Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of trade routes that linked together eastern and western civilizations across the great Eurasian continent and northeastern Africa. It was vital to ancient commerce and cultural exchange, connecting realms as far apart as Rome, Persia, India, and China for thousands of years.[1]
Among the most significant goods that passed through this network were the silks of China, the glassware of the Byzantines, and the spices of Central Asia.[1] Cities situated along these routes rose in importance, as was the case with Herat, which benefited from its proximity to the Hari River.[2] The area of Central Asia known to the Chinese as the Western Regions was a strategic borderland between empires. Conflicts like the Battle of Talas in 751 between the Tang and the Abbasids constitute some of the "forgotten" stories of the Silk Road.[1]
Exchange was not limited to material goods; the dissemination of ideas and beliefs of all forms was facilitated as well. From India, Buddhism spread into Central Asia and reached China by the 1st century, where the growth of its influence only accelerated in the tumultuous era that followed in the region. By the time of the Tang dynasty, it had been thoroughly entrenched as a predominant faith in East Asia. By extension, the Silk Road also served as a channel for the movement of Pieces of Eden and other relics of the Isu like the śarīra, which the Buddhists venerated as remains of enlightened masters.[3]
Appearances
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India (mentioned in Database entry only)
- Assassin's Creed: Dynasty (first appearance)