to create a calm classroom environment.

2. Include everyone. All pupils need to know that their efforts are valued, so display work from every child, not just the "best" ones but, there is no need to put 20 pieces of the same piece of artwork on display. Different children's work can be put on display, as long as everyone has been included somehow.
3. Display drafts and polished pieces. Displaying drafts and finished work side by side tells children that the process of learning is valued as much as we the outcome. It's a great way to teach children that mistakes are an important part of learning, not something to be ashamed of or to hide.
4. Ask for input from pupils. Giving pupils a say about what is displayed makes displays more interesting to them, reinforces their efforts, and fosters a feeling of community as they see that the classroom is something they create together. If you can, create a display square for each pupil and let each child decide what to display there.

5. Put pieces at eye level. Children can't enjoy looking at something they have to strain to see. Things hanging above their heads can sometimes be distracting and annoying so take care when doing so.
6. Choose the right space. Display paintings, writing samples, and other two-dimensional pieces on bulletin boards and other wall spaces. Keep the tops of bookshelves clear for three-dimensional work such as dioramas and models. If you can, create a little more display space with simple wire shelving.
7. Have borders. Having a border around a child's piece of work gives it that extra sense of prestige and makes it stand out. Also a border around the bulletin board catches people;s eyes and their attention is drawn to it. Think about the colour coordination though so that the borders don't clash.

9. Keep displays current. After displays have been up for a couple of months, pupils generally stop looking at them. Be vigilant about taking down work that's no longer relevant.Take down old work. Students usually don't care about and won't look at work they did many months ago.

Hope this helps make your displays even better! ❤

Till next time...

Related articles:Things to keep in mind when choosing colours for your classroom.

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Effective displays are essential tools for supporting pupils' learning and making the classroom feel welcoming and engaging. They're also something that most teachers enjoy doing-and sometimes overdoing! It's tempting to cover classroom walls with bright, beautiful and teacher-chosen resources. It's equally tempting to put up multiple copies of the same thing in order to please...

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by mma

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1. Keep it simple:

A good display stand gets your message across well without being overly elaborate or busy.

Make sure you don't have so much going on that the judges find it difficult to focus on one thing.

Don't forget your branding - make sure all team members wear their name tag with your business name and logo on it.

2. Use a visual point:

A visual point can work very well at your exhibition stand. For example, a PowerPoint presentation or a laptop with a video playing.

3. Create an interesting back-drop:

For example use photos of your product, press clippings, make up posters containing important information such as the results of a survey or testimonials from satisfied customers.

4. Do a practical demonstration:

Why not demonstrate how your product was made at your stand?

You could also consider using a portfolio, e.g. a photo album with the background on the development of your product/ service - include success stories, testimonials, research and pictures.

5. Customise your stand:

With color: e.g. if your logo is purple, stick with a purple theme at your stand.

With movement: catch people's eyes with something moving at your stand. It could be a video presentation, a live human presentation, something moving up and down, flashing or traveling lights. Whatever it is, it's an interesting way to capture attention.

With light: if you need to need to focus attention on a specific aspect of your stand, consider using extra lights. Remember though to check first with the competition organisers regarding your electrical needs.

With sound: e.g. nature sounds such as birds, a rainforest, beach, mountain stream, etc. if your products are eco in nature.

Sound can be a powerful way to draw people to your booth.

Don't Forget...
To stand back and take a look at your stand!
It is vital that you and your team do a trial run before the event to see how the stand will look and anticipate any problems before the event itself.

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A good display stand gets your message across well without being overly elaborate or busy. Make sure you don't have so much going on that the judges find it difficult to focus on one thing. Don't forget your branding - make sure all team members wear their name tag with your business name and logo on it.

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By Liv

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To give your visitors an experience they will remember, you must make sure that your exhibits are not only interesting, but also . How can you do that? Check out these tips from Design Display in Birmingham, AL.

Grab Their Attention from the Get-Go

Start with something "low-risk," like a catchy title or themed entrance. Don't be afraid to be a little funny or controversial. The title should represent the feel of the exhibit. The entrance should suggest something bigger to come. Fitting your title and entrance into your theme is always a safe bet.

Once your visitors step inside, the design should be captivating and inviting. Though it should remain comfortable physically, it should be stimulating aesthetically. Remember the message of your exhibit. Do not distract from the focus of your message. Keep your design simple, yet intentional.

Two Lefts Make a Right?

It is very important that your exhibit be easily accessible as well as easy to maneuver. If your visitors have trouble navigating through your exhibit or do not know where to go next, they will most likely leave unsatisfied. Use good mapping signage and appropriate design. Visibility is important. Before you open your exhibit, ensure that you can see every sign, arrow, and railing.

Wait for the Wow Factor

Why do people visit museums? They want to see things they have never seen before. They want to experience new things. They want to be wowed! Design emotionally engaging experiences that will wow your guests. Stimulate their senses, or simply encourage interaction with your exhibit using technology and innovative design.

Staff Interaction

Museums are full of interesting facts, figures, and objects. Their design, however, is only part of the experience. Add the "human touch." Invest in an experienced, engaging, amiable museum staff that will work hard to encourage visitor interaction. The more the museum itself interacts with its visitors, the more engaged its visitors will likely become. Demonstrators and speakers are often great complements to good museum designs .

Staff workers should be helpful and kind, as well as sociable. Your staff, in congruence with your signage, should be able to help visitors navigate through your museum without stress. They should be able to provide exhibit instructions, answer questions, questions, comment on museum pieces, and give context to certain exhibits. They should be trained in visitor safety, as well.

Contact Design Display Today!

Ready to start designing a mind-blowing museum exhibit? We've got you covered. Our design experts specialize in museum exhibit design, trade show displays , environmental graphic design, and more. They have the expertise and experience to help you realize your vision and spread your message in a totally unique way. Learn more. Contact us today!

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What Makes for a Good Museum Exhibit? - Design Display

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To give your visitors an experience they will remember, you must make sure that your exhibits are not only interesting, but also . How can you do that? Check out these tips from Design Display in Birmingham, AL. Start with something "low-risk," like a catchy title or themed entrance.

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Use this to get ideas on what a museum display should look like.

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National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
Explore this museum and you'll find, at its centre, a huge pond underneath a vast square concrete structure supported by a single pillar known as el paraguas, or the umbrella. Around this are 23 exhibit rooms displaying treasures, including Mayan civilization artefacts, The Stone of the Sun and giant stone heads that were found in the jungles of Tabasco and Veracruz.

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10 Top Museums You Can Explore Right Here, Right Now - Google Arts & Culture

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National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City Explore this museum and you'll find, at its centre, a huge pond underneath a vast square concrete structure supported by a single pillar known as el paraguas, or the umbrella.

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BONNI

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Venetian explorer, Marco Polo had a great impact on the area of what is now modern day China. Because of his exploration of the area, as well as many other areas in the East, such as Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and India, China began to experience Western culture. Traversing the Silk Road, Marco Polo was able to not only bring elements of Western culture to the East, but Eastern culture back to the West. Although Polo was not able to bring much westernization to China himself, he invoked a desire to future Europeans to engage in Eastern interactions. This was because upon Polo's return, he returned to Venice wearing eastern attire with "treasures" at hand from the East, and people nicknaming Marco Polo "a millionaire." (the China Tourism). Both directly and indirectly, Marco Polo was able to bring about a monumental leap of exploration into history.

There are many forces that drove this movement. Such forces include the curiosity of new ideas of the East, the foreseen potential for trade of technologies between the two cultures, geographical influence of desire of discovery of the capabilities of acquiring unattainable resources and products due to the vast lands that separate the two cultures, and lastly, economic and social interactions between the East and West. However, the main force that fueled this exploration movement was because of Marco Polo and "The Travels of Marco Polo". Bringing back many stories of the East, he invoked curiosity to many future adventurers, including Christopher Columbus.

Initially, a number of Marco Polo's stories were not believed by the Europeans of the time. After being imprisoned during the Venetian-Genoese War, Marco Polo told his stories to his cellmate, who later documented Polo's accounts of his travels into a book, later entitled "The Travels of Marco Polo". This book was just as influential in invoking people's curiosity of the East than Marco Polo's return with "treasures". This book was not immediately able to "brainwash" people into exploring the unknown, but over time, it grew on people. It was even the most, if not one of the most, influential entities in Christopher Columbus's trek over the Atlantic.

People responded to Marco Polo's return with curiosity, envy, and desire. People were curious about Eastern civilization and culture and envied Polo, desiring the "treasures" he had. This sparked the determined ones to travel and explore the unknown. One of these "determined ones" was Christopher Columbus. Columbus, too, wanted to travel to the East, but he figured that traversing the lands would be too dangerous. He then concluded that crossing the seas would be most effective. However, his travel was not what it was thought to be. After much time crossing the Atlantic, Christopher Columbus had finally landed. He thought he had landed in China, but he had actually landed in what is now the Bahamas. This discovery led to many explorers setting up colonies in this new land--the New World. This changed the life styles of not only the migrant settlers who moved to this new land, but also the nations who set up the colonies in the New World.

Marco Polo brought back with him many things previously unseen by Europeans during that time. Polo brought back a new technology to the West--a unique navigation device that was first developed by the Chinese--the compass. With a compass at hand, the world of navigation and exploration would change for the Europeans, as they were now able to navigate both land and sea more easily and efficiently. This also was a stepping stone for topography and map making. Maps would be more accurate, and give a universal direction for navigation with respect to a compass. In addition to technology, Marco Polo brought back with him paper, paper currency, porcelain, raw silk, ivory, jade, spices, and noodles. Among the most significant of these items was paper. With these new items, the Europeans were then able to, hundreds of years later, develop an effective printing press, in which mass prints were able to be produced. A common misconception is that Marco Polo brought back with him tea. Marco Polo, in fact, did not bring tea back with him from his expedition. Tea was only brought back to Europe much later. This probably arose because of Marco Polo's association with the Silk Road. Marco Polo was among one of the firsts to travel across the Silk Road, and tea was acquired via the Silk Road, so putting the two together, many would conclude this.

The Mongols introduced to Marco Polo a very new and intriguing concept--paper currency. He thought this was a very surprising. How could you substitute essentially worthless paper for gold and silver? However, seeing how it effectively worked, Marco Polo said : "With these pieces of paper they can buy anything and pay for anything. And I can tell you that the papers that reckon as ten bezants do not weight one." (Silkroad Foundation). The idea of paper currency arose to lessen the burden of traveling merchants carrying clunky gold and silver coins everywhere they went, making traveling for the merchants much more easy and efficient.

Before Marco Polo's travels, Europe believed they were the most prosperous society in the world. This was a premature thought though, for they did not even know of the existence of China and the Mongol Empire, which were much more complex societies than Europe was. Some places in China and the Mongol Empire even had indoor plumbing and the successful economic usage of paper money was utilized in society. This made sparked a fire in the Europeans--igniting a desire to advance more and more. The fire was so much that the Europeans would eventually take over China in terms of advancement during Europe's industrial revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Europe was not the only one that positively affected by Marco Polo's travels. Unsurprisingly, China, too, was affected in a positive manner. Marco Polo had introduced gunpowder to the Chinese. With this, the Chinese were able to utilize gunpowder to make not only fireworks, but military arms too. They were able to develop their military weapons from steel weapons and hand-combat weapons to more advanced arms. They were able to make ammunitions like fire lances, but more importantly, the Chinese were able to develop the rocket. Without the Chinese's invention of multi-staged rockets, it is possible that the future development of the space shuttle would not have occurred.

With trade between Europe and China, the Europeans were introduced to citrus fruits, spices, and other newly seen goods. Having seen such goods like these, the Europeans started to buy these things from the Chinese. The Europeans also had goods of their own that the Chinese would buy. This was the symbiotic relation the two had with each other. The trade between the two would boost both economies, as it would also open up many jobs in both lands. The West had new materials to work with in cooking and the like, while the East had things like gunpowder, which opened up jobs to make armaments and fireworks. The introduction to these new items both positively impacted the West and East directly through economic income gain and through the opening of new jobs that would allow the poor to learn skills that no one yet knew how to perform in these jobs.

Not only materialistic goods were introduced to China. Marco Polo tried to bring Christianity to the East, going through emperor Kublai Khan first. Khan was, surprisingly, all for Christianity. He deemed it as "good". Despite Kublai Khan's reputation for honoring all religions, the fact that he claimed "...truest and best the faith of the Christians... declares that it commands nothing that is not full of all goodness and holiness" (Bearcat). A great impact of Christianity upon China would not come about though. Before Christianity could gain momentum and spread throughout the East, the Mongol Empire had fallen to the Chinese. After this victory, China was to be orthodox Confucian, under a new dynasty--the Ming Dynasty. Although Marco Polo's attempt to expand the Christian religion was a failure, his close network interactions with the Mongol emperor led to much prosperity for the East and the West.

Marco Polo's interactions with Mongolian emperor Kublai Khan led to more interactions between the Europeans and the Chinese. Because of Marco Polo's travels, not only were people in Europe curious about the civilizations in the East, but the people in the East were curious about the civilizations in the West. The Chinese were always in favor of exploration of the West, dating back to the Han Dynasty (200 BC- 200AD) when Emperor Wu deployed diplomat Zhang Qian on a mission to explore the West. Prior to this, interactions between the East and West were only of economic activity though Central Asia. There were no direct interactions between the two cultures--only indirect ones. After Marco Polo's travels though, direct interactions were now occurring. Marco Polo, having been deployed on a mission to China by emperor Kublai Khan, was able to hold a number of government positions in China, such as ambassador and governor of Yangzhou, a city in eastern China, and established mutual diplomatic connections for Europe with the East. This was the first step of Western interactions with the East, setting up a precedent that would not make Europeans be seen as an unknown danger to the Chinese. Western merchants were now arriving in China. Their arrivals coincidentally were during the Tang Dynasty, a time of economic and cultural growth was at its prime. This furthered magnified the Chinese's growth as a civilization.

The Silk Road was a huge factor in the future of European and Chinese interaction. On Marco Polo's first venture to the East with his father and uncle, they had to hurdle over the dangerous Gobi Desert. If he were to cross it again, the likelihood of surviving would not be too high. Instead, he traveled northward, around the desert, and came into contact with what would now be known as the Silk Road. This was an easier route to traverse than the Gobi Desert, and would also prove to be a more effective route than to sail the oceans to China. With the Silk Road, trade and interaction between the East and West would become more affluent and prospering.

Marco Polo can be attributed to being the spark for the Age of Exploration. His book "The Travels of Marco Polo", proved to be the most influential factor in the many European adventurers exploring the world. People like Christopher Columbus, Magellan, and Gama, all were caught up with the curiosity of the unknown, and trekked to discover the undiscovered of which would be the homes of civilizations unseen to the Europeans before, including the Native Americans and Africans. The Age of Exploration started with Marco Polo and his own exploration to the East.

The interactions and future accounts of exploration succeeding Marco Polo's travels should all, if not mostly, be attributed to Marco Polo himself. Without Marco Polo's courageous journey to the East, Europe, the Mongol Empire, and China would have undergone much different paths in history than they did in reality. The trade of culture, goods, and ideas between the East and West built not only each land's respective advancement in technology and as a society, but also the world as a whole. Marco Polo's trek was a monumental stepping stone to the progression of the industrial eras and national growth of many nations around the world, both inside and outside of Europe and Asia.

Sources

1. Bearcat. "Marco Polo." Rev. of Marco Polo. Web log post. Travel Studies. Travel Studies, 11 Feb. 2011. Web. 9 Dec. 2012. < http://www.travel-studies.com/category/travel-classics-topics/4-marco-polo>.

2. Emdrgreg. "Re: How Did Marco Polo Change the World?" Web log comment. WikiAnswers. Answers, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2012. <http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_Marco_Polo_change_the_world>.

3. "Marco Polo." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Nov. 2012. Web. 09 Dec. 2012. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo>

4. "Marco Polo's Travels in China." Web log post. The China Tourism. Ed. China Tourism. China Tourism, n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. <http://thechinatourism.com/2011/11/21/marco-polo%E2%80%99s-travels-in-china/>.

5. PBS. "China's Age of Invention." Web log post. PBS. PBS, 29 Feb. 0000. Web. 08 Dec. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/song-dynasty.html>.

6. Philip, T.V. "East of the Euphrates : Early Christianity in Asia." Web log post. Religion-online. Religion-online, n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2012. < http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=1553&C=1363>.

7. S G. "On Europe & On Asia." Web log comment. Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo!, 22 Sept. 2009. Web. 08 Dec. 2012. <http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090922133656AA3jVL6>.

8. Shaanxi Government. "Marco Polo's Contribution in History." Web log post. The People's Government of Shaanxi Province. General Office of the Shaanxi Province, 25 Sept. 2010. Web. 08 Dec. 2012. <http://english.shaanxi.gov.cn/channel/print.shtml?/hottopic/changanrome/sildroadleg/201009/27593_1>.

9. Silkroad Foundation. "Marco Polo and His Travels." Weblog post. Marco Polo and His Travels. Silkroad Foundation, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2012. <http://www.silk-road.com/artl/marcopolo.shtml>.

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Historpedia - Marco Polo's Effects on the East and the West (Fall 2012)

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Venetian explorer, Marco Polo had a great impact on the area of what is now modern day China. Because of his exploration of the area, as well as many other areas in the East, such as Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and India, China began to experience Western culture. Traversing the

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BONNI

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Marco Polo's goal in traveling to China was to help his father and uncle fulfill the task that Kublai Khan gave them of bringing back some Christian priests and holy oil. His goal in writing about his travels was to educate contemporary Europeans about China and other lands of the East.

Niccolo Polo, Marco's father, and Maffeo Polo, his uncle, left Venice when Marco was a baby, leaving him to be raised by relatives. They journeyed East to China, where Kublai Khan instructed them to deliver a letter to the Pope requesting some oil from the Holy Sepulcher and 100 priests to teach the Chinese people about western customs and Christianity. When they returned to Venice, Marco was about 15-years old, and they allowed him to accompany them on their return journey. They were only partially successful in fulfilling this goal. They were given two priests instead of 100, and the priests turned back due to fear before they reached China. The Polos did, however, obtain oil from Jerusalem, which they carried back with them.

Marco's second goal, writing about the lands of the East, was more successful. After a journey of 23 years, he returned to Venice. While in a prison in Genoa, he met a writer named Rustichello da Pisa, who helped him compile an account of his adventures. This book, "The Description of the World," also known as "The Travels of Marco Polo," influenced many other explorers and adventurers. For instance, Christopher Columbus always carried a copy of Marco Polo's book on his journeys of exploration.

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Marco Polo's goal in traveling to China was to help his father and uncle fulfill the task that Kublai Khan gave them of bringing back some Christian priests and holy oil. His goal in writing about his travels was to educate contemporary Europeans about China and other lands of the East.

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Marco Polo (1254-1324) was a Venetian merchant believed to have journeyed across Asia at the height of the Mongol Empire. He first set out at age 17 with his father and uncle, traveling overland along what later became known as the Silk Road. Upon reaching China, Marco Polo entered the court of powerful Mongol ruler Kublai Khan, who dispatched him on trips to help administer the realm. Marco Polo remained abroad for 24 years. Though not the first European to explore China-his father and uncle, among others, had already been there-he became famous for his travels thanks to a popular book he co-authored while languishing in a Genoese prison.

Marco Polo: The Early Years

Marco Polo was born around 1254 into a prosperous merchant family in the Italian city-state of Venice. His father, Niccolò, and his uncle Maffeo had left the year before on a long-term trading expedition. As a result, he was raised by extended relatives following his mother's death at a young age. Niccolò and Maffeo first spent about six years in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), which had been under Latin control since the Fourth Crusade of 1204. The two brothers then went to the port city of Soldaia (now Sudak, Ukraine), where they owned a house.

