scholarly journals Developmental Historiography of the Ancient Silk Road

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-80
Author(s):  
Sheriff G.I. ◽  
Akeje K.
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Far East ◽  
Precious Metals ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Traded Goods ◽  
Ancient Silk Road ◽  
The Silk Road

This study seeks to explain the history of the ancient Silk Road and also explain its strategic importance as a network of trade routes connecting China and the Far East with the Middle East and Europe. Using the library's documented instrument and historical descriptive methodology, findings show that the Silk Road is historically connected with the Eastern and Western civilizations and culture. Merchants on the Silk Road transported goods and traded at bazaars along the way. They traded goods such as silk, spices, tea, ivory, cotton, wool, precious metals, and ideas. The Silk Road also enabled cultural transfers, for instance when Genghis Khan and the Mongols invaded China, they came along with their own culture, e.g., buttons on clothes were introduced in China as a cultural import from Central Asia especially under the rule of Kublai Khan during the Yuan Dynasty. The paper concludes that the Silk Road rose to prominence during the Han and Tang dynasties. The long-distance trade at this time did not just transport goods and luxuries, it was also a lifeline of ideas and innovations from Persia, India and countries of the Middle East and Central Asia.

scholarly journals Polities and nomads: the emergence of the Silk Road exchange in the Tarim Basin region during late prehistory (2000–400 bce)

2017 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Larsen Høisæter
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Tarim Basin ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Trade Network ◽  
Eurasian Steppe ◽  
City States ◽  
Ancient Silk Road ◽  
The City ◽  
The Silk Road ◽  
Eastern Central Asia

AbstractThe Silk Road trade network was arguably the most important network of global exchange and interaction prior to the fifteenth century. On the question of how and when it developed, scholars have focused mainly on the role of either the empires dominating the two ends of the trade network or the nomadic empires on the Eurasian steppe. The sedentary people of Central Asia have, however, mostly been neglected. This article traces the development of the city-states of the Tarim Basin in eastern Central Asia, from c. 2000 bce to 400 bce. It argues that the development of the city-states of the Tarim Basin is closely linked to the rise of the ancient Silk Road and that the interaction between the Tarim polities, the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and the Han Empire was the central dynamic in the creation of the ancient Silk Road network in eastern Central Asia.

scholarly journals Genetic landscape of populations along the Silk Road: admixture and migration patterns

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Mezzavilla ◽  
Diego Vozzi ◽  
Nicola Pirastu ◽  
Giorgia Girotto ◽  
Pio D'Adamo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Phenotypic Data ◽  
Migration Patterns ◽  
Marco Polo ◽  
Genetic Landscape ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Ancient Silk Road ◽  
The Silk Road

Background The ancient Silk Road has been a trading route between Europe and Central Asia from the 2nd century BCE to the 15th century CE. While most populations on this route have been characterized, the genetic background of others remains poorly understood, and little is known about past migration patterns. The scientific expedition "Marco Polo" has recently collected genetic and phenotypic data in six regions (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan) along the Silk Road to study the genetics of a number of phenotypes. Results We characterized the genetic structure of these populations within a worldwide context. We observed a West-East subdivision albeit the existence of a genetic component shared within Central Asia and nearby populations from Europe and Near East. We observed a contribution of up to 50% from Europe and Asia to most of the populations that have been analyzed. The contribution from Asia dates back to ~25 generations and is limited to the Eastern Silk Road. Time and direction of this contribution are consistent with the Mongolian expansion era. Conclusions We clarified the genetic structure of six populations from Central Asia and suggested a complex pattern of gene flow among them. We provided a map of migration events in time and space and we quantified exchanges among populations. Altogether these novel findings will support the future studies aimed at understanding the genetics of the phenotypes that have been collected during the Marco Polo campaign, they will provide insights into the history of these populations, and they will be useful to reconstruct the developments and events that have shaped modern Eurasians genomes.

A social-leverage mechanism on the Silk Road: the private emergence of institutions in central Asia, from the 7th to the 9th century

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
YANLONG ZHANG ◽  
WOLFRAM ELSNER
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Transactions Costs ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Emergence Of Institutions ◽  
Credible Threat ◽  
The Silk Road

AbstractWe explain archaeological evidence ofSogdianmerchants in central Asia in early medieval, remote long-distance trade on the emerging Silk Road. In fact, it began as barter, but was based on the social organization that Sogdians developed in their communities when migrating east. Their particular way of generating trust and institutionalized cooperation was by social leverage, involving third parties as contract witnesses and/or guarantors. These usually had own commercial relations with the contractors, facilitating crediting and exchange – and credible threat to defectors. While Greif (1989) had been criticized for overlooking courts in the Maghribi case, we discuss a differentiated (latent) role for courts. We also discuss property rightsversuspossession, transactions costs and price implications. We analyze the mechanism in historical cases and game-theoretical reconstructions, and explain trade flourishing under strong uncertainty.

Railway's Impacts on Modal Shift Potential Towards Intermodal Transportation: A Case Study in Lao PDR.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-123
Author(s):  
Klairung Ponanan ◽  
Wachira Wichitphongsa
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Lao Pdr ◽  
Travel Behaviour ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Modal Shift ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Silk Road Economic Belt ◽  
The Silk Road

Chinese government has developed transport infrastructure rapidly under Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) strategy. The BRI strategy is China's economic development strategies for expanding trade and cultural influence towards countries in western and eastern regions, including ASEAN. The development of BRI strategy is consists of two main components i.e., (i) the Silk Road Economic Belt, follows the historical overland Silk Road through Central Asia, Iran, Turkey and eventually to Europe, and (ii) the Maritime Silk Road, originates in the South China Sea, passing through the Malacca Strait, the Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea and extending into the Mediterranean Sea (Chris & Elizabeth, 2015). Due to the BRI strategy, more than 6000 trains made the journey from China to Europe in 2018, which is an increase of 72% compared to 2017. China has sent more than 11,000 freight trains to Europe and back since the BRI strategy was announced in 2013. Railway networks have been constructed under the BRI strategy for connecting 48 Chinese cities with 42 cities in Europe through Asia. There are many railway infrastructures under the BRI strategy. The China – Laos railway (Vientiane–Boten railway) is one of project under the Silk Road Economic Belt that has been developed for serving as a key infrastructure for the economic corridor between the two countries. In nearly future, this railway will be helped to boost trade, investment and tourism for Lao PDR. and south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Vientiane–Boten railway, especially transportation time will attract both travelers and Logistics Service Providers (LSP), which can be reduced time of journey compared with road mode. In this paper, modal shift potential of travelers and freight on Kunming-Bangkok Highway (R3A), AH2, AH8, AH9, AH10, AH12, AH13, and AH18 have been investigated by considering behavioral aspects of long distance travel. Keywords: Mode Split Model, Modal Shift, Vientiane–Boten railway, Travel Behaviour

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