The Silk Road, also called “Chain of Caverners”, was a route that connected the West and the East. It was the first step of the human development and towards a global world. Before the Silk Road, there were no long connections between the East and the West. All cultures, languages, religions, and ideas were limited to their own world territory. For ancient humans the world was very localized. They did not travel far and they never thought that there would be another culture and world except them. By sharing all these ideas and cultures, human progress began.
The Silk Road was the first human trade economic system by footprint. In the second century BCE, Zhang Qian, who was the ambassador of China at that time, went to Middle Asia for his diplomatic business. There was no prior connection between Europe and Asia because there was the Tian Shan mountain range at the end of China. After he crossed the huge Taklimakan Desert, he was amazed at what he saw. He saw 70 small towns developed with agriculture and craft. The townspeople were trading with India, the Middle East and some small countries around the towns. When Zhang Qian came back to China, he told his emperor to Emperor Wudi. Then they made the plan to make a larger routes for trading. It passed through The Great Wall of China, Taklamakan Desert in the west of China. It also passed India, Central Asia and on to Europe by the Mediterranean Sea. By this route, many ideas, products, and culture have been exchanged. The caravans, who were traveling the Silk Road, traveled by foot and by camels, but later, they used ships to cross seas to get to Asia, to exchanging some products, ideas and culture.The products from the East were popular because the western people never had them before. Many products were exchanged, including spices, silk, jade, cotton, pepper and paper. There were also the exchange of ideas of religion such as Buddhism and Islam. Crossing the Silk Road had many dangers and fears of getting lost, robbers, and crossing the Taklimakan Desert or Tian Shan and Himalayan Mountain ranges. However, enduring many risks from the Silk Road was the trend at this time, because profits were large.By this route, many products have been exchanged, and also many ideas, new technology and cultures were shared. Even though there were some dangers in trading, the Silk road left big legacies that improved both sides of the world through human invention and exchange.
Traveling the Silk Road had many risks but this didn’t stop the caravaners traveling to Kashgar. Kashgar is an oasis city situated between Taklimakan Desert and the Pamirs Mountain range at the end of western China. The city was well situated, because Kashgar was the last stop before the huge desert, and it was also the place where all merchants could take a rest after the long desert crossing. Kashgar had water. The oasis was fertile to grow wheat, corn, rice, beans, and most importantly, cotton. The city also produced fruit like melons, grapes, peaches, pomegranates, apricots and cherries. Kashgar’s pomegranates were one of the most popular fruits in the city. People in Kashgar liked to squeeze the fruit and drink the juice. There was also a river sourced from the mountain ranges that provided fish. Some of the merchants sold some fish to the caverners. Kashgar was also a very important spot because it was connect it many other trade route. From Kashgar, merchants would choose their next destination. There was a southern route to India, an eastern route to eastern China and western route to Europe. Kashgar was valuable on the Silk Road both as a place to resupply for the trader who wants and hope good profits for their future, so the city became a trading center that bridged the East and the West.
The land was not the only asset to Kashgar’s popularity and success.The people in Kashgar were an asset as well. They were talented at handcrafts, using cotton, fur and silk to produce felt and rugs, along with leatherware and their fertile soil to make pottery. Of course silk and felt were a great deal to the customers who visited from the West. Some other areas in Kashgar produced ships, wool, hides and different species of animals from other parts of China. One of the most popular practices was wool rug making. The people of Kashgar usually made rugs using different patterns and colors, and that interested westerners. Kashgar was a convention center of the Silk Road, because the city produced so many products. Although there were many risks on the Silk Road, the traders could come and reap an immense profit in the diverse markets of Kashgar.
The name “Kashgar” means “where the marbles gather” in Persian, which signifies the place that many cultures and ideas congregate. Kashgar also means, “The House of diversity”, which is similar to “where the marbles gather”. As the name of the city suggests, Kashgar was the house of culture. The religion of Kashgar was Islam, but there were Chinese religious practices like Buddhism mingled with in the city as well. Since many caverners visited the city, they Spread Islam and Chinese culture throughout the world. Kashgar was a real house of diversity to the western traders and that is the reason why they endured natural risk to get into the city. It had a huge influence of east culture, and bridged to the West.
For the caravans traveling the Silk Road, food was rare. When they were crossing the huge Taklimakan desert or the Himalaya Mountains they needed simple and portable food. Millet was an example. Millet is a grain that was produced in Asia over 4000 years ago. It is one of the oldest grain in the world. Millet’s produced from corn, wheat, and other seeds that are edible. Millet only grows in fertile soil and warm climates, and so that is produced from India, Africa and China. During the period of the Silk Road trade, millet was used in many different ways. Mainly it was used for “flatbread”, which Indians called “naan”. It is a very simple bread made with millet ground flour. Many traders liked this bread because it was simple and good. They usually ate naan in the desert, where cooked food was rare. They just needed to heat sand and put the dough in it. The travelers also made porridge by boiling the grains of millet in the middle of the mountain range. Sometimes it is also cooked and eaten like rice. Thus, Millet was very useful grain between the travelers. It helped the survival of traders.
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