Book contents
- The Cambridge World HistoryVolume IV
- The Cambridge World History
- A World with States, Empires, and Networks, 1200 bce–900 ce
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: the world from 1200 bce to 900 ce
- Part I Global histories
- Part II Trans-regional and regional perspectives
- 10 Western and Central Eurasia
- 11 Regional study: Baktria – the crossroads of ancient Eurasia
- 12 The Mediterranean
- 13 Regional study: Athens in the fifth century bce
- 14 Late antiquity in Europe c. 300–900 ce
- 15 East Asia
- 16 Regional study: Confucianism and the state
- 17 Regional study: exchanges within the Silk Roads world system
- 18 South Asia
- 19 Regional study: Pataliputra
- 20 The Americas
- 21 Regional study: Chaco Canyon and the US Southwest
- 22 Australasia and the Pacific
- 23 Africa: states, empires, and connections
- 24 Regional study: trans-Saharan trade
- Index
- References
17 - Regional study: exchanges within the Silk Roads world system
from Part II - Trans-regional and regional perspectives
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2015
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Book contents
- The Cambridge World HistoryVolume IV
- The Cambridge World History
- A World with States, Empires, and Networks, 1200 bce–900 ce
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: the world from 1200 bce to 900 ce
- Part I Global histories
- Part II Trans-regional and regional perspectives
- 10 Western and Central Eurasia
- 11 Regional study: Baktria – the crossroads of ancient Eurasia
- 12 The Mediterranean
- 13 Regional study: Athens in the fifth century bce
- 14 Late antiquity in Europe c. 300–900 ce
- 15 East Asia
- 16 Regional study: Confucianism and the state
- 17 Regional study: exchanges within the Silk Roads world system
- 18 South Asia
- 19 Regional study: Pataliputra
- 20 The Americas
- 21 Regional study: Chaco Canyon and the US Southwest
- 22 Australasia and the Pacific
- 23 Africa: states, empires, and connections
- 24 Regional study: trans-Saharan trade
- Index
- References
Summary
The Eurasian continent was roughly divided into two ecological domains: the agricultural settlements that stretched from China to the Mediterranean, and the nomadic groups who lived mostly on the northern steppe. The north-south interactions often led to east-west migrations, as well as to trade and cultural exchanges, which ultimately resulted in the formation of a major artery of communication that historians now call the Silk Roads. The conflicts between the Xiongnu on the Mongolian steppe and the Han Empire of China initiated the organized trading networks on the Silk Roads. Between the Han imperial presence in the eastern section of Central Asia and the Kushan dominance in Bactria and India, oasis city-states spread on the land between the Syr and Amu rivers, a region known as Sogdiana. By the period of the Chinese Tang Dynasty Persian silks sold in China that some Chinese weaving shops actually specialized in making Persian silk brocade.
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- The Cambridge World History , pp. 457 - 479Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015
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