Compare And Contrast The Silk Roads And The World Trade Routes

During the time period 600 C.E. to 1450 C.E., trade networks were relied upon to transfer goods, ideas, and services. Both the Trans-Saharan and Silk Road trade routes depended on animals, luxury goods, and economic growth. However, the trade routes differed in animals, types of luxury goods, and success of economic growth.

If there was ever an important period historians, and people could put a finger on, this would be it. This is the important period where the world’s countries, kingdoms, and dynasties established trade routes. This is the period where countries were made and countries were destroyed because of the importance of trade and the importance of building a fundamental, religious, and economical way of life. This paper will discuss the goals and functions of trades, and traders, and a historical analysis of world trade. This paper will also get into world trade patterns, of The Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, The Indian Ocean, The Silk routes, China and The South China Sea, Europe and The Mediterranean, and The Atlantic Exploration.

Throughout early history, civilizations often sought to receive resources from afar to sustain their societies and keep themselves thriving, and to this end trade relations and eventually trade routes began to emerge. This aided civilizations in their discovery of foreign items that they may use to better their societies. These items traded ranged from complex technology to something as simple as nutmeg. The main trade routes that were utilized in East and South Asia were the silk road and the Indian Ocean Trade Network. In the 7th- 12th centuries, both the silk road and Indian ocean trade route had affected east and south Asia by the introduction of religions such as Buddhism changing government forms and altering the belief systems of society and changing how individuals live their daily lives, however differences were present in the impact that these routes had on daily lives, such as the Indian Ocean Trade Route giving rise to an entire new culture in Africa known as the Swahili and leading to the innovation of the sailing boat known as the Dhow, and the silk road led to the transmission of religion and resources throughout Eurasia and it led to utilization of caravans and animals as a means of trade.

The Silk Road had a large impact on the spread of religion. It was a meeting place for a lot of different types of people, from traders to merchants, and carpenters and sellers of food or produce. Religious beliefs of the peoples of the Silk Road changed radically over time and was largely due to the effects of travel and trade on the Silk Road itself. The trade route allowed religion to travel far and fast through the stories and communication of the people who travelled the Silk Road, which is how so many different religions occurred during this time and why they were so widespread. Islam was one of the religions to flourish and thrive in the environment of the Silk Road, it was one of the fastest spreading religions and became a dominant religion, because of the Silk Road it is still one of the largest religions today.

While the Indian Ocean and Silk Road were different as trade networks with respect to the spread of Religion and the process of travel, they were similar in terms of the spread of disease through trade.

Many things stayed the same during this time period as well regarding migration. Among these continuities was the motivation for migration, which remained economic. Whether as part of slave trade or seeking a better life, people migrated for these reasons. The steady flow of migrants leaving their homes in the east and migrating to the americas seeking economic gain as well as religious freedom also was consistent throughout the period. Disease comes hand in hand with migration. The migrants carried with them diseases such as HIV and malaria to places where the established populations possessed no immunities or tolerance to the diseases for they had never been exposed to them before. This was present when europeans migrated to America and wiped out vast populations of native americans with the diseases they carried and continued through the

During the period of 600- 1450, the eastern hemisphere was connected through many trading routes. Although both the IOT and SR resulted in immense wealth being created, the IOT promoted islam through its ocean voyages and the SR supported Christianity through the overland routes, and it had more drastic effects on society.

Around 500 CE, change in Eurasia was spurred by the fall of several influential Classical civilizations. The fall of Rome in the late fifth century left Western Europe without a centralized authority and vulnerable to invasion, while similarly in China, the fall of the Han dynasty in the 3rd century left the region in a period of chaos and unorder. The end of empires such as these set the stage for the emergence of post-Classical civilizations in sixth century Eurasia. Furthermore, the Silk Road, a vast network of trade routes spanning across Europe and Asia, played a key role in the spread of goods and ideas between third-wave civilizations in Eurasia. Due to the Silk Road, civilizations of this millennium were connected through transregional interactions and trade, leading to the dispersal of cultures and ideas beyond their origin. These connections led to spread of Christianity

The Silk Road which started in 200 BCE and ended it in 1450 CE has its own changes and continuities. Trade flourished between the Asian and Europe at the time and as time went on its sole purpose of trading expanded to many other purposes and affect not only the area it contacted. Although there were many continuities during the time but it has more significant changes that occurred and also impact the world.

