Great Silk Road

«MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF ASTANA»Corporation

Faculty of History

 

 

Individual work of

student

             Topic: "Great Silk Road"

                                       

 

 

 

                                                                        

 

 

                                                                       

                                                                         performed by: Mailykhanov O.A

                                                                         checked by: Omarova B.K.

 

                                                   Astana-2013

Plan:

I.Introduction.

 

II.Main body.

1. The history of the Silk Road ............................................ 3-5

2. And trade routes of the Silk Road ......................... 5-7

 

III.Conclusion ........................................................ 9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction .

 

 

    In the history of human civilization , there are many examples of long-term mutually beneficial cultural and economic cooperation between the two countries and peoples with different political, religious and ethnic traditions. For example , there was the legendary route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" for quite a long time in force between Russia and the Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway , Denmark). Known in the history of salt and a trade route , which took place on the African continent , runs through mainly through the Sahara desert .      

But the most significant , well-known in the world is the Great Silk Road , which stretches from the shores of the Atlantic to the Pacific , crossing the entire Asian continent and connecting the Mediterranean countries and the Far East in antiquity and the early Middle Ages . It was not just a road or highway system from coast to coast , it was a very complex cultural and economic bridge between the East and the West , which connected the people in their quest for peace and cooperation .      

The Great Silk Road - a kind of phenomenon of the history of mankind, its aspirations for unity and exchange of cultural values ​​, the conquest of living space and markets for goods. In the East, saying, " sitting - a mat that goes - the river ." Movement - this is life , and the journey , knowledge of the world has always been a driving force for progress .     

This is the largest in the history of mankind transcontinental trade route linking Europe and Asia and in the old days stretched from ancient Rome to the ancient Japanese capital of Nara . Of course, the trade between the East and the West was conducted from time immemorial, but it was the individual segments of the future great way. In trade relations has greatly contributed to the development in the mountains of Central Asia deposits semiprecious stones - lapis lazuli, jade , carnelian , turquoise, prized in the East. So , there was a " lapis lazuli " the way in which from Central Asia to Iran, Mesopotamia , and even in Egypt brought the stone . At the same time it was formed , " jade " route linking of Khotan and Yarkand with areas of northern China . In addition, the country of Asia Minor from Sogdiana and Bactria exported carnelian , and from Khorezm - turquoise. All these routes are , after all , joined the Great Silk Road .

 

 

 

 

Body 1. The history of the Silk Road .        

The real beginning of the great highway that connected the caravan routes , laid from Central Asia to the West and South, and the roads leading out of China in East Turkistan , refer to the middle of the second century BC, when the Chinese first opened West region - the countries of Central Asia.

Old North Road emerged on the initiative of Emperor Wu , who needed thoroughbred horses for the army . Such horses saw during his embassy to Central Asia in the years 138-126 BC. e . Zhang Qian dignitary . He also reported the absence of the emperor in other countries silk weaving craft and advised the Emperor to repatriate silk in exchange for horses, beautiful and sweet fruit , wine , etc. In the year 121 BC. e . first caravan with silk and bronze mirrors toward the Fergana oasis of Turfan Depression through the Fire Mountains and along the Tien Shan.       

China , which has long eschewed the "Wild West", and opened its first western door . In 138 BC, Emperor Wu Di of the Han Dynasty sent for " Celestial Mountains " Tien Shan to the tribe of the Yuezhi for the conclusion of a military alliance experienced diplomat and military commander Zhang Jiang. The result of his travels was a report about the Emperor , " a journey of 25,000 there ." Zhang Jiang proposed a specific plan for the development of relations with Western countries, which soon began to act. Thus closed the two branches of the great intercontinental paths : one from the West, from the Mediterranean and the other from the East - from the Han Empire .       