Did you know? Christopher Columbus purportedly sailed to the New World with a copy of Marco Polo's "Travels" in tow. Thinking he would reach Asia and having no idea about the Mongol Empire's collapse, Columbus marked up the book with notes in preparation for a meeting with Kublai Khan's descendent.

The Byzantine re-conquest of Constantinople in 1261, along with upheavals in the Mongol Empire, may have blocked their way home. Niccolò and Maffeo therefore turned east in order to trade in such things as silk, gems, furs and spices. After spending three years in Bukhara in present-day Uzbekistan, they were encouraged by a Mongolian embassy to visit Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, who controlled a huge swath of Asia. Kublai quizzed them on European affairs and decided to send them on a goodwill mission to the pope. In 1269, the two brothers finally made it back to Venice, where Niccolò and Marco Polo met each other for the first time.

Marco Polo's Travels Along the Silk Road

Two years later, Niccolò and Maffeo sailed to Acre in present-day Israel, this time with Marco at their side. At the request of Kublai Khan, they secured some holy oil from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and then backtracked to Acre to pick up gifts, papal documents and two friars from newly elected Pope Gregory X. The friars quickly abandoned the expedition, but the Polos continued on, possibly by camel, to the Persian port city of Hormuz. Failing to find any boats to their liking, they instead took a series of overland traders' routes that, in the 19th century, would become known as the Silk Road.

Over the next three years they slowly trekked through deserts, high mountain passes and other rough terrain, meeting people of various religions and cultures along the way. Finally, around 1275, they arrived at Kublai Khan's opulent summer palace at Shangdu, or Xanadu, located about 200 miles northwest of his winter quarters in modern Beijing.

Kublai, who generally relied on foreigners to administer his empire, took Marco Polo into his court, possibly as a tax collector. At one point, the Venetian was sent on official business to the port city of Hangzhou (then called Quinsai), which, like Venice, was built around a series of canals. Marco Polo also purportedly journeyed across inland China and into present-day Myanmar.

After many years of seeking a release from service, the Polos finally secured permission from Kublai to escort a young princess to her intended husband Arghun, the Mongol ruler of Persia. In 1292 the Polos joined a flotilla of 14 boats that set out from Zaitun (now Quanzhou, China), stopped briefly in Sumatra and then landed in Persia 18 months later, only to find out that Arghun was dead.

The princess was made to marry Arghun's son. The Polos, meanwhile, stayed on with Arghun's brother for nine months before heading to Venice via Trebizond (now Trabzon, Turkey), Constantinople and Negrepont (now Euboea, Greece). They arrived home in 1295, the year after Kublai's death sent the Mongol Empire into an irrevocable decline.

Marco Polo in Venice

Shortly thereafter, Marco Polo was captured in battle by Venice's archrival Genoa. While in prison he met the Arthurian adventure writer Rustichello of Pisa, with whom he would collaborate on a 1298 manuscript called "Description of the World." It has since become better known as "The Travels of Marco Polo" or simply "The Travels." With the help of notes taken during his adventures, Marco Polo reverently described Kublai Khan and his palaces, along with paper money, coal, postal service, eyeglasses and other innovations that had not yet appeared in Europe. He also told partially erroneous self-aggrandizing tales about warfare, commerce, geography, court intrigues and the sexual practices of the people who lived under Mongol rule.

A Genoese-Venetian peace treaty in 1299 allowed Marco Polo to return home. He probably never left Venetian territory again. The following year, he married Donata Badoer, with whom he would have three daughters. Not much is known about his golden years except that he continued trading and litigated against a cousin. Marco Polo died in January 1324, having helped to inspire a later generation of explorers. Everything we know about him comes from his own text and a few Venetian documents; Asian sources never mentioned him.

This lack of hard evidence has caused a small number of skeptics to question whether Marco Polo actually made it to China. They back up their case by pointing to certain inaccuracies in "The Travels," as well as his failure to report such practices as chopstick use and foot binding. Nonetheless, most scholars are convinced by the detailed nature of Marco Polo's account, which, they say, overwhelmingly checks out against available archaeological, historical and geographical records.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

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Marco Polo (1254-1324) was a Venetian merchant believed to have journeyed across Asia at the height of the Mongol Empire. He first set out at age 17 with his father and uncle, traveling overland along what later became known as the Silk Road.

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bernard

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The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), together with the Lanzhou University in Gansu, China, organized an international workshop titled "Harmonizing conservation and development along the Silk Road," from Sept. 3 to 17 in Lanzhou, China. This article is a reflection on the workshop and presents its major outcomes.
Bam-e-Dunya Network - a new learning network across Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir landscape

Bam-e-Dunya is a Persian word meaning "Roof of the World." This word was unanimously adopted by all workshop participants as the name for a new transboundary network, with the tagline Connecting Landscapes along the Silk Route. The word represents the shared identity of the people as well as the special biodiversity of the Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir landscape, which is strategically located between China, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. This landscape forms the heart of the ancient Silk Route, an ancient network of trade routes representing centuries of cultural, scientific and economic exchange between the East and the West. For centuries, the route connected Asia and Europe as a foundation for cultural, scientific and economic exchange.

The newly established Bam-e-Dunya Network will provide a platform for organizations across the Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir Landscape, with the main purpose to foster exchange and sharing of knowledge, applied methodologies, best practices, and successful policy influence. It will also help to identify common opportunities such as joining international fora on regional cooperation and transboundary landscape management.

The Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir landscape is the home of about 1 million people of nine indigenous ethnic groups, each having a rich cultural tradition and sharing their transboundary space. Moreover, the landscape is the source to the three major Asian rivers of Amu Darya, Tarim and Indus. It harbors six national protected areas as well as numerous community conserved areas spread across the four countries. Until recently, the landscape has been successful in conserving nature, increasing wildlife populations and enhancing community benefits by maintaining seasonal transboundary movement of people and animals (the iconic snow leopard and Marco Polo sheep among others). However, with growing challenges of climate change, globalization and increasing infrastructure projects, the maintenance of its fragile alpine ecosystem would require truly transboundary management. Currently, the landscape is managed as a series of "conservation islands," separated by a hardening of national borders, divergent national policies and increasingly fragmented infrastructural works. The newly formed network will be important in this context.

Belt-and-Road initiative: opportunities and challenges for the Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir landscape

Although the ancient Silk Route has lost its influence due to geopolitical complexity, colonial legacy and the Cold War (1947-1991), it is currently being revived under the banner of the Belt-and-Road initiative, popularly called the New Silk Road. The primary aim of the Belt-and-Road initiative is to (re)connect the Eurasian economic space, by enhancing connectivity, infrastructural development, transboundary trade and intra-regional economic growth. It is clear that this ambitious large-scale development program will bring new economic dynamics to the region. But it may also bring challenges on its adjacent landscapes, in both ecological and social terms. One of the more advanced parts of the initiative is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which has its gateway in the Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir landscape. While CPEC (and Belt-and-Road as a whole) intends to increase connectivity, the risk is that it may lead to the opposite instead, resulting in marginalization of local people, environmental degradation and fragmentation of biodiversity habitat. Alternatively, CPEC and Belt-and-Road could be a force for strengthening livelihoods and economic opportunities for local people, if designed in a more environmentally conscious and socially inclusive manner. More participation and networking among local actors, strategic environmental impact assessments and appropriate mitigation measures is needed to ensure maximizing the economic opportunities while minimizing the ecological and social threats.

Bam-e-Dunya network to connect landscapes

It is within this context that the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, together with Lanzhou University, brought together a wide range of government and non-governmental organizations and agencies active in the area. Together, these organizations and agencies expressed their concerns, and assessed the feasibility of creating a regional network of protected areas to harmonize conservation and development along the Silk Route. All workshop participants said that together they will be stronger and more unified in enhancing ecological and social resilience of their respective areas by fostering transboundary collaboration and balancing conservation and development from an integrated landscape perspective.

By joining hands, the network believes that sustainable and inclusive regional integration should be and can be achieved by sharing knowledge, information and by developing joint management plans to face the challenge of rapid infrastructural development. As a network, partners will be better positioned to contribute to a more ecologically sustainable and socially inclusive planning process. After three days of intensive deliberation, exchange of experiences, joint assessments and priority setting, the delegates formulated and signed a resolution to formally declare their willingness to bundle their forces and collectively influence regional policies. In this way, the just formed Bam-e-Dunya network will contribute to balancing conservation and development, and set an example for other (transboundary) transboundary landscapes along the new Silk Route.

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Connecting landscapes along the Silk Route - Landscape News

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The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) , together with the Lanzhou University in Gansu, China, organized an international workshop titled "Harmonizing conservation and development along the Silk Road," from Sept. 3 to 17 in Lanzhou, China. This article is a reflection on the workshop and presents its major outcomes.

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bernard

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David

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Marco Polo was an explorer who traveled from Europe to China and back. He brought back information that had been unknown before his time, and he inspired others to explore as well. This timeline covers his life and travels.

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Bernard

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bernard

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What YOU Can Learn from The Travels of Marco Polo

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Marco Polo The man who brought China to Europe 

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Marco Polo The man who brought China to Europe 

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Italian explorer Marco Polo was born on 15th September 1254 and died on the 8th or 9th January 1324. We're not sure which because in Venetian law the day ends at sunset not midnight, so we only know he died more or less on this day 690 years ago.
'Roma - Dettaglio del ritratto di Marco Polo - Tiziano - Gall. Doria', Federico Zeri Foundation, public domain
It was Marco Polo's book of his travels that introduced Europeans to China and Central Asia. Although he was not the first European to travel to China, he was the first to write about his adventures and so it was his experiences that formed the basis of early European knowledge of the country. For example, Marco Polo brought back the idea of paper money and some think his descriptions of coal, eyeglasses and a complex postal system eventually led to their widespread use in Europe.

Marco Polo's book inspired Christopher Columbus and other explorers to begin their own adventures. You can find the book under various different titles - Book of the Marvels of the World or The Travels of Marco Polo or Description of the World (in English), Livre des merveilles du monde or Divisament du monde (in French), and or Oriente Poliano (in Italian).
Extracts from a beautifully illustrated manuscript of 'Livre des merveilles du monde' (French National Library - public domain). For a more conventional and easier to read copy, try the printed version. Or if you want to listen to it in Italian, try the audio book.
Did you know that Marco Polo sometimes confused the animals he encountered in Asia with mythical creatures? It's not altogether surprising, if you knew about unicorns and then saw a rhinocerous - an impressive beast with a horn - you might confuse them too!

Marco travelled the world (approximately 24,000 km of it!) for 24 years with his father and uncle. On returning to Venice with the riches and treasures they had gathered along the way, they found a city at war with Genoa. Marco joined the war but was captured in 1296 and put in prison. He spent his time telling his cellmate all about his travels. This friend wrote them down, along with some of his own stories. The resulting book, The Travels of Marco Polo, soon spread across the continent. Marco was released in 1299 and became a successful merchant in Venice.
Examples of maps based on Marco Polo's travels, drawn in 1971, 1700 and 1865.
Did you know there's a species of sheep named after Marco Polo? Other things named after the explorer include: a ship - the first to sail around the world in less than 6 months; Venice airport; a frequent flyer scheme in Hong Kong; and a video game character in the 2008 game Civilization Revolution.

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Marco Polo - the man who brought China to Europe

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Italian explorer Marco Polo was born on 15th September 1254 and died on the 8th or 9th January 1324. We're not sure which because in Venetian law the day ends at sunset not midnight, so we only know he died more or less on this day 690 years ago.

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bernard

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David

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Marco Polo and his travels - Who was Marco Polo? - Silk-Road.com

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One of the most well-known Europeans to travel the silk road in Medieval times was Marco Polo (1245-1324), a merchant, explorer and writer who recorded his travels in the book "Livres des merveilles du monde" (Book of the world's marvels), published around the year 1300.

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Berna

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Marco Polo was a merchant explorer born in Venice, Italy in 1254. He belonged to a noble family of Venetian merchants. His father Niccolo Polo and uncle Maffeo Polo were jewel merchants and went to china in 1266 to set up a trading business.

Marco Polo was not the first European to travel to Asia but surely one of the first Europeans to describe many of the advanced technologies found in China.

He started his first trip to Asia in 1271 at the age of 17 years. He travelled to the Mongol empire in China with his father and uncle. Their journey took around four years.
Quick Facts: -

Marco Polo was a major influence on other explorers like Christopher Columbus.

He stayed in China for 17 years with his father and uncle and worked as envoys for the great Mongol emperor Kublai Khan.

He introduced Europe to the concept of paper currency and some animals like Chow Chows, musk deer etc.

He returned to Venice in 1295, after 24 long years.

There was a conflict going on between Venice and Genoa. Marco Polo joined the Venetian army and he was captured and put in a jail for about 1 years.

During his imprisonment, he met another prisoner Rustichello da Pisa who was a famous romance writer.

Polo told his travel stories to this person who wrote all the stories under the name 'The Travels of Marco Polo'.

The book was printed in three different languages: - French, Italian and Latin.

He married Donata Badoer in 1300. They had three daughters together.

Marco Polo was a Christian.

He died on January 8, 1324 and was buried in the Church of San Lorenzo in Venice.

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Marco Polo was a merchant explorer born in Venice, Italy in 1254. He belonged to a noble family of Venetian merchants. His father Niccolo Polo and uncle Maffeo Polo were jewel merchants and went to china in 1266 to set up a trading business.

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Silk Road

Time period

Around 114 BCE - 1450s CE

Official name

Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan

Type

Cultural

Criteria

ii, iii, iv, vi

Designated

2014 (38th session)

Reference no.
1442

Region
Asia-Pacific

The Silk Road ( Chinese: 絲綢之路) was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the East and West. The name "Silk Road", first coined in the late 19th century, has fallen into disuse among some modern historians in favor of Silk Routes, on the grounds that it more accurately describes the intricate web of land and sea routes connecting East and Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, the Middle East, East Africa and Europe.

The Silk Road derives its name from the highly lucrative trade of silk textiles that were produced almost exclusively in China. The network began with the Han dynasty's expansion into Central Asia around 114 BCE, which largely pacified the once untamed region. Imperial envoy Zhang Qian was commissioned to explore the unknown lands beyond the region in search of potential trading partners and allies. The information and goods gathered by these expeditions piqued Chinese interest and prompted formal diplomatic and commercial dispatches, as well as efforts to protect the routes with soldiers and an extension of the Great Wall.

The expansion of the Parthian Empire, which stretched from eastern Anatolia to Afghanistan, provided a bridge to East Africa and the Mediterranean, particularly the nascent Roman Empire. By the early first century CE, Chinese silk was widely sought-after in Rome, Egypt, and Greece. Other lucrative commodities from the East included tea, dyes, perfumes, and porcelain; among Western exports were horses, camels, honey, wine, and gold. Aside from generating substantial wealth for emerging mercantile classes, the proliferation of goods such as paper and gunpowder greatly altered the trajectory of various realms, if not world history.

During its roughly 1,500 years of existence, the Silk Road endured the rise and fall of numerous empires and major events such as the Black Death and the Mongol conquests; after almost every disruption, the network reemerged stronger than before, most notably under the Mongol Empire and its offshoot the Yuan Dynasty. As a highly decentralized network, security was sparse. Travelers faced constant threats of banditry and nomadic raiders, and long expanses of inhospitable terrain. Few individuals crossed the entirety of the Silk Road, instead relying on a succession of middlemen based at various stopping points along the way.

The Silk Road trade played a significant role in opening political and economic relations between China, Korea, Japan, India, Iran, Europe, the Horn of Africa and Arabia. In addition to goods, the network facilitated an unprecedented exchange of ideas, religions ( especially Buddhism), philosophies, and scientific discoveries, many of which were syncretised or reshaped by the societies that encountered them. Likewise, a wide variety of people used the routes, including migrants, refugees, missionaries, artisans, diplomats, and soldiers. Diseases such as plague also spread along the Silk Road, possibly contributing to the Black Death.

Despite repeatedly surviving many geopolitical changes and disruptions, the Silk Road abruptly lost its importance with the rise of the Ottoman Empire in 1453, which almost immediately severed trade between East and West. This prompted European efforts to seek alternative routes to Eastern riches, thereby ushering the Age of Discovery, European colonialism, and a more intensified process of globalization, which had arguably begun with the Silk Road. The network's influence survives into the 21st century. One of the world's best known historical figures, Marco Polo, was a Medieval Venetian merchant who was among the earliest Westerners to visit and describe the East. The name "New Silk Road" is used to describe several large infrastructure projects seeking to expand transportation along many of the historic trade routes; among the best known include the Eurasian Land Bridge and the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In June 2014, UNESCO designated the Chang'an-Tianshan corridor of the Silk Road as a World Heritage Site, while the Indian portion remains on the tentative site list.

The Silk Road derives its name from the lucrative trade in silk, first developed in China, and a major reason for the connection of trade routes into an extensive transcontinental network. It derives from the German term Seidenstraße (literally "Silk Road") and was first popularized in 1877 by Ferdinand von Richthofen, who made seven expeditions to China from 1868 to 1872. However, the term itself had been in use in decades prior to that. The alternative translation "Silk Route" is also used occasionally. Although the term was coined in the 19th century, it did not gain widespread acceptance in academia or popularity among the public until the 20th century. The first book entitled The Silk Road was by Swedish geographer Sven Hedin in 1938.

The use of the term 'Silk Road' is not without its detractors. For instance, Warwick Ball contends that the maritime spice trade with India and Arabia was far more consequential for the economy of the Roman Empire than the silk trade with China, which at sea was conducted mostly through India and on land was handled by numerous intermediaries such as the Sogdians. Going as far as to call the whole thing a "myth" of modern academia, Ball argues that there was no coherent overland trade system and no free movement of goods from East Asia to the West until the period of the Mongol Empire. He notes that traditional authors discussing east-west trade such as Marco Polo and Edward Gibbon never labelled any route a "silk" one in particular.

The southern stretches of the Silk Road, from Khotan ( Xinjiang) to Eastern China, were first used for jade and not silk, as long as 5000 BCE, and is still in use for this purpose. The term "Jade Road" would have been more appropriate than "Silk Road" had it not been for the far larger and geographically wider nature of the silk trade; the term is in current use in China.

Precursors

Chinese and Central Asian contacts (2nd millennium BCE)

Central Eurasia has been known from ancient times for its horse riding and horse breeding communities, and the overland Steppe Route across the northern steppes of Central Eurasia was in use long before that of the Silk Road. Archeological sites such as the Berel burial ground in Kazakhstan, confirmed that the nomadic Arimaspians were not only breeding horses for trade but also produced great craftsmen able to propagate exquisite art pieces along the Silk Road. From the 2nd millennium BCE, nephrite jade was being traded from mines in the region of Yarkand and Khotan to China. Significantly, these mines were not very far from the lapis lazuli and spinel ("Balas Ruby") mines in Badakhshan, and, although separated by the formidable Pamir Mountains, routes across them were apparently in use from very early times.

Genetic study of the Tarim mummies, found in the Tarim Basin, in the area of Loulan located along the Silk Road 200 kilometres (124 miles) east of Yingpan, dating to as early as 1600 BCE, suggest very ancient contacts between East and West. These mummified remains may have been of people who spoke Indo-European languages, which remained in use in the Tarim Basin, in the modern day Xinjiang region, until replaced by Turkic influences from the Xiongnu culture to the north and by Chinese influences from the eastern Han dynasty, who spoke a Sino-Tibetan language.

