The Great Silk Road: A History From Past to Present

You'll probably agree, living in a time where we can buy artisanal treasures from other parts of the world with a click of a button is pretty exciting. Thanks to the internet, we can connect with like-minded people in other countries or even discover amazing details of our shared cultural histories. But what was the precursor to the World Wide Web—the original OG of modern multiculturalism?

Today, we describe what was the very first globe-spanning network as the Silk Road, and its story carries us back to long before the arrival of high-speed broadband—to more than 2,000 years ago. This is a tale of daring trailblazers and the beginning of modern interconnectedness. The legacy of the Silk Road includes everything from the dissemination of philosophical ideas to the universally appreciated gift of ramen noodles! So how did The Silk Road come about, and was it really a single road?

What is the Silk Road?

The establishment of the Silk Road can be traced to the Chinese Han Empire in the second century BC. China dreamed of the large and elegant horses of Central Asia and began trading silk for these powerful animals. In time, this initial exchange of goods expanded and commodities such as jade, spices, paper, and porcelain began to travel Westwards. In turn, precious metals, carpets, fabrics, dye colours, knitted goods, and glassware began travelling both East and West. An interlacing network of trade roots sprung up that crossed all the way from Japan and China in the East to Europe in the West.

But it was more than precious and desirable products that travelled the Silk Road. Merchants also carried philosophies, languages, scientific discoveries, and religions. For example, this is how Buddhism reached China and how the first international economic and political relations came to be. In the 13th century, famed Italian traveller Marco Polo journeyed the length of The Silk Road when only 17 years old, from Italy to China, before returning with captivating tales of his adventures. Soon, the abundance of ideas and treasures reaching Europe sparked the Renaissance.

Travel on the Silk Road was perilous and bandits ran rife, so traders would move in groups, often with camels and other pack animals. Vast trading posts appeared along the way, such as Ancient Merv in modern-day Turkmenistan and Samarkand in Uzbekistan. Traditions such as tea ceremonies would be carried between cultures, and with them, leather goods from Turkmenistani craftsmen and the fine jewellery of Armenian artisans— which were particularly prized by European royalty—to name but a tiny fraction of the transfer of human ingenuity.

What Was the Route of The Silk Road?

The Silk Road describes not a single road or route, but rather a network connecting nations that thrived for more than 1,500 years. Extending approximately 4,000 miles (6,437 kilometres), The Silk Road crisscrossed through the five Central Asian countries commonly known as “the Stans,” connecting a total of 35 countries across Europe, Asia and the Pacific, and the Middle East.

The intrepid travellers who established these routes fearlessly traversed some of the most formidable landscapes in the world, such as the Pamir Mountains and the Gobi Desert, in order to complete their quests. While much of what was transported was positive, the Silk Road also expedited the spread of the Black Death and facilitated the conquests that established the vast Mongol Empire.

Through countless shifts of culture and Empire, the Silk Road endured in its vital role until the 15th century, when the Yuan Empire fell and the Ottoman Empire, of modern Turkey, closed off all trade with the West. This severing of interconnectedness prompted would-be explorers to move to the sea, kick-starting the Age of Discovery and the baneful beginning of European colonialism.

Why Is it Called the Silk Road?

Fascinatingly, during the course of the Silk Road's prominence, it hadn't actually yet received its modern name. The origin of this term lies with German geographer and traveller Ferdinand von Richthofen, who first used the phrase “die Seidenstrasse” (the Silk Road) to describe these incredible interlacing trade routes at the end of the 19th century, reflecting the key role that Chinese silk played in their origin story.

Adding another ramen-like twist—quite literally—for the world's noodle aficionados, the Silk Road sometimes goes by another name. Taiwanese-Japanese entrepreneur Momofuku Ando was the founder of Nissin Foods and is considered to be the father of modern ramen. In the late 20th century, after retirement, he set out across the globe to explore the roots of noodle culture. Ultimately, he dubbed the Silk Road the “Noodle Road” for its contribution to his life's work and the world's near-universal love of all things noodle and pasta-like.

Of course, in more recent years, the “Silk Road” briefly took on another meaning as its name was nefariously borrowed by the first online black market. Here, anonymous users could buy and sell illicit goods on the virtual darknet. Thankfully, today, that iteration of the Silk Road is gone, and a new rebirth of the term is in motion—far more closely tied to its rich and constructive multicultural roots.

Reinventing the Silk Road For the Modern Era

While the initial heyday of the Silk Road may be long past, its cultural significance is currently being reclaimed and reinvigorated by the nations along its paths. With the goal of growing mutual development and prosperity, a freight train route between Europe and China was established in 2011, the Silk Road Economic Belt was established in 2013, and a major 5,400-kilometre highway between St. Petersburg, Russia, and the Chinese shores of the Yellow Sea opened in 2018.

Thanks to these developments, the Silk Road has become a tourism concept and a popular draw for contemporary travellers—with many choosing to traverse its routes, explore the historic locations that it spawned so many years ago, and learn more about multiculturalism through the ages.

With this growing interest comes a fresh desire for the time-honoured artisanal crafting of homewares and goods that have continued along the Silk Road over the centuries.

Ultimately, alongside this revival, the term “Silk Road” now serves as a metaphor for every exchange of ideas and creativity between cultures—a concept that we here at Karakum Home are proud to carry forwards in the curation of our collections.