Already in the middle of I millennium BC, the Persian ruler charged tribute from their vassals possessions in Sogdiana and Bactria. But in the IV century BC, the first route from Europe to Central Asia paved cohort of Alexander the Great . Along with the soldiers were traders , carried goods and exported overseas curiosities home. Over vast areas of Asia Minor and Arabia to the shores of the Yangtze River, which forms the jade , lapis-lazuli and other trade routes , there were state attained power and prosperity , and fell under the blows of the more fortunate and powerful invaders. A caravan of merchants continued to blaze new trails . The emergence of the Great Silk Road refers to the II century . BC. e . And the term " Silk Road " was introduced in the study of history scientists XIX century , when in 1877 a German traveler and historian C. Richthofen wrote his paper "China ", in which he first identified this trade route along the eastern countries named " silk Road ." In the I - II centuries BC, the ancient authors point out that the Roman senators and notable citizens prefer to wear silk togas . At the same time, enterprising Sogdian merchants founded trading posts in Kashgar , Yarkand , Khotan - along the roads leading to China. Here they met the caravans of the Celestial Empire , and bought precious silk and the finest porcelain.    

It is believed that the secret of making silk from the cocoons of the silkworm has been opened Chinese five thousand years ago. For a long time they remained monopolistic suppliers of silk to the external market .      

The ancient Chinese knew how to get silk of different natural colors. They noticed that the color of silkworm cocoons depends on what they feed on caterpillars .     

So "home moth " gives silk white if its caterpillars feed during the growing season only leaves white ( garden ) mulberry.      

For yellow silk caterpillars "home silkworm " first half of life are fed the leaves of trees Zhe (wild mulberry tree that grows in the mountains) , and only secondarily - leaves of mulberry garden .     

Additional silk paint was prepared in four steps: 1. washing 2 . vyvarka , 3. bleaching , 4. etching . After unwinding of cocoons and matching threads started flushing . Silk with purified and turned white as losing the remnants of sericin and dirt. Written sources give an exhaustive description of the process : " Vyvarschiki silk treated with silk threads with hot water. They washed silk filaments of purified water. After seven days, they laid out the threads on the ground at a depth of 20 cm for produshki . Happy strands are dried in the sun , at night they put in a well. This operation lasts for seven days and seven nights. This is what is called a water wash silk . "       

After washing, the yarn can be consumed for the production of single-color fabric . If the yarn intended for the manufacture of multicolored fabrics were subjected to further processing : digesting , bleaching , and depending on the dye , etching. These operations took place and ready -color fabric prior to painting.        

Digesting was that the silk was boiled in water containing ash tree fruits " lian ". Followed by cooking for the third phase of treatment - bleaching . Silk is placed in a vessel , where it soak , sprinkled with powdered silk shell shen . After settling of the powder , silk removed and shake . When painting fabrics in black iron sulfate was used . One of the most common colors are indigo leaves doe , coloring in blue.      

The main vegetable dye fabrics in red in ancient China was ticking , derived from the madder root . By the end of the Han era , along with madder to dye fabrics in red color was used safflower, which has penetrated into China as a result of contacts with the Western Lands . For dyeing yellow fruit of the plant used " Zhijie ." In the dark- stained red with ocher .    

In Europe, the thought that the silk grows on trees and that only the Chinese know the secret of this culture. During the reign of Augustus Rome was paying for Chinese silk woolen goods, spices and glass products. The Chinese do not have the slightest intention to refute the legend of this kind, than they secured a monopoly and export of expensive fabric . The Parthians , through whose territory the sale , just did not see a reason to distribute anything about the technical aspects of the production of silk, however, was obtained from the trade in big profit, and many subsequent dynasties , through whose lands were silk roads . But in the VI century itinerant monk secretly brought in a staff Greenough silkworm to Constantinople , the secret was discovered, and began to weave silk fabrics in the Byzantine Empire , Syria and Central Asia. Thus , the Silk Road was not only for the goods from China, but also from the Sughd . In the twentieth century, the cathedral Notterdam small Belgian town of Huy was found patterned silk fabric golden color that adorned the tomb of St. Domitian. Studies have shown that this fabric is called " zandanechi " and was made in VI - VIII centuries in the remote village of Zandana near Bukhara . Silk from Sogdiana decorated burial relics of Christian saints in the cathedrals of France, Italy and Germany. Silk " zandanechi " was found by archaeologists in ancient tombs in the North Caucasus.