Some remnants of what was probably Chinese silk dating from 1070 BCE have been found in Ancient Egypt. The Great Oasis cities of Central Asia played a crucial role in the effective functioning of the Silk Road trade. The originating source seems sufficiently reliable, but silk degrades very rapidly, so it cannot be verified whether it was cultivated silk (which almost certainly came from China) or a type of , which might have come from the Mediterranean or Middle East.

Following contacts between Metropolitan China and nomadic western border territories in the 8th century BCE, gold was introduced from Central Asia, and Chinese jade carvers began to make imitation designs of the steppes, adopting the Scythian-style animal art of the steppes (depictions of animals locked in combat). This style is particularly reflected in the rectangular belt plaques made of gold and bronze, with other versions in jade and steatite. An elite burial near Stuttgart, Germany, dated to the 6th century BCE, was excavated and found to have not only Greek bronzes but also Chinese silks. Similar animal-shaped pieces of art and wrestler motifs on belts have been found in Scythian grave sites stretching from the Black Sea region all the way to Warring States era archaeological sites in Inner Mongolia (at Aluchaideng) and Shaanxi (at Keshengzhuang) in China.

The expansion of Scythian cultures, stretching from the Hungarian plain and the Carpathian Mountains to the Chinese Kansu Corridor, and linking the Middle East with Northern India and the Punjab, undoubtedly played an important role in the development of the Silk Road. Scythians accompanied the Assyrian Esarhaddon on his invasion of Egypt, and their distinctive triangular arrowheads have been found as far south as Aswan. These nomadic peoples were dependent upon neighbouring settled populations for a number of important technologies, and in addition to raiding vulnerable settlements for these commodities, they also encouraged long-distance merchants as a source of income through the enforced payment of tariffs. Sogdians played a major role in facilitating trade between China and Central Asia along the Silk Roads as late as the 10th century, their language serving as a lingua franca for Asian trade as far back as the 4th century.

Persian Royal Road (500-330 BCE)

By the time of Herodotus (c. 475 BCE), the Royal Road of the Persian Empire ran some 2,857 km (1,775 mi) from the city of Susa on the Karun (250 km (155 mi) east of the Tigris) to the port of Smyrna (modern İzmir in Turkey) on the Aegean Sea. It was maintained and protected by the Achaemenid Empire (c. 500-330 BCE) and had postal stations and relays at regular intervals. By having fresh horses and riders ready at each relay, royal couriers could carry messages and traverse the length of the road in nine days, while normal travelers took about three months.

Expansion of the Greek Empire (329 BCE-10 CE)

The next major step toward the development of the Silk Road was the expansion of the Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great into Central Asia. In August 329 BCE, at the mouth of the Fergana Valley, he founded the city of Alexandria Eschate or "Alexandria The Furthest".

The Greeks remained in Central Asia for the next three centuries, first through the administration of the Seleucid Empire, and then with the establishment of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (250-125 BCE) in Bactria (modern Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan) and the later Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BCE - 10 CE) in modern Northern Pakistan and Afghanistan. They continued to expand eastward, especially during the reign of Euthydemus (230-200 BCE), who extended his control beyond Alexandria Eschate to Sogdiana. There are indications that he may have led expeditions as far as Kashgar on the western edge of the Taklamakan Desert, leading to the first known contacts between China and the West around 200 BCE. The Greek historian Strabo writes, "they extended their empire even as far as the Seres (China) and the Phryni."

Initiation in China (130 BCE)

The Silk Road was initiated and spread by China's Han dynasty through exploration and conquests in Central Asia. With the Mediterranean linked to the Fergana Valley, the next step was to open a route across the Tarim Basin and the Hexi Corridor to China Proper. This extension came around 130 BCE, with the embassies of the Han dynasty to Central Asia following the reports of the ambassador Zhang Qian (who was originally sent to obtain an alliance with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu). Zhang Qian visited directly the kingdom of Dayuan in Ferghana, the territories of the Yuezhi in Transoxiana, the Bactrian country of Daxia with its remnants of Greco-Bactrian rule, and Kangju. He also made reports on neighbouring countries that he did not visit, such as Anxi ( Parthia), Tiaozhi ( Mesopotamia), Shendu ( Indian subcontinent) and the Wusun. Zhang Qian's report suggested the economic reason for Chinese expansion and wall-building westward, and trail-blazed the Silk Road, making it one of the most famous trade routes in history and in the world.

After winning the War of the Heavenly Horses and the Han-Xiongnu War, Chinese armies established themselves in Central Asia, initiating the Silk Route as a major avenue of international trade. Some say that the Chinese Emperor Wu became interested in developing commercial relationships with the sophisticated urban civilizations of Ferghana, Bactria, and the Parthian Empire: "The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned thus: Ferghana (Dayuan "Great Ionians") and the possessions of Bactria ( Ta-Hsia) and Parthian Empire ( Anxi) are large countries, full of rare things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to occupations somewhat identical with those of the Chinese people, but with weak armies, and placing great value on the rich produce of China" ( Hou Hanshu, Later Han History). Others say that Emperor Wu was mainly interested in fighting the Xiongnu and that major trade began only after the Chinese pacified the Hexi Corridor. The Silk Roads' origin lay in the hands of the Chinese. The soil in China lacked Selenium, a deficiency which contributed to muscular weakness and reduced growth in horses. Consequently, horses in China were too frail to support the weight of a Chinese soldier. The Chinese needed the superior horses that nomads bred on the Eurasian steppes, and nomads wanted things only agricultural societies produced, such as grain and silk. Even after the construction of the Great Wall, nomads gathered at the gates of the wall to exchange. Soldiers sent to guard the wall were often paid in silk which they traded with the nomads. Past its inception, the Chinese continued to dominate the Silk Roads, a process which was accelerated when "China snatched control of the Silk Road from the Hsiung-nu" and the Chinese general Cheng Ki "installed himself as protector of the Tarim at Wu-lei, situated between Kara Shahr and Kucha." "China's control of the Silk Road at the time of the later Han, by ensuring the freedom of transcontinental trade along the double chain of oases north and south of the Tarim, favoured the dissemination of Buddhism in the river basin, and with it Indian literature and Hellenistic art."

The Chinese were also strongly attracted by the tall and powerful horses (named " Heavenly horses") in the possession of the Dayuan (literally the "Great Ionians", the Greek kingdoms of Central Asia), which were of capital importance in fighting the nomadic Xiongnu. They defeated the Dayuan in the Han-Dayuan war. The Chinese subsequently sent numerous embassies, around ten every year, to these countries and as far as Seleucid Syria.

Thus more embassies were dispatched to Anxi [Parthia], Yancai [who later joined the Alans ], Lijian [Syria under the Greek Seleucids], Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia), and Tianzhu [northwestern India]... As a rule, rather more than ten such missions went forward in the course of a year, and at the least five or six. ( Hou Hanshu, Later Han History).

These connections marked the beginning of the Silk Road trade network that extended to the Roman Empire. The Chinese campaigned in Central Asia on several occasions, and direct encounters between Han troops and Roman legionaries (probably captured or recruited as mercenaries by the Xiong Nu) are recorded, particularly in the 36 BCE battle of Sogdiana (Joseph Needham, Sidney Shapiro). It has been suggested that the Chinese crossbow was transmitted to the Roman world on such occasions, although the Greek gastraphetes provides an alternative origin. R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy suggest that in 36 BCE,

[A] Han expedition into Central Asia, west of Jaxartes River, apparently encountered and defeated a contingent of Roman legionaries. The Romans may have been part of Antony's army invading Parthia. Sogdiana (modern Bukhara), east of the Oxus River, on the Polytimetus River, was apparently the most easterly penetration ever made by Roman forces in Asia. The margin of Chinese victory appears to have been their crossbows, whose bolts and darts seem easily to have penetrated Roman shields and armour.

The Roman historian Florus also describes the visit of numerous envoys, which included (China), to the first Roman Emperor Augustus, who reigned between 27 BCE and 14 CE:

Even the rest of the nations of the world which were not subject to the imperial sway were sensible of its grandeur, and looked with reverence to the Roman people, the great conqueror of nations. Thus even Scythians and Sarmatians sent envoys to seek the friendship of Rome. Nay, the Seres came likewise, and the Indians who dwelt beneath the vertical sun, bringing presents of precious stones and pearls and elephants, but thinking all of less moment than the vastness of the journey which they had undertaken, and which they said had occupied four years. In truth, it needed but to look at their complexion to see that they were people of another world than ours.

The Han Dynasty army regularly policed the trade route against nomadic bandit forces generally identified as Xiongnu. Han general Ban Chao led an army of 70,000 mounted infantry and light cavalry troops in the 1st century CE to secure the trade routes, reaching far west to the Tarim Basin. Ban Chao expanded his conquests across the Pamirs to the shores of the Caspian Sea and the borders of Parthia. It was from here that the Han general dispatched envoy Gan Ying to Daqin (Rome). The Silk Road essentially came into being from the 1st century BCE, following these efforts by China to consolidate a road to the Western world and India, both through direct settlements in the area of the Tarim Basin and diplomatic relations with the countries of the Dayuan, Parthians and Bactrians further west. The Silk Roads were a "complex network of trade routes" that gave people the chance to exchange goods and culture.

A maritime Silk Route opened up between Chinese-controlled Giao Chỉ (centred in modern Vietnam, near Hanoi), probably by the 1st century. It extended, via ports on the coasts of India and Sri Lanka, all the way to Roman-controlled ports in Roman Egypt and the Nabataean territories on the northeastern coast of the Red Sea. The earliest Roman glassware bowl found in China was unearthed from a Western Han tomb in Guangzhou, dated to the early 1st century BCE, indicating that Roman commercial items were being imported through the South China Sea. According to Chinese dynastic histories, it is from this region that the Roman embassies arrived in China, beginning in 166 CE during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Emperor Huan of Han. Other Roman glasswares have been found in Eastern-Han-era tombs (25-220 CE) more further inland in Nanjing and Luoyang.

P.O. Harper asserts that a 2nd or 3rd-century Roman gilt silver plate found in Jingyuan, Gansu, China with a central image of the Greco-Roman god Dionysus resting on a feline creature, most likely came via Greater Iran (i.e. Sogdiana). Valerie Hansen (2012) believed that earliest Roman coins found in China date to the 4th century, during Late Antiquity and the Dominate period, and come from the Byzantine Empire. However, Warwick Ball (2016) highlights the recent discovery of sixteen Principate-era Roman coins found in Xi'an (formerly Chang'an, one of the two Han capitals) that were minted during the reigns of Roman emperors spanning from Tiberius to Aurelian (i.e. 1st to 3rd centuries CE).

Helen Wang points out that although these coins were found in China, they were deposited there in the twentieth century, not in ancient times, and therefore do not shed light on historic contacts between China and Rome. Roman golden medallions made during the reign of Antoninus Pius and quite possibly his successor Marcus Aurelius have been found at Óc Eo in southern Vietnam, which was then part of the Kingdom of Funan bordering the Chinese province of Jiaozhi in northern Vietnam. Given the archaeological finds of Mediterranean artefacts made by Louis Malleret in the 1940s, Óc Eo may have been the same site as the port city of Kattigara described by Ptolemy in his (c. 150 CE), although Ferdinand von Richthofen had previously believed it was closer to Hanoi.

Roman Empire (30 BCE-3rd century CE)

Soon after the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE, regular communications and trade between China, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe blossomed on an unprecedented scale. The Roman Empire inherited eastern trade routes that were part of the Silk Road from the earlier Hellenistic powers and the Arabs. With control of these trade routes, citizens of the Roman Empire received new luxuries and greater prosperity for the Empire as a whole. The Roman-style glassware discovered in the archeological sites of Gyeongju, the capital of the Silla kingdom (Korea) showed that Roman artifacts were traded as far as the Korean peninsula. The Greco- Roman trade with India started by Eudoxus of Cyzicus in 130 BCE continued to increase, and according to Strabo (II.5.12), by the time of Augustus, up to 120 ships were setting sail every year from Myos Hormos in Roman Egypt to India. The Roman Empire connected with the Central Asian Silk Road through their ports in Barygaza (known today as Bharuch) and Barbaricum (known today as the city of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan) and continued along the western coast of India. An ancient "travel guide" to this Indian Ocean trade route was the Greek Periplus of the Erythraean Sea written in 60 CE.

The travelling party of Maës Titianus penetrated farthest east along the Silk Road from the Mediterranean world, probably with the aim of regularising contacts and reducing the role of middlemen, during one of the lulls in Rome's intermittent wars with Parthia, which repeatedly obstructed movement along the Silk Road. Intercontinental trade and communication became regular, organised, and protected by the "Great Powers". Intense trade with the Roman Empire soon followed, confirmed by the Roman craze for Chinese silk (supplied through the Parthians), even though the Romans thought silk was obtained from trees. This belief was affirmed by Seneca the Younger in his Phaedra and by Virgil in his Georgics. Notably, Pliny the Elder knew better. Speaking of the bombyx or silk moth, he wrote in his Natural Histories "They weave webs, like spiders, that become a luxurious clothing material for women, called silk." The Romans traded spices, glassware, perfumes, and silk.

Roman artisans began to replace yarn with valuable plain silk cloths from China and the Silla Kingdom in Gyeongju, Korea. Chinese wealth grew as they delivered silk and other luxury goods to the Roman Empire, whose wealthy women admired their beauty. The Roman Senate issued, in vain, several edicts to prohibit the wearing of silk, on economic and moral grounds: the import of Chinese silk caused a huge outflow of gold, and silk clothes were considered decadent and immoral.

I can see clothes of silk, if materials that do not hide the body, nor even one's decency, can be called clothes.... Wretched flocks of maids labour so that the adulteress may be visible through her thin dress, so that her husband has no more acquaintance than any outsider or foreigner with his wife's body.

The Western Roman Empire, and its demand for sophisticated Asian products, collapsed in the fifth century.

The unification of Central Asia and Northern India within the Kushan Empire between the first and third centuries reinforced the role of the powerful merchants from Bactria and Taxila. They fostered multi-cultural interaction as indicated by their 2nd century treasure hoards filled with products from the Greco-Roman world, China, and India, such as in the archeological site of Begram.

Byzantine Empire (6th-14th centuries)

Byzantine Greek historian Procopius stated that two Nestorian Christian monks eventually uncovered the way silk was made. From this revelation, monks were sent by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (ruled 527-565) as spies on the Silk Road from Constantinople to China and back to steal the silkworm eggs, resulting in silk production in the Mediterranean, particularly in Thrace in northern Greece, and giving the Byzantine Empire a monopoly on silk production in medieval Europe. In 568 the Byzantine ruler Justin II was greeted by a Sogdian embassy representing Istämi, ruler of the First Turkic Khaganate, who formed an alliance with the Byzantines against Khosrow I of the Sasanian Empire that allowed the Byzantines to bypass the Sasanian merchants and trade directly with the Sogdians for purchasing Chinese silk. Although the Byzantines had already procured silkworm eggs from China by this point, the quality of Chinese silk was still far greater than anything produced in the West, a fact that is perhaps emphasized by the discovery of coins minted by Justin II found in a Chinese tomb of Shanxi province dated to the Sui dynasty (581-618).

Both the Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang, covering the history of the Chinese Tang dynasty (618-907), record that a new state called Fu-lin (拂菻; i.e. Byzantine Empire) was virtually identical to the previous (大秦; i.e. Roman Empire). Several Fu-lin embassies were recorded for the Tang period, starting in 643 with an alleged embassy by Constans II (transliterated as Bo duo li, 波多力, from his nickname "Kōnstantinos Pogonatos") to the court of Emperor Taizong of Tang. The History of Song describes the final embassy and its arrival in 1081, apparently sent by Michael VII Doukas (transliterated as Mie li yi ling kai sa, 滅力伊靈改撒, from his name and title Michael VII Parapinakēs Caesar) to the court of Emperor Shenzong of the Song dynasty (960-1279).

However, the History of Yuan claims that a Byzantine man became a leading astronomer and physician in Khanbaliq, at the court of Kublai Khan, Mongol founder of the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) and was even granted the noble title 'Prince of Fu lin' ( Chinese: 拂菻王; Fú lǐn wáng). The Uyghur Nestorian Christian diplomat Rabban Bar Sauma, who set out from his Chinese home in Khanbaliq (Beijing) and acted as a representative for Arghun (a grandnephew of Kublai Khan), traveled throughout Europe and attempted to secure military alliances with Edward I of England, Philip IV of France, Pope Nicholas IV, as well as the Byzantine ruler Andronikos II Palaiologos. Andronikos II had two half-sisters who were married to great-grandsons of Genghis Khan, which made him an in-law with the Yuan-dynasty Mongol ruler in Beijing, Kublai Khan.

The History of Ming preserves an account where the Hongwu Emperor, after founding the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), had a supposed Byzantine merchant named Nieh-ku-lun (捏古倫) deliver his proclamation about the establishment of a new dynasty to the Byzantine court of John V Palaiologos in September 1371. Friedrich Hirth (1885), Emil Bretschneider (1888), and more recently Edward Luttwak (2009) presumed that this was none other than Nicolaus de Bentra, a Roman Catholic bishop of Khanbilaq chosen by Pope John XXII to replace the previous archbishop John of Montecorvino.

Tang dynasty (7th century)

Although the Silk Road was initially formulated during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (141-87 BCE), it was reopened by the Tang Empire in 639 when Hou Junji conquered the Western Regions, and remained open for almost four decades. It was closed after the Tibetans captured it in 678, but in 699, during Empress Wu's period, the Silk Road reopened when the Tang reconquered the Four Garrisons of Anxi originally installed in 640, once again connecting China directly to the West for land-based trade. The Tang captured the vital route through the Gilgit Valley from Tibet in 722, lost it to the Tibetans in 737, and regained it under the command of the Goguryeo-Korean General Gao Xianzhi.

While the Turks were settled in the Ordos region (former territory of the Xiongnu), the Tang government took on the military policy of dominating the central steppe. The Tang dynasty (along with Turkic allies) conquered and subdued Central Asia during the 640s and 650s. During Emperor Taizong's reign alone, large campaigns were launched against not only the Göktürks, but also separate campaigns against the Tuyuhun, the oasis states, and the Xueyantuo. Under Emperor Taizong, Tang general Li Jing conquered the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. Under Emperor Gaozong, Tang general Su Dingfang conquered the Western Turkic Khaganate, an important ally of the Byzantine empire. After these conquests, the Tang dynasty fully controlled the Xiyu, which was the strategic location astride the Silk Road. This led the Tang dynasty to reopen the Silk Road, with this portion named the Tang-Tubo Road ("Tang-Tibet Road") in many historical texts.

The Tang dynasty established a second Pax Sinica, and the Silk Road reached its golden age, whereby Persian and Sogdian merchants benefited from the commerce between East and West. At the same time, the Chinese empire welcomed foreign cultures, making it very cosmopolitan in its urban centres. In addition to the land route, the Tang dynasty also developed the maritime Silk Route. Chinese envoys had been sailing through the Indian Ocean to India since perhaps the 2nd century BCE, yet it was during the Tang dynasty that a strong Chinese maritime presence could be found in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea into Persia, Mesopotamia (sailing up the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq), Arabia, Egypt, Aksum (Ethiopia), and Somalia in the Horn of Africa.

Sogdian-Türkic tribes (4th-8th centuries)

The Silk Road represents an early phenomenon of political and cultural integration due to inter-regional trade. In its heyday, it sustained an international culture that strung together groups as diverse as the Magyars, Armenians, and Chinese. The Silk Road reached its peak in the west during the time of the Byzantine Empire; in the Nile- Oxus section, from the Sassanid Empire period to the Il Khanate period; and in the sinitic zone from the Three Kingdoms period to the Yuan dynasty period. Trade between East and West also developed across the Indian Ocean, between Alexandria in Egypt and Guangzhou in China. Persian Sassanid coins emerged as a means of currency, just as valuable as silk yarn and textiles.

