![]() In junior year of high school I took the AP World History class, which I absolutely loved. One of the topics that we discussed immensely in this class was the Silk Road, a collection of trade routes that connected two ancient civilizations, and worlds together. It stretched from China, throughout most of Asia, all the way to Western Europe. The most fascinating part about this trade route was how it created a huge cultural syncretism and impacted much of this part of the world. In fact, it's impact can still be seen today, which I will discuss later. But first, let's discuss how it began. The Silk Road began roughly around 114 BCE, and lasted until about the 1450s CE. So for around 1500 years we have this massive trade route where all sorts of goods are being transferred between different civilizations. As you see in the picture above, there were so many diverse civilizations that were connected by the silk road. But anyways, I'm getting side tracked. The Silk Road began, and got its name mainly due to the Han dynasty. See during this period guess what was an extremly lucrative trade good for the Chinese... I'm gonna assume you guessed it correctly. that's right, it was Silk. So the Han wanted to bring in more profits and they began to expand their trade throughout Central Asia. The Han were the real deal. They expanded the Great Wall of China just to protect the trade routes. But anyways, after that, like an organic spiderweb, the trade routes began to grow, crisscrossing throughout all of Asia. And I think I need to give a clarification here. I bet that most of you assumed, when I first said the Silk Road, that it was like an actual road. But without those yellow lines of course. But no, roads like that can be found in Texas, not Asia. The actual silk road was more like a route directly through the desert. The trade on this road also led to significant developments in a few civilizations. Yeah not too big of a deal. Want me to read them off for you? Yeah just, China, Korea, Japan, India, Iran, Afghanistan, the entirety of Europe apparently, the Horn of Africa, which is a peninsula that juts out on the eastern portion of the continent, and Arabia. Yeah...not that significant huh. For those of you who don't get that by the way, it is actually sarcasm. Yes this was extremely significant. It led to the development of most of the Old World (Eurasia if you will), which in turn led to the development of most of the rest of the world. And this leads us to the significance to our modern world. Ahh, but first you want to know what type of goods were traded on the silk road? Yes, I'm asking myself questions. Don't judge. But anyways, there was a huge variety of goods traded. Some key items of note include : Europe : Silver Wool, and Figs Egypt : Glass Arabia : Incense Persia : Indigo and Glassware India : Slaves, Spices, Gems, and Perfumes China : Silk, Gunpowder, Paper, Grain, and Ivory and just for the heck of it Japan : Camphor (whatever that means) So there you have it. The Silk Road caused a massive exchange of people and goods, but also ideas. Religions, such as Islam and Buddhism, spread on the Silk Roads, brought by missionaries. Artwork, music, and dances were also spread to vastly different cultures. There were so many people from completely different cultures all sharing this one drive, to make their fortune through trade along the Silk Road. As such, a part of each person's culture involuntarily spread to new lands. Oh by the way, Camphor is like a waxy leaf, which has oils that can be taken from it which help with like headaches and stuff. So cool. But finally, I want to talk about the legacy and influence of the Silk Road in our modern world. The Silk Road was a huge driving force in cultural interactions between vastly different groups of people. Like I mentioned before, it led to a huge cultural syncretism, which essentially means a blending of different cultures. The Silk Road definitely led to the formation of diverse societies all throughout Eurasia. One can also argue that this was almost the first steps to a truly global society. It was a time where people were open to accepting new ideas. Religions spread quickly on these roads for a reason. But it was also a time where two different groups of people, completely distinct in their own religion, language, and traditions, could exchange a piece of themselves. Our world is truly a global society now, but sometimes people forget that we always were one society. Forget about all of the societal problems affecting the world during the time of the Silk Road, but just remember there was a time when different people mingled in relative peace. This was an essay that I wrote for my english class. We were assigned to write about anything we wanted, so naturally I decided to write about the silk road. Also, in one of my seminar classes we were also assigned to write about a very interesting prompt which I will post in the next few days. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this kind of crash course on a topic from history that really interests me. This was really fun! I definitely think I'll do it again! Oh yes, also next part of the short story will be coming soon! I'm probably gonna write it sometime after my midterm! Peace!
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Hey all, Aakash here for the first blog post. I want to start my blog off with a short story. I'm hoping that sporadically I can post a story based off of an interesting prompt or idea that I find. Afterwards I also want to analyze the different creative techniques I used and such. One of the greatest joys in writing is the ability to create completely different scenarios and ideas out of basically nothing. So anyways, without further ado, here we go. My breath fogged out in front of me. The icy mountains stretched out far ahead of me, looming on the horizon. The chill in the air was clearly evident, and I shivered despite my heavy parka and sweatshirt. The zipper on my jacket had broken off days ago, leaving me unable to close my jacket. Which was unfortunate. I gazed down at the small mountain village beneath me, which considering the circumstances, seemed very inviting at the moment. Three months, that's how long I'd been off the grid. No cell phone, no laptop, nothing. Such a thin layer between me and the wild. Every single day it felt like that layer of civilization was slowly breaking down. I felt like I could finally think again. The rush of human life was too much for me, and finally, just finally my connection with the land around me, the trees, the sky, the birds soaring through the clouds, and the insects digging through the ground, almost felt complete. I felt so at peace with the world. So as I made my way down the broad side of the mountain, I did so with a cheerful smile on my face, excited at the prospect of a strange new culture and a mountain paradise. What I arrived in was the complete opposite. What I arrived in was a village struck down by tragedy. I came there hoping to find some semblance of civilization, but I saw something far worse. The worst part about the village wasn't the blood stained snow or the gaping holes within the village, no it was the silence. And for the first time in a while, I felt so alone. There were no bodies whatsoever. The village felt like the empty shell of life. What was probably once a bustling and happy village now felt like something set up purposely to mock me. I felt like life had brought me here as some kind of cruel joke, as if to say "Hey, you're feeling alone. Let's prove that you are!" Even the wonderful vista that I'd been previously admiring felt misleading, like it was trying to make me feel isolated. I continued through the village, just staring around at all the broken down houses. It seemed like this had happened very recently. Grass hadn't started to poke out around the rubble just yet. But it still didn't make sense. Where could everyone have gone? Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. On the ground in one of the smallest shacks I saw something sparkling. With extreme foreboding I slowly made my way over to the collapsed home. I had been alone for so long. Had seen no one. People shouldn't spend so much time alone. I never expected it to go so far. The gale of the wind reminded me of the terrible terrible shrieks. The sounds. I never meant for it to happen. Humans are such social creatures. We were never meant to be alone. Something eventually breaks inside every person. With a heavy heart I pulled my zipper out of the ruins... * * * Alright guys, that's it. I did not plan on the story going in that direction. And don't worry, we're not gonna end that story on a cliffhanger. Well, not completely at least... Haha, I started that story hoping to create some sort of piece on self discovery and journeying through the mountains, but I ended up going down some sort of darker path. Which is interesting. Remember, this is just a first draft. I'm probably gonna smooth it out at some point. Oh and by the way, that picture you see up there is from Nepal, which is honestly one of my favorite countries ever. I'll definitely have to share my experiences there in a future blog post. But anyways, I'm gonna leave it at that for today. I'll probably continue with another short story that is related to this one in some way next week. See you all next time! |
AuthorI am just a guy in my 20s trying to find my way in life. I love to write short stories and also document the wonderful world around me! Be prepared for a lot of pictures! Archives
November 2022
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