SILK ROAD CHRONOLOGY
3200 Horse domesticated on south Russian steppe.
3000 Minoan civilization starts, the earliest in Europe.
first produced in China.
3000 Sumerians develop first writing system.
2500 Domestication of the Bactrian and Arabian camel, vital for desert travel.
1700 Horse-drawn chariot introduced in Near East.
1500 Iron technology developed in Asia Minor.
1500 Seminomadic stockbreeding tribes inhaabit steppes.
900 Spread of mounted nomadism.
753 Rome founded.
707 Cimmerians, earliest-known mounted nomads, defeat kingdom of Urartu in Near East.
900-700 Scythians and Sarmatians appear in the northern steppes - two of the first races learn to ride horses and wear trousers. stirrup.
born in Persia.
Empire established in Persia.
500s Chinese adopt nomadic style, wear trousers and ride horses.
450 Herodotus visits Greek trading colony of Olbia to gather information on Scythians.
551-479 Confucius born in China.
Alexander the Great
expands into Asia.
into Central Asia.
Roman expansion begins.
kingdom develops in Central Asia.
establish their empire in Iran.
Qin dynasty unites the entire China for the first time.
Chinese complete Great Wall as defense against the northern nomads' invasion.
Han dynasty overthrows Qin and develops its vast empire.
Buddhism begins to spread north. Gandhara art type emerges and starts a new art style -
first made in China.
Achaemenid Empire of Persia.
Stirrup appears in Indian and Central Asia
Greek city-states come under Roman rule.
Xiongnu, later called Huns
rise to power in Central Asia and invade Chinese western border regions.
in Central Asia cause him to command the
expeditions to the West, (Fergana and the
introduced to China.
Han power reaches
region. The Silkroad under China's control and the route to the West now open.
, Parthian king, sends ambassadors to both Sulla and Wu-ti to provide an important link between Rome and China.
Parthians defeat Romans at
One of the most disastrous in Roman history.
Roman conquers Gaul.
Egypt under Roman rule. Gives Rome access to Red Sea and
Rome officially becomes an empire.
Silk first seen in Rome.
begins to spread from India into Central Asia.
Roman Syria develops the technique of blowing glass. The industry expands.
of Central Asia.
on Silk Route.
Xiongnu raids upset Chinese power in Tarim region.
Death of Jesus Christ. Spread of Christianity begins.
defeats Xiongnu and keeps the peace in the Tarim Basin. The stability of the Silkroad popularizes the
into two routes - north and south.
China sends the first ambassador to Rome from Pan Ch'ao's command, but he fails to reach Rome.
writes his Geography, attempts to map the Silkroad.
Rome sends the first
over sea to China.
Roman empire at its largest. A major market for Eastern goods.
Buddhism reaches China.
For the next few centuries,
flourishes, becoming the most popular religion in Central Asia, replacing
The four great empires of the day - the Roman, Parthian, Kushan, and Chinese - bring stability to the Silkroad.
Silk is woven into cloth across Asia, but using Chinese thread.
Han dynasty ends. China splits into fragments.
rise to power from Parthians. Strong cultural influence along the trade routes.
Barbarian attacks on the Roman Empire.
spreads throughout Asia, not to die out until the 14th century.
introduced to China by the northern nomads
begins to spread west along the Silkroad.
Xiongnu invade China again. China further dissolved into fragments.
Constantinople becomes Rome's capital.
Christianity becomes the official Roman religion.
Dun Huang caves
starts to appear and becomes the world's largest Buddha caves.
Roman Empire splits into two.
, one of the first known Chinese Silkroad travellers by foot and a Buddhist monk, sets out for India.
A Chinese princess smuggles some silkworm eggs out of China.
appear in Central Asia.
New techniques in glass production introduced to China by the
Visigoths invade Italy and Spain.
Angles and Saxons rise in Britain.
Western Roman Empire collapses.
Frankish kingdom formed.
appear in Europe.
Christians reach China.
Hephthalites (White Huns)
in northern Asia, conquering Sogdian territory.
Buddhism reaches Japan.
Split of the Turkish Kaganate into Eastern and Western Kaganates.
move to Central Asia from Mongolian plateau. At the Chinese end of Central Asia, the
Eastern Turks or Uighurs
are in control.
dynasty reunites China.
Sassanian Empire at its greatest extent in Central Asia.
