c. 130 BCE – 1450 CE · Asia ↔ Europe
The Silk Road
Long ago, camels walked in long lines across mountains and deserts carrying silk, spices, ivory and stories. India sat right in the middle of this great criss-cross of roads, sharing its cotton, gems and ideas with the whole world.
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The Silk Road was a network of overland and maritime routes linking China, Central Asia, India, Persia, the Arab world and the Mediterranean. Indian textiles, spices, Buddhism, mathematics (the decimal system) and yoga travelled outward; horses, glass, ideas and later Islam travelled inward. The routes shaped South Indian ports like Muziris just as much as Xi'an or Samarkand.
- ◆Overland + Indian Ocean maritime routes
- ◆Spread Buddhism from India to China and beyond
- ◆Indian decimal numerals reached the Arab world