The Silk Roads: A New History of the World

Afghanistan is a nation in Central Asia whose strategic location has made it a center of cultural exchange and trade throughout the history of the Silk Roads. Afghanistan’s modern history has been marred by conflicts, invasions, and struggles for independence, including the Soviet invasion of the 1980s and the more recent American invasion.

Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) was a king and general from Macedonia known for conquering the Achaemenid Persian Empire and creating the Macedonian Empire, one of the largest in the history of the world, before dying of an unknown illness at the age of 32. Alexander’s conquests played a key role in pushing Greek culture, language, and trade East but also in importing Eastern ideas into the West.

Baghdad is the capital of modern Iraq. The city, described by Frankopan as “the perfect symbol of the Islamic world’s affluence” (91), was founded in the eighth century as Islam spread East. Under the Abbasid Dynasty, Baghdad became famous for its wealth as well as its advancements in various fields such as science, mathematics, philosophy, literature, and art. Baghdad changed hands and was sacked numerous times, for example by the Mongols in the 13th century. Baghdad did experience periods of stability later, including under the Ottomans. Today, despite its historical significance, the city has faced challenges arising from wars and political and economic unrest in the Middle East.

Britain is a Northern European island nation ruled by the English crown since the 17th century. The British Empire, at its height, controlled much of the world, exerting massive political, economic, and cultural influence worldwide. Like the rest of Europe, Britain declined after the World Wars, gradually retreating from its imperial holdings, including Palestine and India.

Byzantium was a city on the Dardanelles. From its strategic position at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, the city facilitated commerce and cultural exchange between East and West for millennia. The city changed hands several times, becoming the capital of the Byzantine Empire (when it was known as Constantinople) until 1453, when it was captured by the Ottoman Empire. Today the city is known as Istanbul and is one of the most populous cities in Turkey.

China is an ancient civilization and nation of East Asia that has long held considerable political, military, and commercial importance. Chinese dynasties, such as the imperial Han, have influenced the history of China as well as that of neighboring regions, while Chinese art and commercial products—such as silk—became famous far and wide as they travelled along the ancient Silk Roads. China’s rapid growth in the 20th century has made it an economic powerhouse, and it is one of the countries at the heart of what Frankopan calls the “New Silk Roads.”

Christopher Columbus was the explorer whose voyage across the Atlantic in 1492 brought the Europeans into contact with the Americas. Columbus sparked a new era of exploration and colonization, leading to significant changes in global commercial and political networks and shifting “Europe’s centre of gravity from east to west” (196).

France is a nation in Western Europe that grew wealthy and powerful alongside its European neighbors following the European voyages of discovery in the 1490s. France and its political, commercial, and ideological interests—including rivalries with European neighbors and imperialist and colonialist interests in the Americas and in Asia—shaped global affairs throughout history, including during the Napoleonic Era and the World Wars.

Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer whose voyage in 1498 opened an extremely lucrative sea route from Europe to India. In bolstering Europe’s role in global affairs, da Gama was one of the key figures in transforming Europe into “the centre of the world” (196) in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Genghis Khan was the founding figure of the Mongol Empire, which expanded throughout much of Asia in the early 13th century. He and his successors created the largest land empire in history, instituting policies that had lasting effects on global commerce, politics, and culture.

Genoa is a city in northern Italy that served an important historical role as a maritime and trading powerhouse. Genoa first rose to prominence in the 11th century, competing with Pisa and Venice for commercial opportunities in the Eastern Mediterranean in the wake of the First Crusade. In the following centuries, Genoa and its wealthy merchant families played a key part in shaping European finances and politics.

Germany is a nation in Central Europe that emerged in the 19th century from a collection of city-states and confederations that had existed in the region from antiquity. Germany and German culture played an important role in Europe from as early as the time of the Roman Empire. In modern history, Germany was one of the key movers behind the two World Wars (and was on the losing side in both).

Adolf Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany from 1933 until 1945. His goal of expanding German power and of building his “very own Silk Road” (350) in Central Asia and the Middle East resulted in Germany’s defeat in the Second World War, while the racist policies advanced by his regime led to the systematic genocide of millions, especially Jews, in the Holocaust.

Saddam Hussein was the leader of Iraq from 1979 until 2003. His regime was marked by authoritarianism and human rights violations. He clashed with neighboring powers such as Iran and Kuwait, becoming a pawn of American attempts to control the Middle East. He was finally unseated when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.

India is a region and nation located in its own subcontinent in southern Asia. A major cultural center since antiquity, India is the point of origin for religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. India has also been an important commercial center because of its production of valued goods and spices, which flowed along the Silk Road from antiquity into the modern era. India's colonial experience under British rule and its independence movement in the middle of the 20th century not only shaped its own future but also inspired other nations to pursue similar movements.