Roman Empire becomes Byzantine Empire.
dynasty rules in China. For the first two centuries, the Silk Road reaches its golden age. China very open to
influences. Buddhism flourishes.
Muslim Arab expansion begins.
Xuan Zang's pilgrimage
The Avars from the steppes introduces stirrups to Europe.
Sassanian Persia falls to the Arabs.
Muslims control Mesopotamia and Iran, along with the Silk and Spice routes.
Arabs conquer Spain in Europe, which introduces much Eastern technology and science to Europe.
Arabs defeat Chinese at Talas and capture Chinese papermakers, which introduces
into Central Asia and Europe.
developed in China
Tang dynasty begins to decline, and with it, the Silkroad.
Glassmaking skill introduced to China by Sogdians.
made in China.
invented in China and spread to the West by the 13th century.
All foreign religions banned in China.
Compass begins to be used by Chinese.
dated 11 May 868, the world's oldest known printed book made in Dunhuang.
Venice established as a city-state.
in control of Eastern Central Asia, establish kingdoms at Dunhuang and Turfan.
Tang Dynasty ends. China fragmented.
England unified for the first time.
Playing cards invented in China and spread to Europe toward the end of 14th century.
The Islamic Empire divides into small kingdoms.
Sung Dynasty reunites China.
developed in China and exported to western Asia.
First Crusade. Exchange of technology between Europe and Middle East.
China divided into Northern Sung and Southern Sung.
Muslim oust the Franks from the Levant.
Expansion of Mongol Empire begins.
and weaving established in Italy.
Paper money, first developed in China.
Death of Genghis Khan.
Mongols invade Russia, Poland, and Hungary.
The Europe's first envoy to the East,
Friar Giovanni Carpini
leaves Rome for Mongol capital at Karakorum.
Friar William Rubruck
sent to Karakorum by the King of France.
Seventh, and last, Crusade.
Mongol control central and western Asia.
Silk road trade prospers again under the
defeats China and establishes the Yuan dynasty.
introduced to Central Asia and Iran by Mongols.
leaves for the East.
Turkish Ottoman Empire
with capital in
, rises and conquers Persia, parts of Southern Russia, and northern India.
Third Silkroad route
appears in the north.
the first known Arab travels on a 750,000 mile journey to China via the Silkroad.
The Black Death spreads throughout Europe.
Paper made across Europe.
Spinning wheel in Europe.
Battle of Crecy between French and English, where cannons used first in Europe.
Mongol Yuan Dynasty collapes. Chinese Ming Dynasty begins.
Tamerlane defeats the Ottoman Turks, and causes the deaths of seventeen million people.
Renaissance period in Europe.
Chinese explore the
as far as Africa
Death of Tamerlane leads to the decline of Mongol power. Ottoman rises again in the Central Asia.
Ottomans conquer Constantinople.
Gutenberg printing press in use.
China closes the door to foreigners.
Fearing the power of Uighurs, Ming China reduces the trade and traffic dramatically in the Silkroad. The Silkroad comes to an end for purposes of silk.
becomes the new center of the silk trade.
Columbus reaches America.
Vasco da Gama discovers the sea route from Europe to the East via the cape of Good Hope to Calicut in India.
Islam becomes the religion of the entire Taklamakan region.
appear from the north, settle in today's Uzbekistan.
descendant of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, extends his empire from the Ferghana valley to India. Founder of Mogul dynasty.
Manchuria rises and invades China. Qing Dynasty established.
Numbers of severe earthquakes in Central Asia damage some of the great monuments.
Porcelain produced in Europe.
a Tungusic people from Manchuria, absorb the Gobi and Altai districts.
German scholar, Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen uses the term "Silkroad" (Seidenstrasse) for the first time.
Manchus take over the Tarim Basin.
Xinjiang Province created under Qing Dynasty.
Elias crosses the Pamirs and identifies Muztagh Ata. Recommends the Wakhan corridor be established.
Younghusband crosses the Gobi Desert, pioneering a new route from Peking to Kashgar via the Muztagh Pass.
Hedin explores the Kun Lun and Takla Makan desert, unearthing buried cities along the old Silkroad.
Conway in the Karakoram Mountains.
Stein's archaeological investigations of the Takla Makan and central Asia.
- Tsarist Russia and British India expand in Central Asia.
Chinese revolution; end of Chinese dynasties.
Europeans begin to travel in the Silkroad
Tibet under China's control.
from Islamabad to Kashgar built by China and Pakistan.