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Silk Road Hierarchies

Decent Essays

During the period of time between 200 BCE to 1450 CE, the silk road underwent copious amounts of changes. The silk road was a network of trading routes that comprised of the trading of goods between many of the colonizations, cities, and kingdoms of Eurasia. It spanned from the Mediterranean all the way to China. The major commodities of this passage included gold, jade, tea, spices, and as expected, silk. It’s other products comprised of religion, ideas, and deadly diseases.
The primary change in the Silk Road during this era was the rise of classical empires. Classical empires of this time commonly rose due to a food surplus, and were always based around agriculture. This overflow of materials made the civilians realize that they could exchange these goods for other supplies in which they are lacking. The materials that these peoples traded changed over the time period. Examples of these regions are China, whom traded paper, porcelain, and silk; the classical Greek city states, which traded grapes and wine; Rome, who traded wheat, oil, and barley; the Gupta empire, with textiles, spices, and sugar. Religion, a large component of the roads, changed during this time as well. Christianity was at its prime earlier on, and missionaries would travel the roads spreading their faith; however, there was a change in influence among religions, and Islam …show more content…

The masses seen as lower status, including women and merchants, were originally thought of to have no use in society. Despite this, after the silk road developed, these populations were needed for production of luxury items to be traded. Merchants, in specific, were formerly seen at a lower standing than others because they earned a living doing other people's work. But with the advancement of the silk road, these people were necessary to society. Therefore, social statuses transformed along the silk

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