Supply chains are networks of different people and businesses exchanging goods. The term supply chain has only been around for a few decades but the concept has been around for centuries. “Most of the great civilizations of the past became great because they mastered the art of trading.” The Silk Road is one of the earliest examples of a supply chain. Goods and ideas were moved and traded across long distances in a system of routes and cities that formed the Silk Road. The Silk Road did not consist of one route or one time period. It was not even called the Silk Road until the eighteenth century. The Silk Road was a network of many different routes crossing the terrain and connecting cities and cultures. It had periods of great popularity and times of little usage.
There is no clear cut start to the Silk Road. There were trade routes from city to city throughout Europe and Asia. Towards the beginning of their patterns of interaction in 200 BCE, the Silk Roads were minimally used in East Asia. As time progresses, the roads increase as did empires such as Rome and Han who grew both economically and culturally due to usage of the roads. But, instability and economic pressures took a toll on the two empires, and when Rome fell in 476, the Silk Roads were used far less than how they originally were. The roads managed to pick up again as the Byzantine Empire in the east emerged and was able to prosper from usage of the already available roads. However, the Mongols come into play and invade the empire and end Byzantine’s era with the Silk Roads. In Western Europe, society was in the period called the Middle Ages where trade was minimal and feudalism had taken the place of trade since the fall of the Roman empire. The Mongols, who had...
... middle of paper ...
...ace in this era, so naturally slaves were traded along the established trade routes. The most important aspect of the trade that was occurring along the Silk Roads was not the material goods but rather the exchange of knowledge, beliefs and cultures. The Silk Road made central Asia into a melting pot of cultures from China to the east and Europe to the west. In central Asia the art, music, fashion and architecture all show influences from different cultures. Knowledge of how to produce goods flowed across the Silk Road too. Certain goods were unique to specific regions because no one else had learned how to produce them, unlike silk that could only be produced in specific regions.
The traded goods themselves were valuable for commerce, but the interchange of religious ideas and knowledge were the more critical component, and had a far reaching effect on the world.
It is important, because without trade your economy can not grow. With trade among people, counties, and states it always for more wealth to be produced. Civilizations thrive off of one
In the Background Essay Q’s, Doc B, Box 1, it mentions Hinduism. Doc A box 3 mentions confucianism. Rome worships christianity. Hinduism is technically Buddhism. These reasons explain that trade was never JUST physical items, but ideas and beliefs as well. The Silk Road made sure if you didn’t trade items you can hold, then you can trade items you can cherish. Finally, in the western civilizations (Rome), was accessed by boat. Boats could carry a ton more items and it was less of a walk for the merchants/traders. However, the Silk Road did lead a small backup path up north of Parthia. Around 27 B.C.E., the Roman Empire had only begun, but the silk road had been a thing for a very long time before that. About 3,073 years to be close to proximity. This took trade across seas! This was also how the Silk Road was Forgotten...boat travel became popular, less expensive, and easier to carry bigger loads.On Doc A, the map shows a series of dashes across the Mediterranean Sea. This represents the route to Rome by boat. Also on Doc A, the dashes on the backup path lead from east of India, to the north of the Caspian Sea, then south to Rome. Also, the timeline says 27 B.C.E.- Roman Empire begins. This time subtracted from 4000 B.C.E- Silk Cultivation in China, is about 3,073
Francesco Pegolotti was a Florentine merchant and politician. He wrote the The Practice of Commerce in which he expressed the personal qualities he believed that merchants were most needed to survive, which were compliancy and the skill to work with others, and have understanding. Pegolotti’s history was based on the sensitivity to local rules and customs was the key to survival. In this paper it will argue that the personal qualities that was needed to succeed in the Silk Road trade.