Under its strong integrating dynamics on the one hand and the impacts of change it transmitted on the other, tribal societies previously living in isolation along the Silk Road, and pastoralists who were of barbarian cultural development, were drawn to the riches and opportunities of the civilisations connected by the routes, taking on the trades of marauders or mercenaries. "Many barbarian tribes became skilled warriors able to conquer rich cities and fertile lands and to forge strong military empires."

The Sogdians dominated the east-west trade after the 4th century up to the 8th century. They were the main caravan merchants of Central Asia. A.V. Dybo noted that "according to historians, the main driving force of the Great Silk Road were not just Sogdians, but the carriers of a mixed Sogdian-Türkic culture that often came from mixed families."

The Silk Road gave rise to the clusters of military states of nomadic origins in North China, ushered the Nestorian, Manichaean, Buddhist, and later Islamic religions into Central Asia and China.

Islamic era (8th-13th centuries)

By the Umayyad era, Damascus had overtaken Ctesiphon as a major trade center until the Abbasid dynasty built the city of Baghdad, which became the most important city along the silk road.

At the end of its glory, the routes brought about the largest continental empire ever, the Mongol Empire, with its political centres strung along the Silk Road ( Beijing) in North China, Karakorum in central Mongolia, Sarmakhand in Transoxiana, Tabriz in Northern Iran, realising the political unification of zones previously loosely and intermittently connected by material and cultural goods.

The Islamic world expanded into Central Asia during the 8th century, under the Umayyad Caliphate, while its successor the Abbasid Caliphate put a halt to Chinese westward expansion at the Battle of Talas in 751 (near the Talas River in modern-day Kyrgyzstan). However, following the disastrous An Lushan Rebellion (755-763) and the conquest of the Western Regions by the Tibetan Empire, the Tang Empire was unable to reassert its control over Central Asia. Contemporary Tang authors noted how the dynasty had gone into decline after this point. In 848 the Tang Chinese, led by the commander Zhang Yichao, were only able to reclaim the Hexi Corridor and Dunhuang in Gansu from the Tibetans. The Persian Samanid Empire (819-999) centered in Bukhara ( Uzbekistan) continued the trade legacy of the Sogdians. The disruptions of trade were curtailed in that part of the world by the end of the 10th century and conquests of Central Asia by the Turkic Islamic Kara-Khanid Khanate, yet Nestorian Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and Buddhism in Central Asia virtually disappeared.

During the early 13th century Khwarezmia was invaded by the Mongol Empire. The Mongol ruler Genghis Khan had the once vibrant cities of Bukhara and Samarkand burned to the ground after besieging them. However, in 1370 Samarkand saw a revival as the capital of the new Timurid Empire. The Turko-Mongol ruler Timur forcefully moved artisans and intellectuals from across Asia to Samarkand, making it one of the most important trade centers and cultural of the Islamic world.

Mongol empire (13th-14th centuries)

The Mongol expansion throughout the Asian continent from around 1207 to 1360 helped bring political stability and re-established the Silk Road (via Karakorum and Khanbaliq). It also brought an end to the dominance of the Islamic Caliphate over world trade. Because the Mongols came to control the trade routes, trade circulated throughout the region, though they never abandoned their nomadic lifestyle.

The Mongol rulers wanted to establish their capital on the Central Asian steppe, so to accomplish this goal, after every conquest they enlisted local people (traders, scholars, artisans) to help them construct and manage their empire. The Mongols developed overland and maritime routes throughout the Eurasian continent, Black Sea and the Mediterranean in the west, and the Indian Ocean in the south. In the second half of the thirteenth century Mongol-sponsored business partnerships flourished in the Indian Ocean connecting Mongol Middle East and Mongol China

The Mongol diplomat Rabban Bar Sauma visited the courts of Europe in 1287-88 and provided a detailed written report to the Mongols. Around the same time, the Venetian explorer Marco Polo became one of the first Europeans to travel the Silk Road to China. His tales, documented in The Travels of Marco Polo, opened Western eyes to some of the customs of the Far East. He was not the first to bring back stories, but he was one of the most widely read. He had been preceded by numerous Christian missionaries to the East, such as William of Rubruck, Benedykt Polak, Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, and Andrew of Longjumeau. Later envoys included Odoric of Pordenone, Giovanni de' Marignolli, John of Montecorvino, Niccolò de' Conti, and Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan Muslim traveller who passed through the present-day Middle East and across the Silk Road from Tabriz between 1325 and 1354.

In the 13th century, efforts were made at forming a Franco-Mongol alliance, with an exchange of ambassadors and (failed) attempts at military collaboration in the Holy Land during the later Crusades. Eventually, the Mongols in the Ilkhanate, after they had destroyed the Abbasid and Ayyubid dynasties, converted to Islam and signed the 1323 Treaty of Aleppo with the surviving Muslim power, the Egyptian Mamluks.

Some studies indicate that the Black Death, which devastated Europe starting in the late 1340s, may have reached Europe from Central Asia (or China) along the trade routes of the Mongol Empire. One theory holds that Genoese traders coming from the entrepot of Trebizond in northern Turkey carried the disease to Western Europe; like many other outbreaks of plague, there is strong evidence that it originated in marmots in Central Asia and was carried westwards to the Black Sea by Silk Road traders.

Decline and disintegration (15th century)

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The fragmentation of the Mongol Empire loosened the political, cultural, and economic unity of the Silk Road. Turkmeni marching lords seized land around the western part of the Silk Road from the decaying Byzantine Empire. After the fall of the Mongol Empire, the great political powers along the Silk Road became economically and culturally separated. Accompanying the crystallisation of regional states was the decline of nomad power, partly due to the devastation of the Black Death and partly due to the encroachment of sedentary civilisations equipped with gunpowder.

Partial revival in West Asia

Significant is Armenians role in making Europe Asia trade possible by being located in the crossing roads between these two. Armenia had a monopoly on almost all trade roads in this area and a colossal network. From 1700 to 1765, the total export of Persian silk was entirely conducted by Armenians. They were also exporting raisins, coffee beans, figs, Turkish yarn, camel hair, various precious stones, rice, etc., from Turkey and Iran.

Collapse (18th century)

The silk trade continued to flourish until it was disrupted by the collapse of the Safavid Empire in the 1720s.

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New Silk Road (20th-21st centuries)

In the 20th century, the Silk Road through the Suez Canal and the overland connections were repeatedly blocked from the First World War on. This also applied to the massive trade barriers of the Cold War. It was not until the 1990s that the "old" trade routes began to reactivate again. In addition to the Chinese activities and the integration of Africa, this also applies to the increasing importance of the Mediterranean region and the connection to Central Europe such as the trade center of Trieste.

Trade along the Silk Road could soon account for almost 40% of total world trade, with a large part taking place by sea. The land route of the Silk Road seems to remain a niche project in terms of transport volume in the future. As a result of the Chinese Silk Road Initiative and investments, trade seems to be intensifying on the relevant routes.

Maritime Silk Road

The maritime Silk Road follows the old trade route that was opened by the Chinese admiral Zheng He during the early Ming Dynasty. In particular, the establishment of the lockless Suez Canal then strongly promoted maritime trade between Asia and Europe in this area. While many trade flows were interrupted in the 20th century by the World Wars, the Suez Crisis and the Cold War, from the beginning of the 21st century many of the trading centers that had already existed in the 19th century were activated again.

The Suez Canal was also continually expanded and its time-saving role in Asia-Europe trade was highlighted. At the beginning of the Maritime Silk Road are the major Chinese ports in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Ningbo-Zhoushan. The Chinese investments in Africa will connect large areas of Central and East Africa to the maritime Silk Road and thus to China and directly to southern Europe via the Suez Canal. The increasing importance of the Mediterranean as a trading center with its direct, fast connections to Central and Eastern Europe is evident from the international investments in port cities of Piraeus and Trieste. Trieste in particular plays a major role in the economic zone in Central Europe known as the Blue Banana. This includes a banana-shaped corridor from southern England via the Benelux region, western Germany and Switzerland to northern Italy. The transport via Trieste instead of northern ports such as Rotterdam and Hamburg shortens the delivery time from Shanghai by ten days and from Hong Kong by nine days. On the maritime Silk Road, on which more than half of all containers in the world are already on the move, deep-water ports are being expanded, logistics hubs are being built and new transport routes such as railways and roads in the hinterland are being created.

Today the maritime silk road runs with its connections from the Chinese coast to the south via Hanoi to Jakarta, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur through the Strait of Malacca via the Sri Lankan Colombo towards the southern tip of India via Malé, the capital of the Maldives, to the East African Mombasa, from there to Djibouti, then through the Red Sea via the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean, there via Haifa, Istanbul and Athens to the Upper Adriatic region to the northern Italian hub of Trieste with its international free port and its rail connections to Central Europe and the North Sea. As a result, Poland, the Baltic States, Northern Europe and Central Europe are also connected to the maritime silk road.

Railway (1990)

The Eurasian Land Bridge, a railway through China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia, is sometimes referred to as the "New Silk Road". The last link in one of these two railway routes was completed in 1990, when the railway systems of China and Kazakhstan connected at Alataw Pass (Alashan Kou). In 2008 the line was used to connect the cities of Ürümqi in China's Xinjiang Province to Almaty and Astana in Kazakhstan. In October 2008 the first Trans-Eurasia Logistics train reached Hamburg from Xiangtan. Starting in July 2011 the line has been used by a freight service that connects Chongqing, China with Duisburg, Germany, cutting travel time for cargo from about 36 days by container ship to just 13 days by freight train. In 2013, Hewlett-Packard began moving large freight trains of laptop computers and monitors along this rail route. In January 2017, the service sent its first train to London. The network additionally connects to Madrid and Milan.

Revival of cities (1966) and Other Later 20th Century Travel

After an earthquake that hit Tashkent in Central Asia in 1966, the city had to rebuild itself. Although it took a huge toll on their markets, this commenced a revival of modern silk road cities.

It was also in this general period (late 1950s-late 1970s) that the Hippie trail followed parts of the Silk Road, particularly in Turkey and Iran, as thousands of travelers went overland from Europe to India. Into the next century tours and other individual travel has occurred on some of the route, though for political and safety considerations mainly through Central Asia.

Belt and Road Initiative (2013)

During a September 2013 a visit to Kazakhstan, China's Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced a plan for a New Silk Road from China to Europe. The latest iterations of this plan, dubbed the " Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI), includes a land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, with primary points in Ürümqi, Dostyk, Nur-Sultan, Gomel, the Belarusian city of Brest, and the Polish cities of Małaszewicze and Łódź-which would be hubs of logistics and transshipment to other countries of Europe.

On 15 February 2016, with a change in routing, the first train dispatched under the scheme arrived from eastern Zhejiang Province to Tehran. Though this section does not complete the Silk Road-style overland connection between China and Europe, but new railway line connecting China to Europe via Istanbul's has now been established. The actual route went through Almaty, Bishkek, Samarkand, and Dushanbe.

Northern route

The northern route started at Chang'an (now called Xi'an), an ancient capital of China that was moved further east during the Later Han to Luoyang. The route was defined around the 1st century BCE when Han Wudi put an end to harassment by nomadic tribes.

The northern route travelled northwest through the Chinese province of Gansu from Shaanxi Province and split into three further routes, two of them following the mountain ranges to the north and south of the Taklamakan Desert to rejoin at Kashgar, and the other going north of the Tian Shan mountains through Turpan, Talgar, and Almaty (in what is now southeast Kazakhstan). The routes split again west of Kashgar, with a southern branch heading down the Alai Valley towards Termez (in modern Uzbekistan) and Balkh (Afghanistan), while the other travelled through Kokand in the Fergana Valley (in present-day eastern Uzbekistan) and then west across the Karakum Desert. Both routes joined the main southern route before reaching ancient Merv, Turkmenistan. Another branch of the northern route turned northwest past the Aral Sea and north of the Caspian Sea, then and on to the Black Sea.

Southern route

The southern route or Karakoram route was mainly a single route from China through the Karakoram mountains, where it persists in modern times as the Karakoram Highway, a paved road that connects Pakistan and China. It then set off westwards, but with southward spurs so travelers could complete the journey by sea from various points. Crossing the high mountains, it passed through northern Pakistan, over the Hindu Kush mountains, and into Afghanistan, rejoining the northern route near Merv, Turkmenistan. From Merv, it followed a nearly straight line west through mountainous northern Iran, Mesopotamia, and the northern tip of the Syrian Desert to the Levant, where Mediterranean trading ships plied regular routes to Italy, while land routes went either north through Anatolia or south to North Africa. Another branch road travelled from Herat through Susa to Charax Spasinu at the head of the Persian Gulf and across to Petra and on to Alexandria and other eastern Mediterranean ports from where ships carried the cargoes to Rome.

Southwestern route

The southwestern route is believed to be the Ganges/ Brahmaputra Delta, which has been the subject of international interest for over two millennia. Strabo, the 1st-century Roman writer, mentions the deltaic lands: "Regarding merchants who now sail from Egypt...as far as the Ganges, they are only private citizens..." His comments are interesting as Roman beads and other materials are being found at Wari-Bateshwar ruins, the ancient city with roots from much earlier, before the Bronze Age, presently being slowly excavated beside the Old Brahmaputra in Bangladesh. Ptolemy's map of the Ganges Delta, a remarkably accurate effort, showed that his informants knew all about the course of the Brahmaputra River, crossing through the Himalayas then bending westward to its source in Tibet. It is doubtless that this delta was a major international trading center, almost certainly from much earlier than the Common Era. Gemstones and other merchandise from Thailand and Java were traded in the delta and through it. Chinese archaeological writer Bin Yang and some earlier writers and archaeologists, such as Janice Stargardt, strongly suggest this route of international trade as Sichuan- Yunnan- Burma- Bangladesh route. According to Bin Yang, especially from the 12th century the route was used to ship bullion from Yunnan (gold and silver are among the minerals in which Yunnan is rich), through northern Burma, into modern Bangladesh, making use of the ancient route, known as the 'Ledo' route. The emerging evidence of the ancient cities of Bangladesh, in particular Wari-Bateshwar ruins, Mahasthangarh, Bhitagarh, Bikrampur, Egarasindhur, and Sonargaon, are believed to be the international trade centers in this route.

Maritime route

The trade route encompassed numbers of bodies of waters; including South China Sea, Strait of Malacca, Indian Ocean, Gulf of Bengal, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea. The maritime route overlaps with historic Southeast Asian maritime trade, Spice trade, Indian Ocean trade and after 8th century - the Arabian naval trade network. The network also extended eastward to East China Sea and Yellow Sea to connect China with Korean Peninsula and Japanese archipelago.

Expansion of religions

Richard Foltz, Xinru Liu, and others have described how trading activities along the Silk Road over many centuries facilitated the transmission not just of goods but also ideas and culture, notably in the area of religions. Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Manichaeism, and Islam all spread across Eurasia through trade networks that were tied to specific religious communities and their institutions. Notably, established Buddhist monasteries along the Silk Road offered a haven, as well as a new religion for foreigners.

The spread of religions and cultural traditions along the Silk Roads, according to Jerry H. Bentley, also led to syncretism. One example was the encounter with the Chinese and Xiongnu nomads. These unlikely events of cross-cultural contact allowed both cultures to adapt to each other as an alternative. The Xiongnu adopted Chinese agricultural techniques, dress style, and lifestyle, while the Chinese adopted Xiongnu military techniques, some dress style, music, and dance. Perhaps most surprising of the cultural exchanges between China and the Xiongnu, Chinese soldiers sometimes defected and converted to the Xiongnu way of life, and stayed in the steppes for fear of punishment.

Nomadic mobility played a key role in facilitating inter-regional contacts and cultural exchanges along the ancient Silk Roads.

Transmission of Christianity

The transmission of Christianity was primarily known as Nestorianism on the Silk Road. In 781, an inscribed stele shows Nestorian Christian missionaries arriving on the Silk Road. Christianity had spread both east and west, simultaneously bringing Syriac language and evolving the forms of worship.

Transmission of Buddhism

The transmission of Buddhism to China via the Silk Road began in the 1st century CE, according to a semi-legendary account of an ambassador sent to the West by the Chinese Emperor Ming (58-75). During this period Buddhism began to spread throughout Southeast, East, and Central Asia. Mahayana, Theravada, and Tibetan Buddhism are the three primary forms of Buddhism that spread across Asia via the Silk Road.

The Buddhist movement was the first large-scale missionary movement in the history of world religions. Chinese missionaries were able to assimilate Buddhism, to an extent, to native Chinese Daoists, which brought the two beliefs together. Buddha's community of followers, the Sangha, consisted of male and female monks and laity. These people moved through India and beyond to spread the ideas of Buddha. As the number of members within the Sangha increased, it became costly so that only the larger cities were able to afford having the Buddha and his disciples visit. It is believed that under the control of the Kushans, Buddhism was spread to China and other parts of Asia from the middle of the first century to the middle of the third century. Extensive contacts started in the 2nd century, probably as a consequence of the expansion of the Kushan empire into the Chinese territory of the Tarim Basin, due to the missionary efforts of a great number of Buddhist monks to Chinese lands. The first missionaries and translators of Buddhists scriptures into Chinese were either Parthian, Kushan, Sogdian, or Kuchean.

One result of the spread of Buddhism along the Silk Road was displacement and conflict. The Greek Seleucids were exiled to Iran and Central Asia because of a new Iranian dynasty called the Parthians at the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, and as a result, the Parthians became the new middlemen for trade in a period when the Romans were major customers for silk. Parthian scholars were involved in one of the first-ever Buddhist text translations into the Chinese language. Its main trade centre on the Silk Road, the city of Merv, in due course and with the coming of age of Buddhism in China, became a major Buddhist centre by the middle of the 2nd century. Knowledge among people on the silk roads also increased when Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya dynasty (268-239 BCE) converted to Buddhism and raised the religion to official status in his northern Indian empire.

From the 4th century CE onward, Chinese pilgrims also started to travel on the Silk Road to India to get improved access to the original Buddhist scriptures, with Fa-hsien's pilgrimage to India (395-414), and later Xuanzang (629-644) and Hyecho, who traveled from Korea to India. The travels of the priest Xuanzang were fictionalized in the 16th century in a fantasy adventure novel called Journey to the West, which told of trials with demons and the aid given by various disciples on the journey.

There were many different schools of Buddhism travelling on the Silk Road. The Dharmaguptakas and the Sarvastivadins were two of the major Nikaya schools. These were both eventually displaced by the Mahayana, also known as "Great Vehicle". This movement of Buddhism first gained influence in the Khotan region. The Mahayana, which was more of a "pan-Buddhist movement" than a school of Buddhism, appears to have begun in northwestern India or Central Asia. It formed during the 1st century BCE and was small at first, and the origins of this "Greater Vehicle" are not fully clear. Some Mahayana scripts were found in northern Pakistan, but the main texts are still believed to have been composed in Central Asia along the Silk Road. These different schools and movements of Buddhism were a result of the diverse and complex influences and beliefs on the Silk Road. With the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, the initial direction of Buddhist development changed. This form of Buddhism highlighted, as stated by Xinru Liu, "the elusiveness of physical reality, including material wealth." It also stressed getting rid of material desire to a certain point; this was often difficult for followers to understand.

