The silk routes are a good example of vibrant pre-modern trade and cultural links between distant parts of the world. There were several silk routes, over land and by sea that brought together regions of Asia, and linked Asia with Europe and northern Africa. They existed since before the Christian Era and thrived almost till the 15th century. The name ‘silk routes’ points to the importance of West-bound Chinese silk cargoes along this route.
1. Chinese pottery, textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia also travelled the same route. In return, precious metals – gold and silver – flowed from Europe to Asia.
2. Trade and cultural exchange went hand in hand. Buddhism from India spread in several directions through intersecting points on the silk routes. Early Christian missionaries travelled this route to reach Asia and Muslim preachers took the same route a few centuries later.