The Silk Roads were land-based trade routes that linked Eurasia. The Silk Road contact led to people being exposed to unfamiliar diseases. They weren't really immune to the diseases and had very little effective methods of dealing with them. The spread of some particularly virulent epidemic diseases lead to death on a larger scale. A prime example of this occurred in the fourteenth century, when the Black Death swept away nearly one-third of the population in Europe, China, and the Middle East. The Black Death identified variously with bubonic plague, anthrax, or a package of epidemic diseases. In the long run, the exchange of diseases gave Europeans a certain advantage when, after 1500, they confronted the peoples of the Western Hemisphere,

The Silk Road was an intricate and evolving network of overland trade routes that linked China, India, and western Eurasia for centuries. The trade route was key to the diffusion and transportation of technology, goods, religions, and language throughout Asia, the Mediterranean, Africa and southern Europe. As the strongest link between major population centers in the largest landmass on earth, the Silk Road was one of the most important of all long-distance trade routes in human history.

Susan Whitfield writes Life along the Silk Road based on character stories occurring between the eight and tenth century, all living at different times. She writes this history for several reasons. First, she writes it to change the negative perception of the history of Central Asia that we know through the annals of its neighbors. By explaining the history of the region through the eyes of its own occupants, it rids the history of any distorted views from neighboring civilizations. She uses the comparison of trying to examine the life of the Atlantic Ocean by studying the ecology of Europe. Another perception Whitfield attempts to overcome is that of the present day Silk Road. Today, it is largely Islam, and it is occupied by Turkic

The Silk Road Routes was a route that was established in order to increase trade of silk, paper, and other goods across China, India, and Central East Asia. Many merchants, missionaries, and travellers have used this road for traveling and trading from one end to another. Whilst the trade and travel, there was a multicultural transmission between China and India. As there was the trade with goods, there were transferrals of philosophies, beliefs, art, and culture through the Silk Road. Buddhism, which is a major religion that originated from India, became a big impact on those who crossed paths with Buddhist monks or those who practiced Buddhism from India. China was particularly impacted by this cultural transmission. Buddhism had influenced and even replaced major belief systems that already existed in China, through this, it even helped promote new forms of social and political thought, ideologies and even harmony among the belief systems in China. Although the establishment of the Silk Road routes was known for trade among China, India and Central Asia, it also became an aid for opening multicultural transmission of philosophy and beliefs between India and China, particularly the introduction and growth of Buddhism in China.

During the outward-looking rule of China's Tang dynasty (seventh-ninth century C. E. ), sophisticated people in northeastern Iran developed such a taste for expensive, imported Chinese pottery that they began to imitate it in great quantity for sale to people who could not afford the real thing. And in northern China there was a vogue for beautiful pottery figurines of camels laden with caravan goods or ridden by obviously non-Chinese merchants, musicians, or entertainers. Non-Chinese camel figurines found in Mesopotamia carry loads that duplicate the distinctive appearance of the loads on the Chinese figurines. So it is clear that by the time of the rise of Islam in the seventh century, contact across the Silk

Many thousands of years ago, upon the earliest creations of civilization, there were two thriving civilizations. Both of which knew little to nothing about each other’s existence. In this ancient world, there was no connection of the two civilizations, no trade in commerce or culture. It was not until the second century BC that Europe and Eastern Asia interacted in a significant way. What is known as “The Silk Road” was established during the Han Dynasty of China, it was a network of trade routes that created a link between these two regions during this ancient world (ancient.eu). Though these routes have history prior to the Han Dynasty, this is when many historians see the routes in full practice. This time during the second century BC was crucial in the connection of these separately thriving civilizations, connecting them through commerce, religion, and exploration.