The Silk Road between India and China - Essay Example

The Silk Road Silk Road or silk route is commonly known as a road of prosperity, business and trade ties. This is the road connecting different regions/ countries in the Asian subcontinent and parts of Mediterranean. India, China Persia, Rome, ancient Egypt, and Mesopotamia are some of the regions thorough which this route passes. During early days, silk was also used as a writing material and manuscripts were written on silk cloth using it as a paper. China was in the forefront of silk trade and exported silk to many countries around the world. In fact silk was invented in China around 3000 BC. And it was during 200 BC that Han rulers took control of Tarim region. The Silk Road was subsequently opened under China's control and the route to the Western part of the world started working. Chinese traders used Silk Road for the trade, which resulted in establishing of the Silk Road. Subsequently other countries also started using the road for carrying out their trade related activities thus strengthening the mutual relationship. In fact the 'silk road' is not a road as such, but a long stretch of trade route taken by the trading community. The trail spread mainly across Central Asia, resulted in prosperity not only along the route but in nearby regions as well, as branches from the main route emerged out of the Silk Road towards newer destinations in the interiors of the region. During those early days, the Roman, Parthian, Kushan, and Chinese worked towards providing stability to the Silk Road. Different countries had on offer different types of merchandise for China while Chinese started off with silk and then added more items on the trade. For example India traded with China in gems & jewelry, semiprecious stones, and glass which are the forte of India for many centuries. Buddhism also spread to from India to China through the silk route. The famous Chinese philosopher Fa-hsien, was one of first known Chinese travelers who took Silk Road for traveling towards India around 300 AD. Marco Polo, the famous traveler took 24 years while traveling through Asia. He also chose the Silk Road for his adventurous journey. His travels ignited the urge for industrialization in the Asian subcontinent. Today we can very well boast of the ICT era led technological boom in the industrial world, but historians credit Marco Polo's travelogue for bringing about the technological changes. In fact silk route led industrialization in this part of the world proved to be a turning point for the technological advancements. Marco Polo with his entourage did lot of purchasing from one region and sold it in another region along the silk route, which strengthened the trade practices along the Silk Road. The products sold by him were appreciated by the people, because till then people did not have much idea about the products being made by neighboring countries and regions. Though Osterhammel and Petersson identify the period from 1750 to 1880 as an era which gave rise to the phenomenon of free trade development and as an important step towards globalisation but Marco Polo's trade along the silk route, during the first half of 14th century could very well be termed as the beginning of globalisation. Trade along the Silk Road prospered during the times when China was ruled by a succession of non-Chinese dynasties belonging to different ethnic groups, as these groups depended to a great extent on outsiders for trade. Trade activities along the Silk Road suffered a decline owing to change in political equations in China and neighboring India. When power passed on to the Song dynasty, it proved to be weak in retaining control over strategically important central and northern part of China, which resulted in loss of control over Central Asian trade, thus diminishing the role of Silk Road. Subsequently Chinese rulers started paying more attention towards the sea route for carrying out trade. Subsequently when Mongols came to power during the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century, the Silk Road was once again revived for trade. It is indeed an irony that China is termed as the pioneer of globalisation because of the silk route, but today, when the many countries around the world have opened up their economies to globalisation, China is now gradually picking up the threads, with much more caution. During 14th century Silk Road proved to be the lifeline of business and trade with different parts of the world, not only along the silk route but in areas like Korea and Japan as well. Goods used to be traded from one end of the Silk Road to another, along the Eurasian region, via the route itself, from where these goods used to be traded across to other regions using maritime trade. Port cities were the most crucial components of carrying out businesses. This way trading activities acquired a global proposition, benefiting many parts of the world. This was the form of globalisation that China helped in spreading throughout the world. In fact the free trade regimes like NAFTA, SAFTA etc. which have started appearing on the scene now a days in the name of free trade also has its roots in the Silk Road. During those times, there were many types of rules and regulations prevalent in different parts of the world, but when Marco Polo went out on tour along the Silk Road to many places around the world, he helped in communicating some of the business practices being carried out in one part of the world to other regions. This was a definite boost to the practice of free trade. By 19th century, when economic interests became supreme to all other interests, the Asian subcontinent became hotbed of activities, with colonial powers from west taking control of many parts of the region. Silk Road too became a part of this struggle for supremacy. When British traders landed in India, they were there for trade, but subsequently these traders became rulers of almost the entire India. Subsequently, in order to strengthen their control over India, England started taking control of the Silk Road. Rivaled by Russian forces, England was largely successful in taking control of some parts of Afghanistan Tibet, which helped in strengthening its control over India. Having strengthened themselves in the neighborhood of China, these rulers started extracting concessions from Chinese rulers. At the same time, Russia took control of many parts of central Asia. These developments led to the closure of the all important Silk Road. There are, in fact, talks of reviving the Silk Road between India and China now a days, as these two big economies are busy talking cooperation in different fields. Once bitter rivals, now India and China are trying to come closer so that both nations can realize the fullest potential of globalisation. Let us wait for another revival of Silk Road. Read More