During the 5th and 6th centuries CE, merchants played a large role in the spread of religion, in particular Buddhism. Merchants found the moral and ethical teachings of Buddhism an appealing alternative to previous religions. As a result, merchants supported Buddhist monasteries along the Silk Road, and in return, the Buddhists gave the merchants somewhere to stay as they traveled from city to city. As a result, merchants spread Buddhism to foreign encounters as they traveled. Merchants also helped to establish diaspora within the communities they encountered, and over time their cultures became based on Buddhism. As a result, these communities became centers of literacy and culture with well-organized marketplaces, lodging, and storage. The voluntary conversion of Chinese ruling elites helped the spread of Buddhism in East Asia and led Buddhism to become widespread in Chinese society. The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism essentially ended around the 7th century with the rise of Islam in Central Asia.

Judaism on the Silk Road

Adherents to the Jewish faith first began to travel eastward from Mesopotamia following the Persian conquest of Babylon in 559 by the armies of Cyrus the Great. Judean slaves freed after the Persian conquest of Babylon dispersed throughout the Persian Empire. Some Judeans could have traveled as far east as Bactria and Sogdia, though there is not clear evidence for this early settlement of Judeans. After settlement, it is likely that most Judeans took up trades in commerce. Trading along the silk trade networks by Judean merchants increased as the trade networks expanded. By the classical age, when trade goods traveled from as far east as China to as far west as Rome, Judean merchants in Central Asia would have been in an advantageous position to participate in trade along the Silk Road. A group of Judean merchants originating from Gaul known as the Radanites were one group of Judean merchants that had thriving trade networks from China to Rome. This trade was facilitated by a positive relationship the Radanites were able to foster with the Khazar Turks. The Khazar Turks served as a good spot in between China and Rome, and the Khazar Turks saw a relationship with the Radanites as a good commercial opportunity.

According to Richard Foltz "there is more evidence for Iranian influence on the formation of Jewish [religious] ideas than the reverse." Concepts of a paradise ( heaven) for the good and a place of suffering ( hell) for the wicked, and a form or world-ending apocalypse came from Iranian religious ideas, and this is supported by a lack of such ideas from pre-exile Judean sources. The origin of the devil is also said to come from the Iranian Angra Mainyu, an evil figure in Persian mythology.

Expansion of the arts

Many artistic influences were transmitted via the Silk Road, particularly through Central Asia, where Hellenistic, Iranian, Indian and Chinese influences could intermix. Greco-Buddhist art represents one of the most vivid examples of this interaction. Silk was also a representation of art, serving as a religious symbol. Most importantly, silk was used as currency for trade along the silk road.

These artistic influences can be seen in the development of Buddhism where, for instance, Buddha was first depicted as human in the Kushan period. Many scholars have attributed this to Greek influence. The mixture of Greek and Indian elements can be found in later Buddhist art in China and throughout countries on the Silk Road.

The production of art consisted of many different items that were traded along the Silk Roads from the East to the West. One common product, the lapis lazuli, was a blue stone with golden specks, which was used as paint after it was ground into powder.

Commemoration

On 22 June 2014, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named the Silk Road a World Heritage Site at the 2014 Conference on World Heritage. The United Nations World Tourism Organization has been working since 1993 to develop sustainable international tourism along the route with the stated goal of fostering peace and understanding.

To commemorate the Silk Road becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the China National Silk Museum announced a "Silk Road Week" to take place 19-25 June 2020.

Bishkek and Almaty each have a major east-west street named after the Silk Road ( Kyrgyz: Жибек жолу, Jibek Jolu in Bishkek, and Kazakh: Жібек жолы, Jibek Joly in Almaty). There is also a Silk Road in Macclesfield, UK.

References

Further reading

External links

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Silk Road Time period Around 114 BCE - 1450s CE Official name Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Type Cultural Criteria ii, iii, iv, vi Designated 2014 (38th session) Reference no. 1442 Region Asia-Pacific The Silk Road ( Chinese: 絲綢之路) was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century.

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Terra a la Vista SLU WORLD AHOY animation series

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WORLD AHOY Animation Series Ep.10  "Marco Polo"

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boni

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Where did the Silk Road start and end?

What major goods traveled along the Silk Road?

What traveled along the Silk Road besides goods?

This article was most recently revised and updated by

Silk Road, ancient trade route, linking China with the West, that carried goods and ideas between the two great civilizations of Rome and China. Silk went westward, and wools, gold, and silver went east. China also received Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism (from India) via the Silk Road.

Originating at Xi'an (Sian), the 4,000-mile (6,400-km) road, actually a caravan tract, followed the Great Wall of China to the northwest, bypassed the Takla Makan Desert, climbed the Pamirs (mountains), crossed Afghanistan, and went on to the Levant; from there the merchandise was shipped across the Mediterranean Sea. Few persons traveled the entire route, and goods were handled in a staggered progression by middlemen.

Know Your Asian Geography Quiz

With the gradual loss of Roman territory in Asia and the rise of Arabian power in the Levant, the Silk Road became increasingly unsafe and untraveled. In the 13th and 14th centuries the route was revived under the Mongols, and at that time the Venetian Marco Polo used it to travel to Cathay (China). It is now widely thought that the route was one of the main ways that plague bacteria responsible for the Black Death pandemic in Europe in the mid-14th century moved westward from Asia.

Part of the Silk Road still exists, in the form of a paved highway connecting Pakistan and the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, China. The old road has been the impetus behind a United Nations plan for a trans-Asian highway, and a railway counterpart of the road has been proposed by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). The road inspired cellist Yo-Yo Ma to found the Silk Road Project in 1999, which explored cultural traditions along its route and beyond as a means for connecting arts worldwide across cultures.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Amy Tikkanen.

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Silk Road, ancient trade route, linking China with the West, that carried goods and ideas between the two great civilizations of Rome and China. Silk went westward. Wools, gold, and silver went east. China also received Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism (from India) via the route. Read more about the Silk Road here.

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History of beginning of the Great Silk Road

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The appearance of the Great Silk Road is directly linked to the diplomatic mission of the Chinese ambassador Zhang Qian to Central Asia. Back in China, he told about the wealth he had seen. So the caravan routes connected China and Central Asia first, India and the Mediterranean.

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Found By Liv

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Marco Polo [1] Born: c. 1254Venice [2]Died: January 8, 1324Venice Venetian explorer and writer The traveler and writer Marco Polo [3] left Venice for Cathay [4] (now China [5]) in 1271, spent seventeen years in Kublai Khan [6]'s (1215-1294) empire, and returned to Venice in 1295.

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What was Marco Polo most famous for? By: Pedro - Marco Polo

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What YOU Can Learn from The Travels of Marco Polo

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

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마르코폴로의 허풍으로 탄생한 '동방견문록'?!

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송병건의 그림 속 경제사 | 이탈리아 도시국가들이 치열하게 다투던 13세기, 마르코폴로도 전투를 벌이다 포로로 잡혀가게 된다. 마르코폴로는 무료한 옥살이를 달래기 위해 동료 죄수들에게 허풍과 과장이 섞인 여행담을 들려주게 되는데 이 여행담이 전세계를 사로잡게 될 줄이야! 송병건의 그림 속 경제사 토요일 오전 10시 SBSCNBC

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The Silk Road: Connecting the ancient world through trade - Shannon Harris Castelo

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Silk Road

Time period

Around 114 BCE - 1450s CE

Official name

Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan

Type

Cultural

Criteria

ii, iii, iv, vi

Designated

2014 (38th session)

Reference no.
1442

Region
Asia-Pacific

The Silk Road ( Chinese: 絲綢之路) was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the East and West. The name "Silk Road", first coined in the late 19th century, has fallen into disuse among some modern historians in favor of Silk Routes, on the grounds that it more accurately describes the intricate web of land and sea routes connecting East and Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, the Middle East, East Africa and Europe.

The Silk Road derives its name from the highly lucrative trade of silk textiles that were produced almost exclusively in China. The network began with the Han dynasty's expansion into Central Asia around 114 BCE, which largely pacified the once untamed region. Imperial envoy Zhang Qian was commissioned to explore the unknown lands beyond the region in search of potential trading partners and allies. The information and goods gathered by these expeditions piqued Chinese interest and prompted formal diplomatic and commercial dispatches, as well as efforts to protect the routes with soldiers and an extension of the Great Wall.

The expansion of the Parthian Empire, which stretched from eastern Anatolia to Afghanistan, provided a bridge to East Africa and the Mediterranean, particularly the nascent Roman Empire. By the early first century CE, Chinese silk was widely sought-after in Rome, Egypt, and Greece. Other lucrative commodities from the East included tea, dyes, perfumes, and porcelain; among Western exports were horses, camels, honey, wine, and gold. Aside from generating substantial wealth for emerging mercantile classes, the proliferation of goods such as paper and gunpowder greatly altered the trajectory of various realms, if not world history.

During its roughly 1,500 years of existence, the Silk Road endured the rise and fall of numerous empires and major events such as the Black Death and the Mongol conquests; after almost every disruption, the network reemerged stronger than before, most notably under the Mongol Empire and its offshoot the Yuan Dynasty. As a highly decentralized network, security was sparse. Travelers faced constant threats of banditry and nomadic raiders, and long expanses of inhospitable terrain. Few individuals crossed the entirety of the Silk Road, instead relying on a succession of middlemen based at various stopping points along the way.

The Silk Road trade played a significant role in opening political and economic relations between China, Korea, Japan, India, Iran, Europe, the Horn of Africa and Arabia. In addition to goods, the network facilitated an unprecedented exchange of ideas, religions ( especially Buddhism), philosophies, and scientific discoveries, many of which were syncretised or reshaped by the societies that encountered them. Likewise, a wide variety of people used the routes, including migrants, refugees, missionaries, artisans, diplomats, and soldiers. Diseases such as plague also spread along the Silk Road, possibly contributing to the Black Death.

Despite repeatedly surviving many geopolitical changes and disruptions, the Silk Road abruptly lost its importance with the rise of the Ottoman Empire in 1453, which almost immediately severed trade between East and West. This prompted European efforts to seek alternative routes to Eastern riches, thereby ushering the Age of Discovery, European colonialism, and a more intensified process of globalization, which had arguably begun with the Silk Road. The network's influence survives into the 21st century. One of the world's best known historical figures, Marco Polo, was a Medieval Venetian merchant who was among the earliest Westerners to visit and describe the East. The name "New Silk Road" is used to describe several large infrastructure projects seeking to expand transportation along many of the historic trade routes; among the best known include the Eurasian Land Bridge and the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In June 2014, UNESCO designated the Chang'an-Tianshan corridor of the Silk Road as a World Heritage Site, while the Indian portion remains on the tentative site list.

The Silk Road derives its name from the lucrative trade in silk, first developed in China, and a major reason for the connection of trade routes into an extensive transcontinental network. It derives from the German term Seidenstraße (literally "Silk Road") and was first popularized in 1877 by Ferdinand von Richthofen, who made seven expeditions to China from 1868 to 1872. However, the term itself had been in use in decades prior to that. The alternative translation "Silk Route" is also used occasionally. Although the term was coined in the 19th century, it did not gain widespread acceptance in academia or popularity among the public until the 20th century. The first book entitled The Silk Road was by Swedish geographer Sven Hedin in 1938.

The use of the term 'Silk Road' is not without its detractors. For instance, Warwick Ball contends that the maritime spice trade with India and Arabia was far more consequential for the economy of the Roman Empire than the silk trade with China, which at sea was conducted mostly through India and on land was handled by numerous intermediaries such as the Sogdians. Going as far as to call the whole thing a "myth" of modern academia, Ball argues that there was no coherent overland trade system and no free movement of goods from East Asia to the West until the period of the Mongol Empire. He notes that traditional authors discussing east-west trade such as Marco Polo and Edward Gibbon never labelled any route a "silk" one in particular.

The southern stretches of the Silk Road, from Khotan ( Xinjiang) to Eastern China, were first used for jade and not silk, as long as 5000 BCE, and is still in use for this purpose. The term "Jade Road" would have been more appropriate than "Silk Road" had it not been for the far larger and geographically wider nature of the silk trade; the term is in current use in China.

Precursors

Chinese and Central Asian contacts (2nd millennium BCE)

Central Eurasia has been known from ancient times for its horse riding and horse breeding communities, and the overland Steppe Route across the northern steppes of Central Eurasia was in use long before that of the Silk Road. Archeological sites such as the Berel burial ground in Kazakhstan, confirmed that the nomadic Arimaspians were not only breeding horses for trade but also produced great craftsmen able to propagate exquisite art pieces along the Silk Road. From the 2nd millennium BCE, nephrite jade was being traded from mines in the region of Yarkand and Khotan to China. Significantly, these mines were not very far from the lapis lazuli and spinel ("Balas Ruby") mines in Badakhshan, and, although separated by the formidable Pamir Mountains, routes across them were apparently in use from very early times.

Genetic study of the Tarim mummies, found in the Tarim Basin, in the area of Loulan located along the Silk Road 200 kilometres (124 miles) east of Yingpan, dating to as early as 1600 BCE, suggest very ancient contacts between East and West. These mummified remains may have been of people who spoke Indo-European languages, which remained in use in the Tarim Basin, in the modern day Xinjiang region, until replaced by Turkic influences from the Xiongnu culture to the north and by Chinese influences from the eastern Han dynasty, who spoke a Sino-Tibetan language.

Some remnants of what was probably Chinese silk dating from 1070 BCE have been found in Ancient Egypt. The Great Oasis cities of Central Asia played a crucial role in the effective functioning of the Silk Road trade. The originating source seems sufficiently reliable, but silk degrades very rapidly, so it cannot be verified whether it was cultivated silk (which almost certainly came from China) or a type of , which might have come from the Mediterranean or Middle East.

Following contacts between Metropolitan China and nomadic western border territories in the 8th century BCE, gold was introduced from Central Asia, and Chinese jade carvers began to make imitation designs of the steppes, adopting the Scythian-style animal art of the steppes (depictions of animals locked in combat). This style is particularly reflected in the rectangular belt plaques made of gold and bronze, with other versions in jade and steatite. An elite burial near Stuttgart, Germany, dated to the 6th century BCE, was excavated and found to have not only Greek bronzes but also Chinese silks. Similar animal-shaped pieces of art and wrestler motifs on belts have been found in Scythian grave sites stretching from the Black Sea region all the way to Warring States era archaeological sites in Inner Mongolia (at Aluchaideng) and Shaanxi (at Keshengzhuang) in China.

The expansion of Scythian cultures, stretching from the Hungarian plain and the Carpathian Mountains to the Chinese Kansu Corridor, and linking the Middle East with Northern India and the Punjab, undoubtedly played an important role in the development of the Silk Road. Scythians accompanied the Assyrian Esarhaddon on his invasion of Egypt, and their distinctive triangular arrowheads have been found as far south as Aswan. These nomadic peoples were dependent upon neighbouring settled populations for a number of important technologies, and in addition to raiding vulnerable settlements for these commodities, they also encouraged long-distance merchants as a source of income through the enforced payment of tariffs. Sogdians played a major role in facilitating trade between China and Central Asia along the Silk Roads as late as the 10th century, their language serving as a lingua franca for Asian trade as far back as the 4th century.

Persian Royal Road (500-330 BCE)

By the time of Herodotus (c. 475 BCE), the Royal Road of the Persian Empire ran some 2,857 km (1,775 mi) from the city of Susa on the Karun (250 km (155 mi) east of the Tigris) to the port of Smyrna (modern İzmir in Turkey) on the Aegean Sea. It was maintained and protected by the Achaemenid Empire (c. 500-330 BCE) and had postal stations and relays at regular intervals. By having fresh horses and riders ready at each relay, royal couriers could carry messages and traverse the length of the road in nine days, while normal travelers took about three months.

Expansion of the Greek Empire (329 BCE-10 CE)

The next major step toward the development of the Silk Road was the expansion of the Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great into Central Asia. In August 329 BCE, at the mouth of the Fergana Valley, he founded the city of Alexandria Eschate or "Alexandria The Furthest".

The Greeks remained in Central Asia for the next three centuries, first through the administration of the Seleucid Empire, and then with the establishment of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (250-125 BCE) in Bactria (modern Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan) and the later Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BCE - 10 CE) in modern Northern Pakistan and Afghanistan. They continued to expand eastward, especially during the reign of Euthydemus (230-200 BCE), who extended his control beyond Alexandria Eschate to Sogdiana. There are indications that he may have led expeditions as far as Kashgar on the western edge of the Taklamakan Desert, leading to the first known contacts between China and the West around 200 BCE. The Greek historian Strabo writes, "they extended their empire even as far as the Seres (China) and the Phryni."

Initiation in China (130 BCE)

The Silk Road was initiated and spread by China's Han dynasty through exploration and conquests in Central Asia. With the Mediterranean linked to the Fergana Valley, the next step was to open a route across the Tarim Basin and the Hexi Corridor to China Proper. This extension came around 130 BCE, with the embassies of the Han dynasty to Central Asia following the reports of the ambassador Zhang Qian (who was originally sent to obtain an alliance with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu). Zhang Qian visited directly the kingdom of Dayuan in Ferghana, the territories of the Yuezhi in Transoxiana, the Bactrian country of Daxia with its remnants of Greco-Bactrian rule, and Kangju. He also made reports on neighbouring countries that he did not visit, such as Anxi ( Parthia), Tiaozhi ( Mesopotamia), Shendu ( Indian subcontinent) and the Wusun. Zhang Qian's report suggested the economic reason for Chinese expansion and wall-building westward, and trail-blazed the Silk Road, making it one of the most famous trade routes in history and in the world.

After winning the War of the Heavenly Horses and the Han-Xiongnu War, Chinese armies established themselves in Central Asia, initiating the Silk Route as a major avenue of international trade. Some say that the Chinese Emperor Wu became interested in developing commercial relationships with the sophisticated urban civilizations of Ferghana, Bactria, and the Parthian Empire: "The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned thus: Ferghana (Dayuan "Great Ionians") and the possessions of Bactria ( Ta-Hsia) and Parthian Empire ( Anxi) are large countries, full of rare things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to occupations somewhat identical with those of the Chinese people, but with weak armies, and placing great value on the rich produce of China" ( Hou Hanshu, Later Han History). Others say that Emperor Wu was mainly interested in fighting the Xiongnu and that major trade began only after the Chinese pacified the Hexi Corridor. The Silk Roads' origin lay in the hands of the Chinese. The soil in China lacked Selenium, a deficiency which contributed to muscular weakness and reduced growth in horses. Consequently, horses in China were too frail to support the weight of a Chinese soldier. The Chinese needed the superior horses that nomads bred on the Eurasian steppes, and nomads wanted things only agricultural societies produced, such as grain and silk. Even after the construction of the Great Wall, nomads gathered at the gates of the wall to exchange. Soldiers sent to guard the wall were often paid in silk which they traded with the nomads. Past its inception, the Chinese continued to dominate the Silk Roads, a process which was accelerated when "China snatched control of the Silk Road from the Hsiung-nu" and the Chinese general Cheng Ki "installed himself as protector of the Tarim at Wu-lei, situated between Kara Shahr and Kucha." "China's control of the Silk Road at the time of the later Han, by ensuring the freedom of transcontinental trade along the double chain of oases north and south of the Tarim, favoured the dissemination of Buddhism in the river basin, and with it Indian literature and Hellenistic art."

The Chinese were also strongly attracted by the tall and powerful horses (named " Heavenly horses") in the possession of the Dayuan (literally the "Great Ionians", the Greek kingdoms of Central Asia), which were of capital importance in fighting the nomadic Xiongnu. They defeated the Dayuan in the Han-Dayuan war. The Chinese subsequently sent numerous embassies, around ten every year, to these countries and as far as Seleucid Syria.

