What is the Silk Road

The Silk Road is an ancient trade route formed in the Western Han Dynasty around 202 BC-9 AD. This route is 4,350 miles from Xian to western China, central Asia, and also Europe, which makes communication between the regions better. The road was used around the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. The route goes from Asia to Europe passing through China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Greece and Italy.

My Inquiry Questions

1. How did the Mongols conquer China
2. Why was the Silk Road created
3. Why was it called Silk Road
4. How old is the Silk Road
5. How long would it take to travel the Silk Road
6. Who was Genghis Khan
7. When was the Silk road created
8. How were most trade items transported across the Silk Road
9. Was Silk popular in anywhere else besides China
10. During which Dynasty did the Silk Road become famous

My Inquiry Answers

1. The Mongolian Empire was founded by Tiemuzhan, who was honored as Genghis Khan meaning ruler of the world. The first target was Xixia, where they launched three massive invasions and over a few years Xixia was forced to sue for peace. In 1211, attacks were made on the Jin Dynasty and four years later one major city now known as Beijing. After that, most of the North areas must under Mongol control. After Genghis Khan died, Xixia was defeated in 1227. Wo Kuotai, his third son, ascended to the throne seven years later and defeated the Jin Dynasty. Kublai Khan who was also one of Genghis Khan’s grandsons founded a new dynasty called ‘The Yuan Dynasty’ and launched an attack against the Southern Song Dynasty . By 1279 the Yuan army had defeated the last of the Song troops and the last Emperor committed suicide, the Mongolian minority had achieved their goal of conquering China.
2. The ancient route between the East and West was established  during 206 BC to AD 220 in the Han Dynasty of China for political communication within many kingdoms of Central Asia. Since then, the Silk Road had also become the trading routes between China and the West.
3. The Silk road received its name by a German scholar Baron Ferdinand von Richtofen, centuries after the Caravan route had stopped being used.
4. It could be over 10,000 years old, there’s evidence of chinese silk found in Egyptian mummies as far back as the tenth century BC.
5. A trip from China to Rome using the Silk road took two years.
6. Genghis Khan went from humble beginnings to establish the largest land empire in history, after uniting a nomadic tribe, he had conquered huge parts of Central Asia and China. Many people were killed during his invasions but he also gave his new subjects religious freedom, banned torture, encouraged trade and created the first international postal system.
7. The Silk road was created during the Han Dynasty.
8. Items were transported in large caravans for increased safety. Most traders couldn’t afford many armed escorts to be safe from robbers.
9. Silk was very popular in Egypt, silk was found with an Egyptian mummy in a village near the valley of Kings, this silk trade can be dated to about 1070 BCE
10. The Silk Road became popular during the Tang Dynasty, knwon as the ‘Golden Age’ of the Silk Road, during this period was the height cultural trade from the Silk Road.