Silk Road Trade
The countries of Central Asia were part of a historical region known as Turkestan that dates back to 3000–2001 BCE. The Silk Road, or more accurately, Silk Routes, traversed this vast area. Figure 7.8 is a map of the Silk Routes in approximately 1200 CE.
Although the map does not include the current country boundaries, the place names along the routes provide points of reference and show the extent of these ancient trade routes, which extended from Europe to the eastern coast of China.
- Talas is a town in northwest Kyrgyzstan
- Osh is a city in southern Kyrgyzstan
- Samarkand is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan
- Merv was near the current city of Mary in southeastern Turkmenistan
- Herat is in western Afghanistan
Figure 7.8 Map depicting the trade routes of the
Silk Road during the 1st century CE.
Source: Kaidor, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silk_Road_in_the_I_century_AD_-_en.svg
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