Thus more embassies were dispatched to Anxi [Parthia], Yancai [who later joined the Alans ], Lijian [Syria under the Greek Seleucids], Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia), and Tianzhu [northwestern India]... As a rule, rather more than ten such missions went forward in the course of a year, and at the least five or six. ( Hou Hanshu, Later Han History).

These connections marked the beginning of the Silk Road trade network that extended to the Roman Empire. The Chinese campaigned in Central Asia on several occasions, and direct encounters between Han troops and Roman legionaries (probably captured or recruited as mercenaries by the Xiong Nu) are recorded, particularly in the 36 BCE battle of Sogdiana (Joseph Needham, Sidney Shapiro). It has been suggested that the Chinese crossbow was transmitted to the Roman world on such occasions, although the Greek gastraphetes provides an alternative origin. R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy suggest that in 36 BCE,

[A] Han expedition into Central Asia, west of Jaxartes River, apparently encountered and defeated a contingent of Roman legionaries. The Romans may have been part of Antony's army invading Parthia. Sogdiana (modern Bukhara), east of the Oxus River, on the Polytimetus River, was apparently the most easterly penetration ever made by Roman forces in Asia. The margin of Chinese victory appears to have been their crossbows, whose bolts and darts seem easily to have penetrated Roman shields and armour.

The Roman historian Florus also describes the visit of numerous envoys, which included (China), to the first Roman Emperor Augustus, who reigned between 27 BCE and 14 CE:

Even the rest of the nations of the world which were not subject to the imperial sway were sensible of its grandeur, and looked with reverence to the Roman people, the great conqueror of nations. Thus even Scythians and Sarmatians sent envoys to seek the friendship of Rome. Nay, the Seres came likewise, and the Indians who dwelt beneath the vertical sun, bringing presents of precious stones and pearls and elephants, but thinking all of less moment than the vastness of the journey which they had undertaken, and which they said had occupied four years. In truth, it needed but to look at their complexion to see that they were people of another world than ours.

The Han Dynasty army regularly policed the trade route against nomadic bandit forces generally identified as Xiongnu. Han general Ban Chao led an army of 70,000 mounted infantry and light cavalry troops in the 1st century CE to secure the trade routes, reaching far west to the Tarim Basin. Ban Chao expanded his conquests across the Pamirs to the shores of the Caspian Sea and the borders of Parthia. It was from here that the Han general dispatched envoy Gan Ying to Daqin (Rome). The Silk Road essentially came into being from the 1st century BCE, following these efforts by China to consolidate a road to the Western world and India, both through direct settlements in the area of the Tarim Basin and diplomatic relations with the countries of the Dayuan, Parthians and Bactrians further west. The Silk Roads were a "complex network of trade routes" that gave people the chance to exchange goods and culture.

A maritime Silk Route opened up between Chinese-controlled Giao Chỉ (centred in modern Vietnam, near Hanoi), probably by the 1st century. It extended, via ports on the coasts of India and Sri Lanka, all the way to Roman-controlled ports in Roman Egypt and the Nabataean territories on the northeastern coast of the Red Sea. The earliest Roman glassware bowl found in China was unearthed from a Western Han tomb in Guangzhou, dated to the early 1st century BCE, indicating that Roman commercial items were being imported through the South China Sea. According to Chinese dynastic histories, it is from this region that the Roman embassies arrived in China, beginning in 166 CE during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Emperor Huan of Han. Other Roman glasswares have been found in Eastern-Han-era tombs (25-220 CE) more further inland in Nanjing and Luoyang.

P.O. Harper asserts that a 2nd or 3rd-century Roman gilt silver plate found in Jingyuan, Gansu, China with a central image of the Greco-Roman god Dionysus resting on a feline creature, most likely came via Greater Iran (i.e. Sogdiana). Valerie Hansen (2012) believed that earliest Roman coins found in China date to the 4th century, during Late Antiquity and the Dominate period, and come from the Byzantine Empire. However, Warwick Ball (2016) highlights the recent discovery of sixteen Principate-era Roman coins found in Xi'an (formerly Chang'an, one of the two Han capitals) that were minted during the reigns of Roman emperors spanning from Tiberius to Aurelian (i.e. 1st to 3rd centuries CE).

Helen Wang points out that although these coins were found in China, they were deposited there in the twentieth century, not in ancient times, and therefore do not shed light on historic contacts between China and Rome. Roman golden medallions made during the reign of Antoninus Pius and quite possibly his successor Marcus Aurelius have been found at Óc Eo in southern Vietnam, which was then part of the Kingdom of Funan bordering the Chinese province of Jiaozhi in northern Vietnam. Given the archaeological finds of Mediterranean artefacts made by Louis Malleret in the 1940s, Óc Eo may have been the same site as the port city of Kattigara described by Ptolemy in his (c. 150 CE), although Ferdinand von Richthofen had previously believed it was closer to Hanoi.

Roman Empire (30 BCE-3rd century CE)

Soon after the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE, regular communications and trade between China, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe blossomed on an unprecedented scale. The Roman Empire inherited eastern trade routes that were part of the Silk Road from the earlier Hellenistic powers and the Arabs. With control of these trade routes, citizens of the Roman Empire received new luxuries and greater prosperity for the Empire as a whole. The Roman-style glassware discovered in the archeological sites of Gyeongju, the capital of the Silla kingdom (Korea) showed that Roman artifacts were traded as far as the Korean peninsula. The Greco- Roman trade with India started by Eudoxus of Cyzicus in 130 BCE continued to increase, and according to Strabo (II.5.12), by the time of Augustus, up to 120 ships were setting sail every year from Myos Hormos in Roman Egypt to India. The Roman Empire connected with the Central Asian Silk Road through their ports in Barygaza (known today as Bharuch) and Barbaricum (known today as the city of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan) and continued along the western coast of India. An ancient "travel guide" to this Indian Ocean trade route was the Greek Periplus of the Erythraean Sea written in 60 CE.

The travelling party of Maës Titianus penetrated farthest east along the Silk Road from the Mediterranean world, probably with the aim of regularising contacts and reducing the role of middlemen, during one of the lulls in Rome's intermittent wars with Parthia, which repeatedly obstructed movement along the Silk Road. Intercontinental trade and communication became regular, organised, and protected by the "Great Powers". Intense trade with the Roman Empire soon followed, confirmed by the Roman craze for Chinese silk (supplied through the Parthians), even though the Romans thought silk was obtained from trees. This belief was affirmed by Seneca the Younger in his Phaedra and by Virgil in his Georgics. Notably, Pliny the Elder knew better. Speaking of the bombyx or silk moth, he wrote in his Natural Histories "They weave webs, like spiders, that become a luxurious clothing material for women, called silk." The Romans traded spices, glassware, perfumes, and silk.

Roman artisans began to replace yarn with valuable plain silk cloths from China and the Silla Kingdom in Gyeongju, Korea. Chinese wealth grew as they delivered silk and other luxury goods to the Roman Empire, whose wealthy women admired their beauty. The Roman Senate issued, in vain, several edicts to prohibit the wearing of silk, on economic and moral grounds: the import of Chinese silk caused a huge outflow of gold, and silk clothes were considered decadent and immoral.

I can see clothes of silk, if materials that do not hide the body, nor even one's decency, can be called clothes.... Wretched flocks of maids labour so that the adulteress may be visible through her thin dress, so that her husband has no more acquaintance than any outsider or foreigner with his wife's body.

The Western Roman Empire, and its demand for sophisticated Asian products, collapsed in the fifth century.

The unification of Central Asia and Northern India within the Kushan Empire between the first and third centuries reinforced the role of the powerful merchants from Bactria and Taxila. They fostered multi-cultural interaction as indicated by their 2nd century treasure hoards filled with products from the Greco-Roman world, China, and India, such as in the archeological site of Begram.

Byzantine Empire (6th-14th centuries)

Byzantine Greek historian Procopius stated that two Nestorian Christian monks eventually uncovered the way silk was made. From this revelation, monks were sent by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (ruled 527-565) as spies on the Silk Road from Constantinople to China and back to steal the silkworm eggs, resulting in silk production in the Mediterranean, particularly in Thrace in northern Greece, and giving the Byzantine Empire a monopoly on silk production in medieval Europe. In 568 the Byzantine ruler Justin II was greeted by a Sogdian embassy representing Istämi, ruler of the First Turkic Khaganate, who formed an alliance with the Byzantines against Khosrow I of the Sasanian Empire that allowed the Byzantines to bypass the Sasanian merchants and trade directly with the Sogdians for purchasing Chinese silk. Although the Byzantines had already procured silkworm eggs from China by this point, the quality of Chinese silk was still far greater than anything produced in the West, a fact that is perhaps emphasized by the discovery of coins minted by Justin II found in a Chinese tomb of Shanxi province dated to the Sui dynasty (581-618).

Both the Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang, covering the history of the Chinese Tang dynasty (618-907), record that a new state called Fu-lin (拂菻; i.e. Byzantine Empire) was virtually identical to the previous (大秦; i.e. Roman Empire). Several Fu-lin embassies were recorded for the Tang period, starting in 643 with an alleged embassy by Constans II (transliterated as Bo duo li, 波多力, from his nickname "Kōnstantinos Pogonatos") to the court of Emperor Taizong of Tang. The History of Song describes the final embassy and its arrival in 1081, apparently sent by Michael VII Doukas (transliterated as Mie li yi ling kai sa, 滅力伊靈改撒, from his name and title Michael VII Parapinakēs Caesar) to the court of Emperor Shenzong of the Song dynasty (960-1279).

However, the History of Yuan claims that a Byzantine man became a leading astronomer and physician in Khanbaliq, at the court of Kublai Khan, Mongol founder of the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) and was even granted the noble title 'Prince of Fu lin' ( Chinese: 拂菻王; Fú lǐn wáng). The Uyghur Nestorian Christian diplomat Rabban Bar Sauma, who set out from his Chinese home in Khanbaliq (Beijing) and acted as a representative for Arghun (a grandnephew of Kublai Khan), traveled throughout Europe and attempted to secure military alliances with Edward I of England, Philip IV of France, Pope Nicholas IV, as well as the Byzantine ruler Andronikos II Palaiologos. Andronikos II had two half-sisters who were married to great-grandsons of Genghis Khan, which made him an in-law with the Yuan-dynasty Mongol ruler in Beijing, Kublai Khan.

The History of Ming preserves an account where the Hongwu Emperor, after founding the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), had a supposed Byzantine merchant named Nieh-ku-lun (捏古倫) deliver his proclamation about the establishment of a new dynasty to the Byzantine court of John V Palaiologos in September 1371. Friedrich Hirth (1885), Emil Bretschneider (1888), and more recently Edward Luttwak (2009) presumed that this was none other than Nicolaus de Bentra, a Roman Catholic bishop of Khanbilaq chosen by Pope John XXII to replace the previous archbishop John of Montecorvino.

Tang dynasty (7th century)

Although the Silk Road was initially formulated during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (141-87 BCE), it was reopened by the Tang Empire in 639 when Hou Junji conquered the Western Regions, and remained open for almost four decades. It was closed after the Tibetans captured it in 678, but in 699, during Empress Wu's period, the Silk Road reopened when the Tang reconquered the Four Garrisons of Anxi originally installed in 640, once again connecting China directly to the West for land-based trade. The Tang captured the vital route through the Gilgit Valley from Tibet in 722, lost it to the Tibetans in 737, and regained it under the command of the Goguryeo-Korean General Gao Xianzhi.

While the Turks were settled in the Ordos region (former territory of the Xiongnu), the Tang government took on the military policy of dominating the central steppe. The Tang dynasty (along with Turkic allies) conquered and subdued Central Asia during the 640s and 650s. During Emperor Taizong's reign alone, large campaigns were launched against not only the Göktürks, but also separate campaigns against the Tuyuhun, the oasis states, and the Xueyantuo. Under Emperor Taizong, Tang general Li Jing conquered the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. Under Emperor Gaozong, Tang general Su Dingfang conquered the Western Turkic Khaganate, an important ally of the Byzantine empire. After these conquests, the Tang dynasty fully controlled the Xiyu, which was the strategic location astride the Silk Road. This led the Tang dynasty to reopen the Silk Road, with this portion named the Tang-Tubo Road ("Tang-Tibet Road") in many historical texts.

The Tang dynasty established a second Pax Sinica, and the Silk Road reached its golden age, whereby Persian and Sogdian merchants benefited from the commerce between East and West. At the same time, the Chinese empire welcomed foreign cultures, making it very cosmopolitan in its urban centres. In addition to the land route, the Tang dynasty also developed the maritime Silk Route. Chinese envoys had been sailing through the Indian Ocean to India since perhaps the 2nd century BCE, yet it was during the Tang dynasty that a strong Chinese maritime presence could be found in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea into Persia, Mesopotamia (sailing up the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq), Arabia, Egypt, Aksum (Ethiopia), and Somalia in the Horn of Africa.

Sogdian-Türkic tribes (4th-8th centuries)

The Silk Road represents an early phenomenon of political and cultural integration due to inter-regional trade. In its heyday, it sustained an international culture that strung together groups as diverse as the Magyars, Armenians, and Chinese. The Silk Road reached its peak in the west during the time of the Byzantine Empire; in the Nile- Oxus section, from the Sassanid Empire period to the Il Khanate period; and in the sinitic zone from the Three Kingdoms period to the Yuan dynasty period. Trade between East and West also developed across the Indian Ocean, between Alexandria in Egypt and Guangzhou in China. Persian Sassanid coins emerged as a means of currency, just as valuable as silk yarn and textiles.

Under its strong integrating dynamics on the one hand and the impacts of change it transmitted on the other, tribal societies previously living in isolation along the Silk Road, and pastoralists who were of barbarian cultural development, were drawn to the riches and opportunities of the civilisations connected by the routes, taking on the trades of marauders or mercenaries. "Many barbarian tribes became skilled warriors able to conquer rich cities and fertile lands and to forge strong military empires."

The Sogdians dominated the east-west trade after the 4th century up to the 8th century. They were the main caravan merchants of Central Asia. A.V. Dybo noted that "according to historians, the main driving force of the Great Silk Road were not just Sogdians, but the carriers of a mixed Sogdian-Türkic culture that often came from mixed families."

The Silk Road gave rise to the clusters of military states of nomadic origins in North China, ushered the Nestorian, Manichaean, Buddhist, and later Islamic religions into Central Asia and China.

Islamic era (8th-13th centuries)

By the Umayyad era, Damascus had overtaken Ctesiphon as a major trade center until the Abbasid dynasty built the city of Baghdad, which became the most important city along the silk road.

At the end of its glory, the routes brought about the largest continental empire ever, the Mongol Empire, with its political centres strung along the Silk Road ( Beijing) in North China, Karakorum in central Mongolia, Sarmakhand in Transoxiana, Tabriz in Northern Iran, realising the political unification of zones previously loosely and intermittently connected by material and cultural goods.

The Islamic world expanded into Central Asia during the 8th century, under the Umayyad Caliphate, while its successor the Abbasid Caliphate put a halt to Chinese westward expansion at the Battle of Talas in 751 (near the Talas River in modern-day Kyrgyzstan). However, following the disastrous An Lushan Rebellion (755-763) and the conquest of the Western Regions by the Tibetan Empire, the Tang Empire was unable to reassert its control over Central Asia. Contemporary Tang authors noted how the dynasty had gone into decline after this point. In 848 the Tang Chinese, led by the commander Zhang Yichao, were only able to reclaim the Hexi Corridor and Dunhuang in Gansu from the Tibetans. The Persian Samanid Empire (819-999) centered in Bukhara ( Uzbekistan) continued the trade legacy of the Sogdians. The disruptions of trade were curtailed in that part of the world by the end of the 10th century and conquests of Central Asia by the Turkic Islamic Kara-Khanid Khanate, yet Nestorian Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and Buddhism in Central Asia virtually disappeared.

During the early 13th century Khwarezmia was invaded by the Mongol Empire. The Mongol ruler Genghis Khan had the once vibrant cities of Bukhara and Samarkand burned to the ground after besieging them. However, in 1370 Samarkand saw a revival as the capital of the new Timurid Empire. The Turko-Mongol ruler Timur forcefully moved artisans and intellectuals from across Asia to Samarkand, making it one of the most important trade centers and cultural of the Islamic world.

Mongol empire (13th-14th centuries)

The Mongol expansion throughout the Asian continent from around 1207 to 1360 helped bring political stability and re-established the Silk Road (via Karakorum and Khanbaliq). It also brought an end to the dominance of the Islamic Caliphate over world trade. Because the Mongols came to control the trade routes, trade circulated throughout the region, though they never abandoned their nomadic lifestyle.

The Mongol rulers wanted to establish their capital on the Central Asian steppe, so to accomplish this goal, after every conquest they enlisted local people (traders, scholars, artisans) to help them construct and manage their empire. The Mongols developed overland and maritime routes throughout the Eurasian continent, Black Sea and the Mediterranean in the west, and the Indian Ocean in the south. In the second half of the thirteenth century Mongol-sponsored business partnerships flourished in the Indian Ocean connecting Mongol Middle East and Mongol China

The Mongol diplomat Rabban Bar Sauma visited the courts of Europe in 1287-88 and provided a detailed written report to the Mongols. Around the same time, the Venetian explorer Marco Polo became one of the first Europeans to travel the Silk Road to China. His tales, documented in The Travels of Marco Polo, opened Western eyes to some of the customs of the Far East. He was not the first to bring back stories, but he was one of the most widely read. He had been preceded by numerous Christian missionaries to the East, such as William of Rubruck, Benedykt Polak, Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, and Andrew of Longjumeau. Later envoys included Odoric of Pordenone, Giovanni de' Marignolli, John of Montecorvino, Niccolò de' Conti, and Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan Muslim traveller who passed through the present-day Middle East and across the Silk Road from Tabriz between 1325 and 1354.

In the 13th century, efforts were made at forming a Franco-Mongol alliance, with an exchange of ambassadors and (failed) attempts at military collaboration in the Holy Land during the later Crusades. Eventually, the Mongols in the Ilkhanate, after they had destroyed the Abbasid and Ayyubid dynasties, converted to Islam and signed the 1323 Treaty of Aleppo with the surviving Muslim power, the Egyptian Mamluks.

Some studies indicate that the Black Death, which devastated Europe starting in the late 1340s, may have reached Europe from Central Asia (or China) along the trade routes of the Mongol Empire. One theory holds that Genoese traders coming from the entrepot of Trebizond in northern Turkey carried the disease to Western Europe; like many other outbreaks of plague, there is strong evidence that it originated in marmots in Central Asia and was carried westwards to the Black Sea by Silk Road traders.

Decline and disintegration (15th century)

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The fragmentation of the Mongol Empire loosened the political, cultural, and economic unity of the Silk Road. Turkmeni marching lords seized land around the western part of the Silk Road from the decaying Byzantine Empire. After the fall of the Mongol Empire, the great political powers along the Silk Road became economically and culturally separated. Accompanying the crystallisation of regional states was the decline of nomad power, partly due to the devastation of the Black Death and partly due to the encroachment of sedentary civilisations equipped with gunpowder.

Partial revival in West Asia

Significant is Armenians role in making Europe Asia trade possible by being located in the crossing roads between these two. Armenia had a monopoly on almost all trade roads in this area and a colossal network. From 1700 to 1765, the total export of Persian silk was entirely conducted by Armenians. They were also exporting raisins, coffee beans, figs, Turkish yarn, camel hair, various precious stones, rice, etc., from Turkey and Iran.

Collapse (18th century)

The silk trade continued to flourish until it was disrupted by the collapse of the Safavid Empire in the 1720s.

