Banner Image: An image of two travelers meeting in the desert.
Decline of the Silk Road
“Sensitive pricing and a deliberate policy of keeping taxes low were symptomatic of the bureaucratic nous of the Mongol Empire, which gets too easily lost beneath the images of violence and wanton destruction. In fact, the Mongols’ success lay not in indiscriminate brutality but in their willingness to compromise and co-operate, thanks to the relentless effort to sustain a system that renewed central control.”
-Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
Decline of the Silk Road
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The Silk Road was maintained for several hundred years, and through several dynasties in China. It is shown, however, that as other civilizations grew larger economically and technologically, China began to lose its superiority in the ancient "arms race", thus leading to a decline in the Silk Road
"The inhabitants of Ta-tsin (Egypt/Arabia) use large sea-going ships having on board nets of iron." The decline of the Silk Road is also largely due to the fact that trade via sea was becoming more prominent. It was now safer and quicker to transport goods by ship, rather than across the long, and often dangerous Silk Road.
"As well as the overland route from Da Qin (Roman territory) through Haibei (‘North of the Sea’ – the lands between Egypt and Parthia), one can also follow the sea south along the seven commanderies of Jiaozhi (stretching down the north Vietnamese coast), which are in contact with foreign countries. Nearby (or ‘North’) is a waterway (the Red River) which leads to Yongchang in Yizhou (a commandery in present-day southern Yunnan). That’s why rare items come from Yongchang." Another key factor in the decline of the Silk Road was the expansion of Islam, which spread, much like Buddhism, very easily along the Silk Road. As Islamic power and territory began to encroach on China, ideas and communication were greatly stymied, as tension ensued.
"The law which their prophet Mohammed has given to muslims is that any harm done to anyone who does not accept their law and any appropriation of his goods, is no sin at all." The final blow in the decline of the Silk Road were the isolationist policies of the Ming Dynasty. Throughout the Ming and into the Qing dynasties, China began to avoid trading with the rapidly advancing west, and also became a more oppressive state, ultimately ending the once prosperous and widespread trade.
"Those who have died from their punishments are mute. However, those who survive confuse the truth by speaking falsely. Lying to their friends and neighbors, they all say they are innocent. They complain, “The court’s punishments are savage and cruel.” This kind of slander is all too common...Too often they have not followed my words, thereby bringing disaster upon themselves." |
A painting of Mongol emperor Kublai Khan. When Kublai Khan established his empire, it covered so much of Asia and the west that the Silk Road essentially became superfluous in many regions, however routes linking Europe to the MIddle East still prospered.
A map depicting the extent of the Mongol Empire and its surrounding territories.
Mongol emperor Tiemeur. After the Silk Road's temporary decline during the Mongol Empire, Tiemeur, a descendant of Genghis Khan established the Tiemeur Empire in 1368, the Silk Road became prevalent in trade once more. However, when the Tiemeur Empire collapsed in 1404, the Silk Road ultimately decayed and finally fell into disuse.
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