Silk Roads: PART 2 - Answers Carol Gersmehl, Co-coordinator, New York Geographic Alliance PowerPoint prepared in cooperation with Marty Mater, Michigan Geographic Alliance Adapted with permission by Maggie Legates, Delaware Geographic Alliance

Places in Route [town number on map] What do you learn about places along the Silk Roads? Chang’an [#1]  Goods: What did goods did Chinese merchants take to exchange on their journey? Chinese merchants carried silk cloth and herbal medicines.  Transportation: What animals carried heavy loads of goods? Camels carried loads in the caravans. (Bactrian camels have 2 humps and worked mainly in central and east Asia, rather than west Asia.) Chang’an to Dunhuang [#2 and #3]  Government: Why did Chinese soldiers travel with the caravans? The caravan needed protection from bandits who attacked from Mongolia and from Tibet. Dunhuang [#4]  Religion: What religion traveled along the Silk Road from India to China? Buddhism traveled from India to China along the Silk Road routes. (Both monks and merchants shared the religious ideas.) Taklamakan [#7 - #9]  Climate: Why was the Taklamakan a dangerous place for travelers? The Takalaman is extremely hot (especially in summer) and dry. There is little for the camels to eat because of the dry climate. Places with water are rare. Wind storms blow sand into high dunes.  Mountains, Rivers, and Oasis towns: How did water come to the towns? Snow falls in the high mountains. The snow melts and runs downward in rivers or in underground streams to oasis towns.

Places in RouteWhat do you learn about places along the Silk Roads? Kashgar [#10]  Goods: Chinese merchants traded their silk in the oasis towns. What did they buy in Kashgar, an oasis town? Chinese merchants bought food for people (dates, melons, grapes) and food for their camels. They also paid for water and a safe place to stay. Pamirs [between #10 and #13]  Landforms and Climate: Why were the Pamir Mountains dangerous for the caravans? The Pamir Mountains were high (higher than 10,000 feet), cold, and snow-covered. There was no food for the camels. The paths were steep and sometimes slippery. Tashkent [#13]  Goods: What did the Chinese bring to Tashkent to sell or exchange? Chinese traders brought silk cloth. People in Central Asia did not know the secret of producing silk cloth, and they highly valued it. What did the Chinese want to buy from the traders in Tashkent? (Hint: The military wanted this.) Chinese traders and Chinese military wanted to buy the horses that came from Central Asia. These “heavenly” horses were especially strong. India #20 and #21  Goods: What goods came from India to the Silk Road towns? Spices came from India, and gem stones came from Ceylon (island southeast of India) to Silk Road towns.

Places in RouteWhat do you learn about places along the Silk Roads? Herat [#17]  Religion: What religion came from Arabia to Silk Road towns? Islam came from Arabia to Central Asia. Baghdad [#24]  Goods: Traders from Africa and from the Persian Gulf brought goods to Baghdad to exchange for silk cloth from China and spices from India. ----What goods came from Africa? Ivory, gold, and spices came from Africa. ----What goods came from the Persian Gulf? Pearls came from the Persian Gulf. Tyre [#27]  Transportation: Silk cloth from China, spices from India, and wool carpets from Central Asia were carried by camel caravans to Tyre. After these goods reached the Mediterranean Sea, how were they carried westward to European and African ports? Traders put silk, spices, and woolen carpets onto ships. Baghdad [#28]  Goods: Silk traveled great distances. Many different traders bought and sold it in Silk Road towns before it reached Byzantium and Europe. Where did the silk come from (far away in the eastern part of Asia)? Silk came from China. (The people in this place tried to keep how they made silk secret!)