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New Silk Road (20th-21st centuries)

In the 20th century, the Silk Road through the Suez Canal and the overland connections were repeatedly blocked from the First World War on. This also applied to the massive trade barriers of the Cold War. It was not until the 1990s that the "old" trade routes began to reactivate again. In addition to the Chinese activities and the integration of Africa, this also applies to the increasing importance of the Mediterranean region and the connection to Central Europe such as the trade center of Trieste.

Trade along the Silk Road could soon account for almost 40% of total world trade, with a large part taking place by sea. The land route of the Silk Road seems to remain a niche project in terms of transport volume in the future. As a result of the Chinese Silk Road Initiative and investments, trade seems to be intensifying on the relevant routes.

Maritime Silk Road

The maritime Silk Road follows the old trade route that was opened by the Chinese admiral Zheng He during the early Ming Dynasty. In particular, the establishment of the lockless Suez Canal then strongly promoted maritime trade between Asia and Europe in this area. While many trade flows were interrupted in the 20th century by the World Wars, the Suez Crisis and the Cold War, from the beginning of the 21st century many of the trading centers that had already existed in the 19th century were activated again.

The Suez Canal was also continually expanded and its time-saving role in Asia-Europe trade was highlighted. At the beginning of the Maritime Silk Road are the major Chinese ports in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Ningbo-Zhoushan. The Chinese investments in Africa will connect large areas of Central and East Africa to the maritime Silk Road and thus to China and directly to southern Europe via the Suez Canal. The increasing importance of the Mediterranean as a trading center with its direct, fast connections to Central and Eastern Europe is evident from the international investments in port cities of Piraeus and Trieste. Trieste in particular plays a major role in the economic zone in Central Europe known as the Blue Banana. This includes a banana-shaped corridor from southern England via the Benelux region, western Germany and Switzerland to northern Italy. The transport via Trieste instead of northern ports such as Rotterdam and Hamburg shortens the delivery time from Shanghai by ten days and from Hong Kong by nine days. On the maritime Silk Road, on which more than half of all containers in the world are already on the move, deep-water ports are being expanded, logistics hubs are being built and new transport routes such as railways and roads in the hinterland are being created.

Today the maritime silk road runs with its connections from the Chinese coast to the south via Hanoi to Jakarta, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur through the Strait of Malacca via the Sri Lankan Colombo towards the southern tip of India via Malé, the capital of the Maldives, to the East African Mombasa, from there to Djibouti, then through the Red Sea via the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean, there via Haifa, Istanbul and Athens to the Upper Adriatic region to the northern Italian hub of Trieste with its international free port and its rail connections to Central Europe and the North Sea. As a result, Poland, the Baltic States, Northern Europe and Central Europe are also connected to the maritime silk road.

Railway (1990)

The Eurasian Land Bridge, a railway through China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia, is sometimes referred to as the "New Silk Road". The last link in one of these two railway routes was completed in 1990, when the railway systems of China and Kazakhstan connected at Alataw Pass (Alashan Kou). In 2008 the line was used to connect the cities of Ürümqi in China's Xinjiang Province to Almaty and Astana in Kazakhstan. In October 2008 the first Trans-Eurasia Logistics train reached Hamburg from Xiangtan. Starting in July 2011 the line has been used by a freight service that connects Chongqing, China with Duisburg, Germany, cutting travel time for cargo from about 36 days by container ship to just 13 days by freight train. In 2013, Hewlett-Packard began moving large freight trains of laptop computers and monitors along this rail route. In January 2017, the service sent its first train to London. The network additionally connects to Madrid and Milan.

Revival of cities (1966) and Other Later 20th Century Travel

After an earthquake that hit Tashkent in Central Asia in 1966, the city had to rebuild itself. Although it took a huge toll on their markets, this commenced a revival of modern silk road cities.

It was also in this general period (late 1950s-late 1970s) that the Hippie trail followed parts of the Silk Road, particularly in Turkey and Iran, as thousands of travelers went overland from Europe to India. Into the next century tours and other individual travel has occurred on some of the route, though for political and safety considerations mainly through Central Asia.

Belt and Road Initiative (2013)

During a September 2013 a visit to Kazakhstan, China's Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced a plan for a New Silk Road from China to Europe. The latest iterations of this plan, dubbed the " Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI), includes a land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, with primary points in Ürümqi, Dostyk, Nur-Sultan, Gomel, the Belarusian city of Brest, and the Polish cities of Małaszewicze and Łódź-which would be hubs of logistics and transshipment to other countries of Europe.

On 15 February 2016, with a change in routing, the first train dispatched under the scheme arrived from eastern Zhejiang Province to Tehran. Though this section does not complete the Silk Road-style overland connection between China and Europe, but new railway line connecting China to Europe via Istanbul's has now been established. The actual route went through Almaty, Bishkek, Samarkand, and Dushanbe.

Northern route

The northern route started at Chang'an (now called Xi'an), an ancient capital of China that was moved further east during the Later Han to Luoyang. The route was defined around the 1st century BCE when Han Wudi put an end to harassment by nomadic tribes.

The northern route travelled northwest through the Chinese province of Gansu from Shaanxi Province and split into three further routes, two of them following the mountain ranges to the north and south of the Taklamakan Desert to rejoin at Kashgar, and the other going north of the Tian Shan mountains through Turpan, Talgar, and Almaty (in what is now southeast Kazakhstan). The routes split again west of Kashgar, with a southern branch heading down the Alai Valley towards Termez (in modern Uzbekistan) and Balkh (Afghanistan), while the other travelled through Kokand in the Fergana Valley (in present-day eastern Uzbekistan) and then west across the Karakum Desert. Both routes joined the main southern route before reaching ancient Merv, Turkmenistan. Another branch of the northern route turned northwest past the Aral Sea and north of the Caspian Sea, then and on to the Black Sea.

Southern route

The southern route or Karakoram route was mainly a single route from China through the Karakoram mountains, where it persists in modern times as the Karakoram Highway, a paved road that connects Pakistan and China. It then set off westwards, but with southward spurs so travelers could complete the journey by sea from various points. Crossing the high mountains, it passed through northern Pakistan, over the Hindu Kush mountains, and into Afghanistan, rejoining the northern route near Merv, Turkmenistan. From Merv, it followed a nearly straight line west through mountainous northern Iran, Mesopotamia, and the northern tip of the Syrian Desert to the Levant, where Mediterranean trading ships plied regular routes to Italy, while land routes went either north through Anatolia or south to North Africa. Another branch road travelled from Herat through Susa to Charax Spasinu at the head of the Persian Gulf and across to Petra and on to Alexandria and other eastern Mediterranean ports from where ships carried the cargoes to Rome.

Southwestern route

The southwestern route is believed to be the Ganges/ Brahmaputra Delta, which has been the subject of international interest for over two millennia. Strabo, the 1st-century Roman writer, mentions the deltaic lands: "Regarding merchants who now sail from Egypt...as far as the Ganges, they are only private citizens..." His comments are interesting as Roman beads and other materials are being found at Wari-Bateshwar ruins, the ancient city with roots from much earlier, before the Bronze Age, presently being slowly excavated beside the Old Brahmaputra in Bangladesh. Ptolemy's map of the Ganges Delta, a remarkably accurate effort, showed that his informants knew all about the course of the Brahmaputra River, crossing through the Himalayas then bending westward to its source in Tibet. It is doubtless that this delta was a major international trading center, almost certainly from much earlier than the Common Era. Gemstones and other merchandise from Thailand and Java were traded in the delta and through it. Chinese archaeological writer Bin Yang and some earlier writers and archaeologists, such as Janice Stargardt, strongly suggest this route of international trade as Sichuan- Yunnan- Burma- Bangladesh route. According to Bin Yang, especially from the 12th century the route was used to ship bullion from Yunnan (gold and silver are among the minerals in which Yunnan is rich), through northern Burma, into modern Bangladesh, making use of the ancient route, known as the 'Ledo' route. The emerging evidence of the ancient cities of Bangladesh, in particular Wari-Bateshwar ruins, Mahasthangarh, Bhitagarh, Bikrampur, Egarasindhur, and Sonargaon, are believed to be the international trade centers in this route.

Maritime route

The trade route encompassed numbers of bodies of waters; including South China Sea, Strait of Malacca, Indian Ocean, Gulf of Bengal, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea. The maritime route overlaps with historic Southeast Asian maritime trade, Spice trade, Indian Ocean trade and after 8th century - the Arabian naval trade network. The network also extended eastward to East China Sea and Yellow Sea to connect China with Korean Peninsula and Japanese archipelago.

Expansion of religions

Richard Foltz, Xinru Liu, and others have described how trading activities along the Silk Road over many centuries facilitated the transmission not just of goods but also ideas and culture, notably in the area of religions. Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Manichaeism, and Islam all spread across Eurasia through trade networks that were tied to specific religious communities and their institutions. Notably, established Buddhist monasteries along the Silk Road offered a haven, as well as a new religion for foreigners.

The spread of religions and cultural traditions along the Silk Roads, according to Jerry H. Bentley, also led to syncretism. One example was the encounter with the Chinese and Xiongnu nomads. These unlikely events of cross-cultural contact allowed both cultures to adapt to each other as an alternative. The Xiongnu adopted Chinese agricultural techniques, dress style, and lifestyle, while the Chinese adopted Xiongnu military techniques, some dress style, music, and dance. Perhaps most surprising of the cultural exchanges between China and the Xiongnu, Chinese soldiers sometimes defected and converted to the Xiongnu way of life, and stayed in the steppes for fear of punishment.

Nomadic mobility played a key role in facilitating inter-regional contacts and cultural exchanges along the ancient Silk Roads.

Transmission of Christianity

The transmission of Christianity was primarily known as Nestorianism on the Silk Road. In 781, an inscribed stele shows Nestorian Christian missionaries arriving on the Silk Road. Christianity had spread both east and west, simultaneously bringing Syriac language and evolving the forms of worship.

Transmission of Buddhism

The transmission of Buddhism to China via the Silk Road began in the 1st century CE, according to a semi-legendary account of an ambassador sent to the West by the Chinese Emperor Ming (58-75). During this period Buddhism began to spread throughout Southeast, East, and Central Asia. Mahayana, Theravada, and Tibetan Buddhism are the three primary forms of Buddhism that spread across Asia via the Silk Road.

The Buddhist movement was the first large-scale missionary movement in the history of world religions. Chinese missionaries were able to assimilate Buddhism, to an extent, to native Chinese Daoists, which brought the two beliefs together. Buddha's community of followers, the Sangha, consisted of male and female monks and laity. These people moved through India and beyond to spread the ideas of Buddha. As the number of members within the Sangha increased, it became costly so that only the larger cities were able to afford having the Buddha and his disciples visit. It is believed that under the control of the Kushans, Buddhism was spread to China and other parts of Asia from the middle of the first century to the middle of the third century. Extensive contacts started in the 2nd century, probably as a consequence of the expansion of the Kushan empire into the Chinese territory of the Tarim Basin, due to the missionary efforts of a great number of Buddhist monks to Chinese lands. The first missionaries and translators of Buddhists scriptures into Chinese were either Parthian, Kushan, Sogdian, or Kuchean.

One result of the spread of Buddhism along the Silk Road was displacement and conflict. The Greek Seleucids were exiled to Iran and Central Asia because of a new Iranian dynasty called the Parthians at the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, and as a result, the Parthians became the new middlemen for trade in a period when the Romans were major customers for silk. Parthian scholars were involved in one of the first-ever Buddhist text translations into the Chinese language. Its main trade centre on the Silk Road, the city of Merv, in due course and with the coming of age of Buddhism in China, became a major Buddhist centre by the middle of the 2nd century. Knowledge among people on the silk roads also increased when Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya dynasty (268-239 BCE) converted to Buddhism and raised the religion to official status in his northern Indian empire.

From the 4th century CE onward, Chinese pilgrims also started to travel on the Silk Road to India to get improved access to the original Buddhist scriptures, with Fa-hsien's pilgrimage to India (395-414), and later Xuanzang (629-644) and Hyecho, who traveled from Korea to India. The travels of the priest Xuanzang were fictionalized in the 16th century in a fantasy adventure novel called Journey to the West, which told of trials with demons and the aid given by various disciples on the journey.

There were many different schools of Buddhism travelling on the Silk Road. The Dharmaguptakas and the Sarvastivadins were two of the major Nikaya schools. These were both eventually displaced by the Mahayana, also known as "Great Vehicle". This movement of Buddhism first gained influence in the Khotan region. The Mahayana, which was more of a "pan-Buddhist movement" than a school of Buddhism, appears to have begun in northwestern India or Central Asia. It formed during the 1st century BCE and was small at first, and the origins of this "Greater Vehicle" are not fully clear. Some Mahayana scripts were found in northern Pakistan, but the main texts are still believed to have been composed in Central Asia along the Silk Road. These different schools and movements of Buddhism were a result of the diverse and complex influences and beliefs on the Silk Road. With the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, the initial direction of Buddhist development changed. This form of Buddhism highlighted, as stated by Xinru Liu, "the elusiveness of physical reality, including material wealth." It also stressed getting rid of material desire to a certain point; this was often difficult for followers to understand.

During the 5th and 6th centuries CE, merchants played a large role in the spread of religion, in particular Buddhism. Merchants found the moral and ethical teachings of Buddhism an appealing alternative to previous religions. As a result, merchants supported Buddhist monasteries along the Silk Road, and in return, the Buddhists gave the merchants somewhere to stay as they traveled from city to city. As a result, merchants spread Buddhism to foreign encounters as they traveled. Merchants also helped to establish diaspora within the communities they encountered, and over time their cultures became based on Buddhism. As a result, these communities became centers of literacy and culture with well-organized marketplaces, lodging, and storage. The voluntary conversion of Chinese ruling elites helped the spread of Buddhism in East Asia and led Buddhism to become widespread in Chinese society. The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism essentially ended around the 7th century with the rise of Islam in Central Asia.

Judaism on the Silk Road

Adherents to the Jewish faith first began to travel eastward from Mesopotamia following the Persian conquest of Babylon in 559 by the armies of Cyrus the Great. Judean slaves freed after the Persian conquest of Babylon dispersed throughout the Persian Empire. Some Judeans could have traveled as far east as Bactria and Sogdia, though there is not clear evidence for this early settlement of Judeans. After settlement, it is likely that most Judeans took up trades in commerce. Trading along the silk trade networks by Judean merchants increased as the trade networks expanded. By the classical age, when trade goods traveled from as far east as China to as far west as Rome, Judean merchants in Central Asia would have been in an advantageous position to participate in trade along the Silk Road. A group of Judean merchants originating from Gaul known as the Radanites were one group of Judean merchants that had thriving trade networks from China to Rome. This trade was facilitated by a positive relationship the Radanites were able to foster with the Khazar Turks. The Khazar Turks served as a good spot in between China and Rome, and the Khazar Turks saw a relationship with the Radanites as a good commercial opportunity.

According to Richard Foltz "there is more evidence for Iranian influence on the formation of Jewish [religious] ideas than the reverse." Concepts of a paradise ( heaven) for the good and a place of suffering ( hell) for the wicked, and a form or world-ending apocalypse came from Iranian religious ideas, and this is supported by a lack of such ideas from pre-exile Judean sources. The origin of the devil is also said to come from the Iranian Angra Mainyu, an evil figure in Persian mythology.

Expansion of the arts

Many artistic influences were transmitted via the Silk Road, particularly through Central Asia, where Hellenistic, Iranian, Indian and Chinese influences could intermix. Greco-Buddhist art represents one of the most vivid examples of this interaction. Silk was also a representation of art, serving as a religious symbol. Most importantly, silk was used as currency for trade along the silk road.

These artistic influences can be seen in the development of Buddhism where, for instance, Buddha was first depicted as human in the Kushan period. Many scholars have attributed this to Greek influence. The mixture of Greek and Indian elements can be found in later Buddhist art in China and throughout countries on the Silk Road.

The production of art consisted of many different items that were traded along the Silk Roads from the East to the West. One common product, the lapis lazuli, was a blue stone with golden specks, which was used as paint after it was ground into powder.

Commemoration

On 22 June 2014, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named the Silk Road a World Heritage Site at the 2014 Conference on World Heritage. The United Nations World Tourism Organization has been working since 1993 to develop sustainable international tourism along the route with the stated goal of fostering peace and understanding.

To commemorate the Silk Road becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the China National Silk Museum announced a "Silk Road Week" to take place 19-25 June 2020.

Bishkek and Almaty each have a major east-west street named after the Silk Road ( Kyrgyz: Жибек жолу, Jibek Jolu in Bishkek, and Kazakh: Жібек жолы, Jibek Joly in Almaty). There is also a Silk Road in Macclesfield, UK.

References

Further reading

External links

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Silk Road Time period Around 114 BCE - 1450s CE Official name Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Type Cultural Criteria ii, iii, iv, vi Designated 2014 (38th session) Reference no. 1442 Region Asia-Pacific The Silk Road ( Chinese: 絲綢之路) was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century.

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Bonni

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Bonni's

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Lots of info

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Marco Polo (1254-1324) was a Venetian merchant believed to have journeyed across Asia at the height of the Mongol Empire. He first set out at age 17 with his father and uncle, traveling overland along what later became known as the Silk Road. Upon reaching China, Marco Polo entered the court of powerful Mongol ruler Kublai Khan, who dispatched him on trips to help administer the realm. Marco Polo remained abroad for 24 years. Though not the first European to explore China-his father and uncle, among others, had already been there-he became famous for his travels thanks to a popular book he co-authored while languishing in a Genoese prison.

Marco Polo: The Early Years

Marco Polo was born around 1254 into a prosperous merchant family in the Italian city-state of Venice. His father, Niccolò, and his uncle Maffeo had left the year before on a long-term trading expedition. As a result, he was raised by extended relatives following his mother's death at a young age. Niccolò and Maffeo first spent about six years in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), which had been under Latin control since the Fourth Crusade of 1204. The two brothers then went to the port city of Soldaia (now Sudak, Ukraine), where they owned a house.

Did you know? Christopher Columbus purportedly sailed to the New World with a copy of Marco Polo's "Travels" in tow. Thinking he would reach Asia and having no idea about the Mongol Empire's collapse, Columbus marked up the book with notes in preparation for a meeting with Kublai Khan's descendent.

The Byzantine re-conquest of Constantinople in 1261, along with upheavals in the Mongol Empire, may have blocked their way home. Niccolò and Maffeo therefore turned east in order to trade in such things as silk, gems, furs and spices. After spending three years in Bukhara in present-day Uzbekistan, they were encouraged by a Mongolian embassy to visit Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, who controlled a huge swath of Asia. Kublai quizzed them on European affairs and decided to send them on a goodwill mission to the pope. In 1269, the two brothers finally made it back to Venice, where Niccolò and Marco Polo met each other for the first time.

Marco Polo's Travels Along the Silk Road

Two years later, Niccolò and Maffeo sailed to Acre in present-day Israel, this time with Marco at their side. At the request of Kublai Khan, they secured some holy oil from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and then backtracked to Acre to pick up gifts, papal documents and two friars from newly elected Pope Gregory X. The friars quickly abandoned the expedition, but the Polos continued on, possibly by camel, to the Persian port city of Hormuz. Failing to find any boats to their liking, they instead took a series of overland traders' routes that, in the 19th century, would become known as the Silk Road.

Over the next three years they slowly trekked through deserts, high mountain passes and other rough terrain, meeting people of various religions and cultures along the way. Finally, around 1275, they arrived at Kublai Khan's opulent summer palace at Shangdu, or Xanadu, located about 200 miles northwest of his winter quarters in modern Beijing.

Kublai, who generally relied on foreigners to administer his empire, took Marco Polo into his court, possibly as a tax collector. At one point, the Venetian was sent on official business to the port city of Hangzhou (then called Quinsai), which, like Venice, was built around a series of canals. Marco Polo also purportedly journeyed across inland China and into present-day Myanmar.

