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  • Essay / The crucial role played by the Silk Road in Afro-Eurasian history

    David Christian, world historian and specialist in the history of Russia, whose article entitled “Silk Roads or Roads of steppes” hypothesized an ideology about ecological factors in the The Silk Road encourages trade. Silk Roads or Steppe Roads focuses on a captivating vision of how the Silk Road played a crucial role in establishing and preserving the unity of Afro-Eurasian history. Long before there were ships, trains and planes to transport goods from one place/area to another, there was the Silk Road. The Silk Road was a complex network of trade routes across Europe, Asia, and Africa, covering much of the territory and constituting the first major trading system. Christian's main proposition states that "civilization and ecological exchange created a unity that has been largely ignored by historians." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Christian's thesis itself examines three aspects to understand this unit; The Silk Roads have their origins in prehistory, their function changed in classical times, and the routes have expanded northward over the past thousand years. Christian thoughts support the idea of ​​a "world system" with a shared history of Afro-Eurasian exchange of religion, culture, goods, people and disease that dates back earlier than previously thought . He explains this by stating that "the Silk Road is a series of exchanges that linked different ecological zones of the Afro-Eurasian continent into a single system." Through the numerous transecological exchanges that took place along the Silk Roads, a contribution was made. largely contributed to the growth of trade within the Afro-Eurasian region, and particularly trade between agrarian communities, steppe pastoralists and forest cultures. The many different characteristics achieved by the Silk Road indicate that ecological factors played a role in greatly deepening trade. For example, the Silk Roads cross the borders of desert areas or arid steppes inhabited by pastoralists. These ecological boundaries nevertheless created a demand for trade because the essential goods needed by people living in different environments were also different. The majority of traded products came from the steppes, while several products made by the agrarian community were sold on the steppes. These products obviously proved the influence of trade in the Afro-Eurasian region. Christian also explains that the Silk Roads were natural sea and land routes connecting agricultural communities where the exchange of products, religion and ideas took place. Furthermore, Christian's views on the steppe routes that linked Eurasian agriculture were realized through the commercial barter of goods from pastoral and agricultural regions. In conclusion, a revised understanding of the role and history of the Silk Roads shows how the entire Silk Road Afro-Eurasian landmass was connected by complex exchange networks long before we didn't think so before. Christian powerfully reminds us that Afro-Eurasia has a common history despite the ecological and cultural diversity of its many different regions. His explanation that trade took place on the steppes rather than on the roads helps identify that these settlements., 2016.