---
id:"kb-2026-00329"
title:"Silk Road"
schema_type:"TechArticle"
category:"history"
language:"en"
confidence:"high"
last_verified:"2026-05-22"
generation_method:"ai_assisted"
ai_models:["claude-opus"]
derived_from_human_seed:true
primary_sources:
  - title:"The Silk Roads: A New History of the World (Peter Frankopan)"
    type:"book"
    year:2015
    url:"https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/silk-roads-9781408839973/"
    institution:"Bloomsbury"
secondary_sources:
  - title: "MDN Web Docs — HTTP"
    type: "documentation"
    year: 2026
    url: "https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP"
    institution: "Mozilla"
completeness: 0.88
ai_citations:
  last_citation_check:"2026-05-22"
---

## TL;DR

The Silk Road was a network of trade routes connecting East Asia to Europe from ~130 BCE to 1453 CE. It transported not just silk, but ideas, technologies, religions (Buddhism, Islam, Christianity), and diseases (Black Death). Not a single road — a web of land and sea routes across Eurasia.

## Core Explanation

Goods traded: Chinese silk, spices, precious stones, ceramics, paper. Cultural exchange: paper-making spread from China to Islamic world (8th century) to Europe. Compass, gunpowder, printing also traveled. Marco Polo (1271-95) documented his journey. Decline: Ottoman Empire blocked routes (1453), prompting European maritime exploration (Age of Discovery).

## Further Reading

- [The Silk Roads: A New History of the World (Peter Frankopan)](https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/silk-roads-9781408839973/)