Basically, the Silk Road was the name given to the trade route that existed in Asia and linked East Asia with Central Asia, South Asia and the Mediterranean regions. The Silk Roads passed through all sorts of terrain and through every climatic condition as well as vegetation zone. Along the road there existed a network of exchange that emerged during the Han Dynasty and that took place between agricultural communities of China and the steppe nomads.
The Silk Road extended as far as the Mediterranean Sea, India, Arabian Sea and the Red Sea while found its way through land and water to land at Alexandria in early Egypt. The route was crucial for exchange of products like jade, horses and silk which were the most sought after trade commodity.
The Silk Road traversed all types of terrain, climatical conditions and vegetation types. From the steppes and agricultural lands the route weaved its way through water bodies and difficult terrain to end in the seas. The Silk Road unique transects enhanced its dominion over trade. Ecologically, the route passed through rich agricultural lands, dry and harsh lands and consequently ended in the water bodies. The Road expansion was determined by the dominant towns need for goods and not their need to export. From horse caravans to human entourages, goods were collected and shipped to various destinations for trade.
The different ecological conditions that the Silk Road traversed acted as the key source of trade goods. The agricultural lands provided silk and other agricultural that they exchanged for horses and spices from the nomads and Roman caravans. The route established itself among certain ecological conditions as they acted as the sources for particular trade goods. These ecological conditions of the Silk Road also determined the habitation patterns of people and therefore lapped the Silk Road accordingly.
It is clear that empire formation need a considerable amount of public resources being pulled together to form one entity representing the interests of the empire. In fact, the empire formation also required a sedentary life to form a coordinated society that could perform the functions needed. China was inhabited by two different groups. One group was composed of pastoralists who resided on the steppes. They led a nomadic lifestyle herding cattle from one place to the other following pastures. In their movement, they conflicted with the agrarian community. The nomads were always a threat to the agriculturalists.
They were superior to agrarian communities by virtue of their fighting skills. They usually raided the agriculturalists off their worthy commodities like jade and agricultural produce. This elicited the formation of defense teams by agrarian communities. For successful raids, the nomads needed to unite and form empires that could facilitate it. They also needed to control the Silk Road as a major trade route. This explains the reason as to why, growth in agrarian empires also led to growth of nomads empires.
The nomads did not have surplus that is essential in establishment of empires. They were constantly on the move that made it hard to govern them. They also possessed military skills to fend off those who attempted to colonize them. The nomads thrived on trade and constant raids on the agrarian communities for trade goods such as slaves, silk and jade that was later exchanged. Their empires formation depended on constant raids, control of trade routes and from extortion of agrarian societies.
They carried out constant raids on agrarian communities that left them devastated. They therefore formed alliances to provide enough men to defend their territories from the aggressive nomads. To control huge armies formed by the agrarian societies, the nomads needed to form alliances for successfully raids on the agrarian communities. The means of establishing empires also called for the control of trade routes.
The relationship between nomads and oasis dwellers was interdependent due to trade but marked by rivalries as and unclear differences. Trans-ecological exchanges imply the exchange of commodities produced by various ecological zones along the Silk Road. The steppe region was characterized by sparse and short plants and tussock-grass cover. Gandhara is located in modern day northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan in the Potohar plateau on the Kabul river.
The kingdom lied on the northern trunk road of the Silk Road and acted as a center for exchange of goods and services. The caravans were crucial to the merchants since they travelled from the interior of China carrying silk and other trade goods to the merchants. The Chinese deserts were impassable through the use of horses and chariots and therefore the merchants utilized the caravans to carry their goods. Xuanzang was a Buddhist pilgrim who in the year 629 to 645 CE made a historic pilgrimage to India along the Silk Road, one of the longest ever attempted pilgrimage on one of the longest trade routes. He relayed information on the difficulties and the hazards of the road.
He is also responsible for the start of spreading of Buddhism along the trade route. Manichaeism was a third century dualistic and Gnostic belief ideally founded on the teachings of Prophet Mani. It argued that there was a tussle between good and wicked, darkness and light. It was heavily influenced by other religions.