After many years of seeking a release from service, the Polos finally secured permission from Kublai to escort a young princess to her intended husband Arghun, the Mongol ruler of Persia. In 1292 the Polos joined a flotilla of 14 boats that set out from Zaitun (now Quanzhou, China), stopped briefly in Sumatra and then landed in Persia 18 months later, only to find out that Arghun was dead.

The princess was made to marry Arghun's son. The Polos, meanwhile, stayed on with Arghun's brother for nine months before heading to Venice via Trebizond (now Trabzon, Turkey), Constantinople and Negrepont (now Euboea, Greece). They arrived home in 1295, the year after Kublai's death sent the Mongol Empire into an irrevocable decline.

Marco Polo in Venice

Shortly thereafter, Marco Polo was captured in battle by Venice's archrival Genoa. While in prison he met the Arthurian adventure writer Rustichello of Pisa, with whom he would collaborate on a 1298 manuscript called "Description of the World." It has since become better known as "The Travels of Marco Polo" or simply "The Travels." With the help of notes taken during his adventures, Marco Polo reverently described Kublai Khan and his palaces, along with paper money, coal, postal service, eyeglasses and other innovations that had not yet appeared in Europe. He also told partially erroneous self-aggrandizing tales about warfare, commerce, geography, court intrigues and the sexual practices of the people who lived under Mongol rule.

A Genoese-Venetian peace treaty in 1299 allowed Marco Polo to return home. He probably never left Venetian territory again. The following year, he married Donata Badoer, with whom he would have three daughters. Not much is known about his golden years except that he continued trading and litigated against a cousin. Marco Polo died in January 1324, having helped to inspire a later generation of explorers. Everything we know about him comes from his own text and a few Venetian documents; Asian sources never mentioned him.

This lack of hard evidence has caused a small number of skeptics to question whether Marco Polo actually made it to China. They back up their case by pointing to certain inaccuracies in "The Travels," as well as his failure to report such practices as chopstick use and foot binding. Nonetheless, most scholars are convinced by the detailed nature of Marco Polo's account, which, they say, overwhelmingly checks out against available archaeological, historical and geographical records.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

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Marco Polo (1254-1324) was a Venetian merchant believed to have journeyed across Asia at the height of the Mongol Empire. He first set out at age 17 with his father and uncle, traveling overland along what later became known as the Silk Road.

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Find Facts about Marco Polo for Kids. Fun Facts about Marco Polo for Kids. History and Info about Marco Polo for Kids.

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The Life Story of Marco Polo in Under 3 Minutes

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Marco Polo ( 1254 - January 8, 1324) was a Venetian trader and explorer who, together with his father Niccolò and his uncle Maffeo, was one of the first Westerners to travel the Silk Road to China (which he called Cathay). He visited the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, Kublai Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan). His travels are written in Il Milione ( The Million or The Travels of Marco Polo).

The voyage of Niccolò and Maffeo Polo

The Polo name did not originally belong to a family of explorers but to a family of traders. Marco Polo's father, Niccolò (also Nicolò in Venetian) and his uncle, Maffeo (also Maffio), were rich merchants who traded with the East. They were partners with a third brother, named Marco il vecchio (the Elder).

Niccolò and Maffeo Polo set out to Asia in 1255 and reached China in 1266, arriving at Khanbaliq near Peking. They returned from China as Kublai Khan's messengers with a letter for the Pope. This letter asked the Pope to send educated people to teach in Kublai Khan's empire and to inform the Mongols about their way of life. Kublai Khan was the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and a grandson of Genghis Khan.

In 1269, Niccolò and Maffeo returned to their families in Venice, meeting 15-year-old Marco for the first time.

Marco Polo was born around 1254 in Venice, capital of the Venetian Republic. His father, merchant Niccolò Polo, had his household in Venice and left Marco's pregnant mother to travel to Asia with his brother Maffeo Polo.

Almost nothing is known about the childhood of Marco Polo until he was fifteen years old, except that he probably spent part of his childhood in Venice. Meanwhile, Marco Polo's mother died, and an aunt and uncle raised him. He received a good education, learning trade subjects including foreign currency, appraisal (the expert estimation of an item's worth), and the handling of cargo ships. He learned little or no Latin.

Journey to China and service to the Khan

Maffeo and Niccolò Polo set out on a second journey with the Pope's response to Kublai Khan in 1271. This time Niccolò took his son, Marco, along with two friars who did not finish the voyage due to fear.

The Polos spent the next seventeen years in China. Impressed by Marco's intelligence and humility, Khan appointed him to serve as his foreign emissary to India and Burma. Khan also sent Marco on many diplomatic missions throughout his empire and in Southeast Asia (such as in present-day Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam). When he returned, Marco entertained the Khan with stories and observations about the lands he saw. As part of this appointment, Marco did much traveling inside China.

Several times, Kublai refused to let the Polos return to Europe because he enjoyed their company and they became useful to him. However, around 1291, he finally granted the Polos permission to return home, entrusting them with their last duty: to accompany the Mongol princess Kököchin, who was to become the wife of Arghun Khan in Persia. After leaving the princess in Persia, the Polos traveled to Constantinople. They later decided to return to their home.

The Polos returned to Venice in 1295, after 24 years, with many riches and treasures. They had travelled almost 15,000 miles (24,000 km).

Marco Polo was later captured in a minor clash in the war between Venice and Genoa. He spent the few months of his imprisonment in 1298 dictating to a fellow prisoner, Rustichello da Pisa, a detailed account of his travels in the then-unknown parts of the Far East.

His book, Il Milione (the title comes from either "The Million," then considered a gigantic number, or from Polo's family nickname Emilione), was written in Old French and entitled Le divisament dou monde ( The Description of the World). The book was soon translated into many European languages and is known in English as The Travels of Marco Polo. The original copy has been lost and there are now several often-conflicting versions of the translations. The book became an instant success, which was quite an achievement, considering that it was written before the invention of the printing press.

Marco Polo was finally released from captivity in the summer of 1299, and he returned home to Venice, where his father and uncles had bought a large house in the central quarter named contrada San Giovanni Grisostomo with the company's profits.

The company continued its activities, and Marco was now a wealthy merchant. While he financed other expeditions, he would never leave Venice again. In 1300, he married Donata Badoer, a woman from an old, noble family. Marco fathered three children with her: Fantina, Bellela, and Moreta. All of them later married into noble families.

Between 1310 and 1320, he wrote a new version of his book, Il Milione, in Italian. The text was lost, but not before a Franciscan friar, named Francesco Pipino, translated it into Latin. This Latin version was then translated back into Italian, creating conflicts between different editions of the book.

Marco Polo died in his home on January 8, 1324, at almost 70 years old. He was buried in the Church of San Lorenzo.

Skepticism of Marco's stories

On their return from China in 1295, the Polos became a sensation and attracted crowds of listeners who had difficulty believing their reports of distant China. According to a late tradition, since many listeners did not believe him, Marco Polo invited them to dinner one night during which the Polos dressed in the simple clothes of a peasant in China. Shortly before the crowd ate, the Polos opened their pockets to reveal hundreds of rubies and other jewels which they had received in Asia. Though they were impressed, many in Venice still doubted the Polos.

According to a famous story, when Marco was on his deathbed, a priest begged him to confess that he had lied in his stories. Marco refused, insisting, "I have not told half of what I saw!" This anecdote is an example of the skepticism that surrounded Marco's tales during his life.

In recent times, while most historians believe Marco Polo did reach China, some have suggested that he did not get that far and only retold information he had heard from others who were traveling along the silk road. Those skeptics point out that among other omissions, his account fails to mention Chinese writing, chopsticks, tea, or the Great Wall (although in the last case, this should not be surprising given that the wall was not built at its present location until the Ming Dynasty). Also, Chinese records of the time do not mention him, even thought he claimed to have served as a special emissary for Kublai Khan. This is puzzling, given the careful record-keeping in China at that time.

On the other hand, Marco describes other aspects of Far Eastern life in much detail: paper money, the Grand Canal, the structure of a Mongol army, tigers, and the Imperial postal system. He also refers to Japan by its Chinese name "Zipang" or "Cipangu." This is usually considered the first mention of Japan in Western literature.

In his defense, there are no known arguments today that disprove any of Marco's written descriptions. Additionally, Marco gives a detailed account of accompanying an embassy from China to the Khan of Persia and of the delivery of Princess Kököchin for marriage to the Khan. This mission is mentioned both in the Chinese and Persian records, including the names of the envoys, but Marco provides additional information about the journey which could only have been known by his being present on the trip.

Marco Polo is also believed to have described a bridge that later was the site of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, a battle that marked the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War.

Historical impact

Although the Polos were by no means the first Europeans to reach China by land (for example, Radhanites traded and Giovanni da Pian del Carpine explored in Asia), thanks to Marco's book, their trip was best-documented. That is why Marco Polo is the person most people think of when they think of explorers of the Far East.

Marco Polo's description of the Far East and its riches inspired Christopher Columbus's decision to try to reach those lands by a western route. Columbus owned a copy of Polo's book with many markings and comments.

Legend has it that Marco Polo introduced Italy to some products from China, including ice cream, the piñata, and pasta, especially spaghetti.

The name Marco Polo was also given to a children's game ( Marco Polo), a story in the science fiction series (Marco Polo), and a three-masted clipper ship built in Saint John, New Brunswick, in 1851. The fastest ship of her day, the Marco Polo was the first ship to sail around the world in under six months. Several ships of the Italian navy were named Marco Polo. The airport in Venice is named Marco Polo International Airport.

A species of sheep called the Marco Polo sheep is named for the explorer, who described it during his crossing of Pamir (ancient Mount Imeon) in 1271.

Cartography

Marco Polo's travels may have brought about European cartography, ultimately leading to the European voyages of exploration a century later. The 1453 Fra Mauro map (famous map of the world) is said to have been an improved copy of the one brought from China by Marco Polo.

Marco Polo quotes

"I believe it was God's will that we should come back, so that men might know the things that are in the world."

"I speak and speak, [...] but the listener retains only the words he is expecting. [...] It is not the voice that commands the story: it is the ear."

"Without stones there is no arch."

"I did not write half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed."

Interesting facts about Marco Polo

Marco Polo was not the first European to travel to Asia. Giovanni da Pian del Carpine traveled to China in the 1240s, followed by other missionaries.

Marco's father and uncle traveled to Asia and returned when he was fifteen. Marco accompanied them on their second trip in 1271.

He documented animals that were unfamiliar to him and thought that some were mythical. He thought the Asian rhinoceros was a unicorn.

He traveled about 15,000 miles from the time he was seventeen until he was forty-one.

Marco developed a relationship with and worked for Kublai Khan.

Paper money began being used in Europe after Marco's return home.

Marco Polo dictated his stories to a fellow prisoner and friend, Rustichello de Pisa, while they were in prison in Italy. This resulted in the book The Travels of Marco Polo.

Several historians have dismissed some of Marco's stories as lies.

Questions Kids Ask about Marco Polo

Why is Marco Polo so famous?
He was a famous merchant who wrote about his travels. The Western world was fascinated by them, especially his travels in Asia.

How old would Marco Polo be today?
Marco would be 769 years old today.

What did Marco Polo discover?
Marco Polo was not the first European to travel to Asia. However, through reading about his travels, Europeans were able to learn about Asia and its people and customs. They were introduced to technology such as the use of coal, paper money, gunpowder, porcelain, and the invention of the compass.

How did Marco Polo change the world?
He opened up trade routes to East India and China.

Did Marco Polo live with the Mongols?
Marco spent over 20 years with the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan, who was the grandson of Genghis Khan.

What cities did Marco Polo visit?
Marco Polo visited many cities. Some examples of cities he visited in China are Dadu (where Beijing is located today), Xanadu ( Shangdu), Xi'an, and Hangzhou.

Where is Marco Polo buried?
Church of San Lorenzo, Venice, Italy

Related pages

Images for kids

He greatly influenced European cartography, leading to the introduction of the Fra Mauro map.

Corte del Milion is still named after the nickname of Polo, "Il Milione"

San Lorenzo church in the sestiere of Castello ( Venice), where Polo was buried. The photo shows the church as is today, after the 1592 rebuilding.

Plaque on Teatro Malibran, which was build upon Marco Polo's house

In Spanish: Marco Polo para niños

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Marco Polo | Biography, Accomplishments, Facts, Travels, & Influence

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Marco Polo, Venetian merchant and adventurer who traveled from Europe to Asia in 1271-95, remaining in China for 17 of those years. His account of those travels, known in English as the Travels of Marco Polo, is a classic. The wealth of new geographic information recorded by Polo was widely used by European navigators.

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Explore the life of the legendary traveler Marco Polo as told by musician and artist Jeffrey Lewis.

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Marco Polo the Explorer - Fun Facts for Kids ! 1: Marco Polo was born in Venice, Italy in around 1254 to a merchant, Niccolo Polo, and his wife Nicole Anna Defuseh. Niccolo Polo and his brother Maffeo were away on a trading expedition when he was born. ...

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Marco Polo

Mosaic of the explorer Marco Polo

Introduction Marco Polo was a merchant in Venice before he became the famous explorer we know today. At 17, he left Venice with his father and uncle. They traveled the Silk Road to China where he met the great ruler Kublai Khan. Marco traveled much of China and the east, and his stories were written into a popular book. His book would go on to inspire other explorers. It is even said that Marco Polo's exciting stories were a favorite of another famous explorer - Christopher Columbus.
¹

Biography Marco Polo was born in 1254 in Venice, Italy. Not much is known of his early childhood. He was born into a family of wealthy merchants. His father and uncle, Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, were merchants who traveled often to Asia to trade valuable materials such as jewels and silk. As a child of a merchant family, he would have received a nice education that included reading, writing, and basic math.
Early Life
² Marco's story begins with his father and uncle's journeys. Niccolo and Maffeo left Venice in 1254 and traveled east. Marco would not see his father again until he was 15. China and other parts of eastern Asia were ruled by Kublai Khan, grandson to the Mongol warrior Genghis Khan. Kublai Khan was responsible for re-opening a 5000 mile trade route between Europe and Asia called the Silk Road. ³ The Polo brothers traded on this road for many years.

When they were ready to return home, war broke out between Kublai Khan and his brother Hulagu. This made the roads unsafe, and they were forced to stay in Bukhara (located in present day Uzbekistan) for three years. In 1264, still in Bukhara, they met an ambassador heading to Kublai Khan's court in Khanbaliq and joined him on his trip. They hoped the Khan would provide them with safe passage home. They reached the court in 1266. Kublai Khan was very interested in hearing about the Polo's culture and religion. He asked them to serve him as his ambassadors to the West. ⁴ The Khan gave the Polo's a letter to give to the Pope asking him to send one hundred priests and holy water to convert his people to Christianity. ⁵ The Polo brothers left on their mission; however, the death of the Pope in 1268 held up their plans. It would not be until 1271 that they were able to return to Khanbaliq. This time, young Marco Polo would join them.

Voyages Marco Polo's voyage began in 1271 when he traveled to Kublai Khan's court in China with his father and uncle. Marco was 17 years old. They were only able to get two of the one hundred priests Kublai Khan wanted. They sailed the Mediterranean to the Middle East, then traveled over land, all the way through Persia (modern day Iran), the Gobi Desert, Mongolia, along the Silk Road, and into China. The voyage took about three and a half years until they finally reached Kublai Khan's palace.
Principal Voyage
⁶ The Khan noticed Marco's interest in Mongol customs and culture. Marco already knew four languages prior to his journey, and he quickly picked up the Asian language. He also learned their writing, and even their style of war. ⁷ Kublai Khan was very impressed with Marco Polo. So he made Marco one of his ambassadors. This gave Marco special permission to travel freely throughout the Mongol Empire.

Kublai Khan often sent messengers, or envoys as they were called, on missions to different places. When they returned, they would report of their mission, but never about the people and customs of the places they went. ⁸ So the Khan began asking Marco to travel on missions. On these trips, Marco took great note of the lands and peoples he encountered, and the spices and jewels he saw. He told the Khan about all these things on his return. And Marco himself became very familiar with many aspects of Asian culture. He served the Khan for seventeen years before deciding to head back home to Venice. After all his years of traveling on the Khan's behalf, Marco Polo had knowledge of, or had actually visited, a greater number of different countries of the world than anyone else known. ⁹

Subsequent Voyages
At first, Kublai Khan was unwilling to allow the three Polo men to leave because he had become dependent on their services. He eventually allowed the men to return home. They chose to sail rather than make the trek over land. It was a long distance that took them China around India, and then traveled over land through Arabia, and by sea again across the Mediterranean to Venice. This journey across the Indian Ocean took two years.They reached Venice around 1295; Marco Polo had been gone for twenty-four years. The Polos were not welcomed back warmly like they had hoped. They had been away from home so long that they struggled to speak Italian again and were unrecognizable to their own families. He told his story to the people, but many of them did not believe the great voyage of Marco Polo.

Later Years and Death A few years after the Polos returned to Venice, war broke out between Venice and Genoa. Marco Polo was captured during the naval battle of Curzola. While in prison, he told his story to a fellow prisoner named Rustichello da Pisa. Da Pisa wrote down Marco's detailed accounts of his travels to the east. The book was called
Il Milione - Italian for "The Million." He was released from prison in 1299, and returned to Venice. Marco continued his life as a merchant, although he never left Venice again. He married a woman named Donat Badoer in 1300. They had three daughters - Fantina, Bellela, and Moreta. Marco died in his home in January 1324, at almost 70 years old. He was buried in the Church of San Lorenzo. ¹⁰

The Polos were not the first Europeans to reach China and the east. But Marco Polo's travels were inspiring. He wrote about the landscape, the Middle Eastern people, and details about the Mongol empire. These descriptions gave many Europeans their first look at the civilizations to the east. His tales continue to be debated even today. His original book is lost. It was translated many times into different languages, and these translations often conflict each other. But the most important thing we know is that Marco Polo helped make great connections between the East and the West.

1. Susan Bivin Aller, Christopher Columbus (London: Lerner Books, 2009), 12.

2. Nick McCarty, Marco Polo: The Boy Who Traveled the Medieval World (Washington DC: National Geographic Society, 2006), 12.

3. Laurence Bergreen, Marco Polo (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007), 27.

4. L.F. Benedetto, The Travels of Marco Polo (New York: Routledge, 2014), vii.

5. Benedetto, The Travels of Marco Polo, 11.

6. Marco Polo, The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian: Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East, Volume 1, ed. Henry Yule (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 27.

7. Polo, The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, 27.

8. Polo, The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, 29.

9. "Marco Polo," New World Encyclopedia, last modified September 20, 2016, http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Marco_Polo.

Bibliography

Aller, Susan Bivin. Christopher Columbus. London: Lerner Books, 2009.

Benedetto, L.F. The Travels of Marco Polo. New York: Routledge, 2014.

Bergreen, Laurence. Marco Polo. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.

McCarty, Nick. Marco Polo: The Boy Who Traveled the Medieval World. Washington DC: National Geographic Society, 2006.

New World Encyclopedia. "Marco Polo." Last modified September 20, 2016. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Marco_Polo.

Polo, Marco. The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian: Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East, Volume 1. Edited by Henry Yule. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

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Mosaic of the explorer Marco Polo Introduction Marco Polo was a merchant in Venice before he became the famous explorer we know today. At 17, he left Venice with his father and uncle. They traveled the Silk Road to China where he met the great ruler Kublai Khan.

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Kids learn about the explorer Marco Polo. His journeys to China to meet emperor Kublai Khan.