Body 2. And trade routes of the Silk Road .          

I must say that this path was never a single trunk , and included a variety of routes which branched off like a mighty tree canopy . So, one of the main roads crossing Asia from east to west, began in the capital of Chang'an in ancient China and has followed up its north- western border along the Gobi Desert , through the Tarim Basin , followed by Eastern Turkestan . Having crossed the Tien Shan Mountains, part of caravans went through the Fergana Valley and Tashkent oasis in Samarkand - the capital of Sogdiana , Bukhara, Khorezm, on the shores of the Caspian Sea . Part of the caravans from Samarqand headed to Bactria and across the valley Kashkadari went out to Termez , where , after crossing the Amu Darya River , heading south in Bactria and India.      

Another branch road from Tarim flow around as needed Taklamakan desert to the south and through Honan and Yarkand led in Bactria (northern Afghanistan) and Merv , where through Persia , Syria reached the Mediterranean Sea and part of the goods fell to Rome and Greece.     

Silk Road passed through the basic number of embassy and trade caravans in the VII-XIV centuries . For centuries, it underwent changes : some areas of special concern, while others are dying out , and the city and the commercial stations they fell into decay . Thus, VI-VIII cc. Syria was the main trail - Iran - Central Asia - South Kazakhstan - Talas Valley - Chu Valley - Issyk- Kul Basin - East Turkestan . An offshoot of this road , or rather another route out to the track from Byzantium through Derbent in the Caspian steppes - Mangishlak - Aral Sea - Southern Kazakhstan . He walked around the Sassanian Iran, as opposed to when it was concluded trade and diplomatic alliance Western Turkic Khanate in Byzantium. In the IX-XII centuries . This route was used with less intensity than the one that came through Central Asia and the Middle East , Asia Minor, Syria , Egypt and Byzantium , and in XIII-XIV.        

As the name implies, the main subject of trade on the caravan routes was silk , highly valued throughout the sublunary world . For example, in the early Middle Ages, silk was the most popular unit of account , crowding out of circulation even gold . So , in Sogdiana price was equal to the cost of a horse ten cuts of silk. Silk paid for work performed for the content of mercenaries , silk could buy off the punishment for a crime . For the first time , " silk " to caravan road called the Venetian merchant Marco Polo, the first European reached the limits of the Chinese Empire . In scientific use the term " Silk Road " in 1877 introduced the German explorer Ferdinand Richthofen in his monumental work, "China"       

Silk was though the main but not the only commodity that is transported by the transcontinental journey. From Central Asia exported horses are very highly valued in China, ammunition , gold and silver, semi-precious stones and glass products , leather and wool , carpets and cotton fabrics , exotic fruits - melons and peaches, fat-tailed sheep and hunting dogs , leopards and lions . Caravans brought from China porcelain dishes and metal , lacquer ware and cosmetics, tea and rice . In the road bags merchants could find elephant tusks , rhinoceros horn , tortoise shells , spices , and more.     

Silk Road first served for the export of Chinese silk . In turn, Rome , Byzantium, India, Iran, the Arab Caliphate , and later from Europe and Russia were on it frankincense and myrrh , jasmine and amber water , cardamom and nutmeg , ginseng and bile python, carpets and fabrics, dyes and minerals , diamonds, jade , amber, coral, ivory and "fish tusks " , silver bullion and gold coins and fur , bows and arrows , swords and spears and many others on the Silk Road was carried on a sale of the famous " potokrovnyh " horses Fergana, Arab and nisiyskih horses , camels and elephants, rhinos and lions, cheetahs and gazelles , hawks , peacocks, parrots and ostriches, distributed cultivated plants : grapes , peaches and melons , spices, sugar , fruits and vegetables , fresh herbs.     

