Information about the silk road ...

What is the silk road? (brief history of the silk road)

Silk Road HistoryThe Silk Road

The east-west trade routes between Greece and China began to open during the first and second centuries B. C. The Roman Empire and the Kushan Empire (which ruled territory in what is now northern India) also benefited from the commerce created by the route along the Silk Road.

Why it was important and why

Because silk was the major trade product which traveled on this road, it was named the Silk Road in 1877 by Ferdinand von Richthofen - a well-known German geographer. This ancient route not only circulated goods, but also exchanged the splendid cultures of China, India, Persia, Arabia, Greek and Rome.

How it got it's name

The Silk Road derives its name from the lucrative Asian silk, a major reason for the connection of trade routes into an extensive transcontinental network. The German terms Seidenstraße and Seidenstraßen ("the Silk Road (s) ") were coined by Ferdinand von Richthofen, who made seven expeditions to China from 1868 to 1872.

The Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes that connected the East to the West