Iran is a modern nation in the Central Asian region of Persia, important since antiquity as a crossroads linking East and West. Iran has been the seat of many important empires, including the Achaemenid Persians and the Sasanians, among others. Modern Iran has been plagued by political and economic turmoil, much of it arising from the backlash against exploitation by European imperialist powers throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Iranian resistance to the West is best seen in modern Islamic fundamentalism, as championed by figures such as Ayatollah Khomeini, who seized control of the country in 1979.

Iraq is an Asian nation in the region that was known in antiquity as Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia has been important ever since antiquity because of its fertility, natural resources, and its strategic location on the Silk Roads that connected East and West. The recent history of Iraq has been marked by political turmoil and military conflicts, including the Gulf War and the tumultuous regime of Saddam Hussein.

Israel is a nation on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean in the region known in various periods as Palestine. Israel plays a central role in several major religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Conflicts for control of Israel were at the heart of the Crusades and continue to rage today.

Jesus Christ is the central figure of Christianity. He is also important in other world religions, including Islam. Jesus is revered by Christians as the Son of God and the Messiah, though different branches of Christianity have long debated his teachings and the nature of his relationship to God. Jesus’s crucifixion and subsequent resurrection became the cornerstone of Christian beliefs, which spread across the Roman Empire and eventually the world.

Mecca is regarded as the holiest city in Islam, though the city itself was a religious center dominated by the Quraysh clan long before the birth of Islam. The teachings of the Muslim prophet Muḥammad, who was born in Mecca, elevated the city to unparalleled importance, stressing the Ka’ba, a sacred site believed to have been built by Abraham (Ibrahim) as the focal point of Islamic pilgrimage.

The Mongols were a nomadic people of the Central Asian steppes, known for forming the largest land empire in history under the leadership of Genghis Khan and his successors in the 12th century. The Mongol Empire facilitated a period of political and economic stability and cultural exchange in both Asia and Europe. The Mongol Empire eventually fragmented, with four main branches in China, Central Asia, the Russian steppes, and Greater Iran.

Muḥammad, a seventh-century merchant from Mecca, is the principal prophet of Islam. Muḥammad’s revelations from the prophet Gabriel (Jibril) are the basis for the Qur’ān, the holy book of Islam. Muḥammad’s genius as a leader and general spread Islam across the Arabian Peninsula and much of the Eastern Mediterranean, unifying the region under the new faith and ushering in an era of commercial prosperity and cultural growth.

The Ottoman Empire rose to prominence in the 13th century, expanding rapidly in the Balkans and soon coming to control important territories in Europe, Asia, and North Africa. In 1453, the Ottomans under Mehmed the Conqueror famously conquered Constantinople. The Ottomans had a lasting impact on the commercial and cultural landscape of Europe and Asia, and their collapse in the 20th century had far-reaching consequences for geopolitics in the Middle East and beyond.

Portugal is a nation on the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula, famous for its role in the “Age of Discovery.” Portuguese explorers such as Vasco da Gama established maritime networks that contributed to the expansion of European influence in global affairs.

Centered in the small city-state of Rome in central Italy, the Roman Empire expanded dramatically from the fourth century BCE to control the entire Mediterranean, including Southern Europe, Asia Minor, the Levant, and North Africa. The Romans made significant contributions in the fields of architecture, engineering, and law, but the “backbone” (14) of Rome’s power was its army and its glorification of competition and violence. In the early fourth century, the seat of Roman power shifted east to Constantinople as the western regions of the empire gradually succumbed to incursions from their frontiers.

Russia is a large country covering much of northern Asia and northeastern Europe. From its origins under the Scandinavian Rus’ to its rise as a world power in the 18th and 19th centuries, Russia was a key player in the West’s competition to control the vast resources of the East. In the 20th century, Russia was the center of the Soviet Union or USSR, whose political and ideological clash with the United States propelled conflicts around the world throughout the second half of the century.

Spain is a nation located on the Iberian Peninsula of Western Europe that quickly became rich and powerful after the Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabela sponsored Columbus’s voyage to the Americas in 1492. Spain’s exploitation of the Americas created important new commercial networks as avenues for the gold and silver trade, though Spain’s empire was soon surpassed by other maritime powers such as the British Empire.

Josef Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from the 1920s until his death in 1953. His leadership led to the industrialization and modernization of the Soviet Union but also brought the country into serious conflicts with Hitler and, later, with the United States. Stalin’s rule was notorious for its purges, political repression, and other atrocities that brought suffering and death to millions.

The United States is a North American nation that emerged from European colonization and has become a global superpower. The United States has been at the forefront of social and cultural movements and technological advancements. As the country took on an increasingly large global role in the wake of the Second World War, it has struggled with limited success to control the resource-rich Middle East.