During the existence of the state of Saks , and Usuns Kangüy in II. BC. e . - The first half of I millennium BC. e . , when the Silk Road is actively functioning in Kazakhstan penetrate Roman glass and coins , Chinese silk , mirrors and lacquer ware, European brooches and buckles , signet - stones of the Sassanid Iran. During this period, in the valleys of the Chu , Talas and Syr formed urban centers , which were the forerunner of the agricultural settlements , surrounded by walls and towers .     

In the VI-VII centuries . is the busiest route , which took place from China to the west across the Seven Rivers and Southern Kazakhstan . This movement paths can be attributed to several factors . First, in the Seven Rivers rates were Turkic Hagan , who controlled the trade routes through Central Asia . Secondly , the road through the Fergana in VII. has become dangerous because of civil strife . Third , the rich Turkic Kagan and their environment have become major consumers of goods overseas .        

In those days the journey has always been associated with the risk that had to take into account each merchant . The road itself was rarely smooth , and even more beautiful . Usually, it happens desert , often rocky , with scattered skeletons of camels - frightening signs by which however, determined travelers on their way. Piercing cold winter and unbearable heat in summer . The eternal thirst and the need to conserve water . Constant expectation of the storm or meeting with nomads , and does not know that one is worse . And the rare city oasis, where you can not always have a warm welcome , but more duties and levies . Particularly annoyed travelers robbers - those unwelcome hosts desert horizons.        

The Great Silk Road moved not only trade caravans on it spread cultural achievements of peoples , spiritual values ​​, religious ideas. In place of the ancient Zoroastrian culture , popular in the ancient Khorezm , Sogdiana and Bactria , came Buddhism , which became the main religion of the powerful Kushan Empire and spread from here to China. In the first century BC in Asia Minor Christianity emerged . Severe warriors Arab Caliphate in the VII century brought the teachings of Islam. On the roads , paved merchants and preachers from the Mongolian steppes to the European Plains swept hordes of Genghis Khan. From the heart of the Silk Road - Samarkand started their campaigns great commander of the medieval East Temur.Sovremenniki those distant events not only wrote about the success of their states , but also about the development of the values ​​of foreign cultures , and this was the main content of one of the real forms of world culture. Along with the distribution of the goods , cultural models in the applied arts , architecture, wall paintings of the countries of the East and the West spread the art of music and dance , spectacular views.     

Finally, on the caravan routes for centuries traveled scientists and researchers . From the travel notes and scientific papers Chinese monk Xuan Zang and the Venetian merchant Marco Polo , an Arab preacher Ahmad ibn Fadlan and Bavarian warrior Schiltberger , Hungarian researcher Arminia Vambery and Swedish geographer Sven Hedin , Russian scientist Alexei Mabuza and Swiss journalist Ella Maillard , an American geologist Raphael Pumpelly and the French traveler Joseph Martin we know about the history of the peoples who inhabited the country lying along the Silk Road , their customs and mores .     

Alive the memory of nations, laid this unique highway , linking East and West, are the ancient Uzbek cities of Samarkand , Bukhara , Khiva, Karshi, Termez with their architectural monuments that enshrine the centuries-old history of the Silk Road .

 

 

 

 

Conclusion .      

The vast territory still remembers leisurely steps camel caravans for centuries to move around in this segment . This part of the journey is a unique complex of historical monuments of architecture, urban planning and the arts.      

Cities: Otyrar , Taraz, Sairam ( Ispidzhab ) , Turkestan ( Iasi ) , Suyab Balasagun and others, were not only shopping centers but also centers of science and culture. Taraz in ancient times called the city of merchants. Narrow streets , like streams, flocked to the center - many-voiced bazaar .     

Bazaar in Taraz was the center of all life. The city with citadels , caravanserais , mud hut , deaf patios , workshops of artisans arose from the bazaar and around the bazaar. It seems that people from around the world flocked to the market place to get something to sell, buy or exchange . At the market you can buy and sell everything. And indeed true ancients said : " Taraz bazaar - a mirror of the world ." For many centuries, Taraz remained one of the most important centers of ferrous metallurgy.