Page 16 - All About History - Issue 33-15

Trade

Day in the life

ASILKROADTRADER

MAKING MONEY ON THE MOVE

ALONG THE ANCIENT TRADE ROUTE,

TAKLAMAKAN DESERT, CHINA, 629

Stretching from the East’s opulent city of Chang’an, China, far
beyond the horizon to Kashgar, then further west to India, Iran,
Constantinople, Damascus and, ultimately, Rome, the Silk Road
remains one of the greatest trade routes in history. Despite the
name, silk made up only a small portion of the goods traded
along the route, where magnificent caravans of merchants
walked parched deserts and snow-capped mountains.
Gemstones, precious metals, spices and incense were all
staples of the trade route. Well-travelled sellers risked
attack by bandits, the elements and even
demons along their way.
WORSHIP YOUR

CHOSEN GOD

Valuable goods were not all that was
traded on the Silk Road. Religions
and belief systems also travelled, and
Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity, as
well as Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and
Nestorianism, all expanded along the route. Religion was central to life
Each prescribed different methods of worship, for many Silk Road traders,
and some travellers that met along the way would as seen in the Buddhist art at
Mogao caves, Dunhuang
preach the virtues of their own beliefs.
LOAD UP THE CAMELS

Success on the Silk Road meant trading goods
bought cheaply in your home country with
merchants from other lands, where your goods
were rare and expensive. Before the caravan set off
for the day, the animals would be loaded with the
cargo. Rolls of silk, bags of spices and whichever
other precious commodities were being transported
were all hauled onto the animals’ backs.

SEE OFF BANDIT ATTACKS

Bandits sought the precious cargo coursing through
the route and, as such, many merchants carried
weapons to defend themselves. Bronze weapons
were often traded and so could also have been
carried by the merchants themselves. The threat
of attack meant that the route branched out across
different roads of the main track over time, created
in the hope of avoiding bandits.
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