At this point their beliefs were that trade was not only beneficial to society, but necessary. However throughout this time, many people still continued to be weary of the validity of merchants, like St. Thomas Aquinas. Also, throughout this time span, trade never disappeared and neither did merchants. Islamic peoples believed trade had once been very amazing and positively impactful. However recently the trade had been mishandled and led to crooked merchants and sales. This change over time from positive views to negative opinions shows the development of ideas in Islamic society. However, those opinions were constantly changing. Like Christians, the importance of trade never disappeared. For both Christians and Muslims, trade was perpetually crucial to the economy. In order to better analyze these documents, it would be helpful to have a historic document from Christian and Muslim commoners. In the document they would discuss their views on merchants and trade. This would be beneficial because the documents are only from high officials in their societies and does not display the other
During the postclassical period, the expansion of trade had different interpretations around the world. Varying societies all reacted to trade in different ways due to how they viewed the situation. It had caused conflict in few areas around the world and also created peace as well as harm. Some communities had pros and cons to trade, like everything else. Some reasons for the positive or negative feedback on trade was due to religion, and or the philosophical system. Religion and the philosophical system was both pros or cons for trade in different civilizations. Religion helped with the spread of different ideas and religions across a mass area. Yet it had a negative input because then people fought, thinking their religion was more
It can be said that Eurasia underwent large changes between 1000 and 1450. Governments were changing their methods of control and trade networks increasing globalization worldwide. Along with these new changes, scientific and technological innovations in Eurasia took flight and reached new heights unseen. As new ideas traveled main trade routes, such as the Silk Road and the Mediterranean, the effects of such were felt through an influx of contact between countries due to increased desire for new information and countries gaining a larger presence on the world stage. This phenomenon can also be seen
Beliefs and religions ebbed and flowed through the Silk Roads that was “an artery that for nearly a thousand years was the primary commercial network linking East Asia and the Mediterranean world. This trade route extended over 5000 miles and took its name from the huge quantities of precious silk that passed along it.” Nomads, monks and traders survived on these open roads selling goods, services, and ideas to other people and traders to pass on. These people were wide and diverse since commerce went in between the “Mediterranean and South Asia reinforced frenetic rise in commercial activity within each region. Over land and across the seas, traders loaded textiles, spices, and precious metals onto the backs of camels and into the hold of oceangoing vessels destined for different markets. Trade thereby strengthened the political, intellectual, and spiritual shift.” Spirituality was an active invention as monks of all major beliefs (mostly Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism) spread the new ideas that were based in new religions and acts of missionary work was greatly encouraged. These groups should have been widely torn apart based on the challenging of each other’s beliefs but nomads had no desire to “undermine local cultural traditions” instead presentations of new cultural “ingredients” kept the peace especially the introduction of equestrianism trading along the road which creating having a horse a status symbol in the eyes of many foreign nations the pride at being from a horse tribe went so far as to despite the temperature it was a status symbol clans like the Kushans showed pride by wearing the clans trade mark clothing despite the climate. The Kushans made had such reverence to horses that became horses were a prestigious status symbol of the ruling elite.
During the classical era, there were shifts worldwide with regards to economic imports and exports. As many societies transformed from hunting-gathering societies into specialization societies, global trade networks expanded. This led to the founding and growth of many complex trade networks, both on land and by sea. Two notable trade networks were the Mediterranean Sea network and the Silk Road. The Mediterranean Sea is in Europe, and the trade network lined the shores of Turkey and North Africa. The Silk Road was trans-Asian. It reached from China to the Eastern Mediterranean. While these networks had multiple similarities in their expansion and spread of religion and ideas, there were many differences. These included the type of materials
The Silk Road got its name from the amount of silk used for trade during the Han dynasty. This route was used to travel from West to East on land they traveled to India, Persia, Arabia, and Europe, while traveling by sea they traveled through Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. These paths were used by merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads, and urban dwellers.... ... middle of paper ...
The trading has been conventional between the countries since several thousand years ago, however, the people were not enlightened regarding the distinct cultures and backgrounds. The
The Mongols influenced the world in many great ways, one of them was their vast trade system. They relied quite heavily on trade, not only to gain resources, but also to get their inventions and objects to the Europeans and then hopefully spread from there. The Mongols enhanced the trading system by composing the “Silk Road”. The Silk Road was a path/road that the Mongols had control of and it was a trade route that many travelers and traders took. Along the Silk Road, the main resource that was traded was silk, hence the name “Silk Road.” The
The Mongols conquered and then united China. This created peace among the country and led to other great things. One of these great things is the Silk Road. The Silk Road is a long trading route that was created when China was united as they had started
Eurasian trade when conditions along the Silk Road were unfavorable. For this reason, the geographical context of the Silk Road must be thought of in the broadest possible terms, including sea rout...
The practice of trading and bartering of commodities has been around since the beginning of time. The concept of commodity chains was developed by Terence Hopkins and Immanuel Wallerstein in an attempt to understand the spread of capitalism and economic change. (Bair & Werner, 2011) The emergence of capitalism has brought about an anthropogenic phenomenon know as globalization as a means to create profit and in doing so altered competitive dynamics (Gereffi 1999). Globalisation of economies has lead to the construction of chains of production, distribution and consumption transcending borders across the world. Gereffi (1994) identified these chains as Global Commodity Chains, using them as a method to analyze the global economy.
The Silk Road, a series of passageways connecting China with the Mediterranean completely changed the world. These series of trade routes allowed the advancement of technology and cultural diversity like never seen before. These routes connected many different civilizations allowing the exchange of goods and ideas. This variety of nationalities made it a “Cultural Bridge between Asia and Europe. ” Before these pathways were established trade was nearly impossible due to extreme desert conditions and high mountain tops. Many people died making the journey, even after the trade routes were established. So why make the trip? How did the Silk Road impact history?