The Jade Road

Its 330 BCE. You are walking on a trade route. You look around and see people driving carts pulled by camels and donkeys. Some people arrive by foot, hoping to make a good sale or purchase. Fabric, jewelry, leather goods, and carpets are laid out for inspection. In one aisle meat vendors are selling sheep, goat, pig, chicken, and duck. In another, piles of fig, melon, and grapes are stacked orderly. A fragrant scent comes from a stand selling a variety of spices, black pepper, yellow sesame seeds, orange saffron, red curry powder, and many more. You are on the Silk Road. What is the Silk Road you might ask? I’d be glad to tell you. The Silk Road was a network of east-west trade routes connecting the Mediterranean Sea and China. It stretched

The Jade Road was a couple of east-west trails that were used in Southern and Northern Kazakhstan. Jade is a hard, shiny stone, found in pale green, cream, brown, and other colors. Back then the Jade was mined in Lake Baikal, but today the Jade is found off the coast of the Baltic Sea. The most desirable Jade came from the rivers running into the city of Khotan. The Tin Road was a cluster of roads in Europe that happened to be in use during the Tin Age. Tin is a soft and shiny, silver metal that was imported from Central Asia around 2700 BCE. Tin was used to make bronze for weapons, tools, and household goods. The Persian Royal Road was an old trading route from the Persia to the Mediterranean. Unlike the other two roads, this one was paved. The road was paved with slabs of stone and used for the King’s messengers. The Royal Road spanned more than 1,500 miles. Darius’s messengers could make it there in less than 10 days. Eventually all of these roads combined into one huge one, now known as the Silk

There was always the constant threat of getting robbed by bandits. Bandits robbed traders and travelers so much, that some caravans would hire guards to travel with them. Since the Silk Road ran thru many deserts, there was always a chance of getting buried in a sandstorm (http://history.stackexchange.com). Since the Silk Road was the fastest way to travel, and the traders knew it, there would be road taxes every 50 miles or so. The road taxes were collected by states and political leaders. Since caravans could not travel all day and all night, they often stopped at a city or town. Many cities along the Silk Road got their start as small oasis towns. In places where caravans stopped to rest and re-supply, markets grew. Eventually, tradespeople opened shops. Missionaries and religious leaders built temples and mosques. Rulers used the taxes and fees they collected to build shrines in their glory. When markets got too big, they were divided into bazaars. Each bazaar specialized in different kinds of goods. When caravans arrived in cities desperate for sleep, they would head straight to the local caravanserai. A caravanserai was an inn where traders could relax and compare stories with other traders from other parts of the world. In the thirteenth century, the Seljuk Empire in Turkey and Persia built a system of caravanserais throughout the empire. They offered three days of free food and lodging. They also included free health care