SILK ROAD CHRONOLOGY

<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>SILK ROAD CHRONOLOGY</title> <meta name="DESCRIPTION" content="Silkroad Foundation"> <meta name="KEYWORDS" content="Silkroad Foundation, Adela C.Y. Lee, Erik Sittmann"> <meta name="author" content="Silkroad Foundation, Adela C.Y. Lee"> <meta name="publisher" content="Silkroad Foundation, Adela C.Y. Lee, Erik Sittmann"> <meta name="COPYRIGHT" content="Silkroad Foundation, Adela C.Y. Lee"> <meta name="PUBLISHER-EMAIL" content="esittmann@yahoo.com"> <meta name="Reply-to" content="info@silk-road.com"> <meta name="Content-Language" content="en"> <meta name="page-topic" content="Science"> <meta name="page-type" content="Science"> <meta name="audience" content="All"> <meta http-equiv="Cache-Control" content="Public"> <meta name="ROBOTS" content="INDEX, FOLLOW"> <meta name="REVISIT-AFTER" content="7 days"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../site.css" type="text/css"> </HEAD> <BODY text="000000" bgcolor="ffffff" >  <center><H1>SILK ROAD CHRONOLOGY</H1></CENTER> <a name="5000bc">5000-500 B.C</a> <ul> <li>3200 Horse domesticated on south Russian steppe. <li>3000 Minoan civilization starts, the earliest in Europe. <li>3000 <a href="../artl/silkhistory.shtml">Silk</a> first produced in China. <li>3000 Sumerians develop first writing system. <li>2500 Domestication of the Bactrian and Arabian camel, vital for desert travel. <li>1700 Horse-drawn chariot introduced in Near East. <li>1500 Iron technology developed in Asia Minor. <li>1500 Seminomadic stockbreeding tribes inhaabit steppes. <li>900 Spread of mounted nomadism. <li>753 Rome founded. <li>707 Cimmerians, earliest-known mounted nomads, defeat kingdom of Urartu in Near East. <li>900-700 Scythians and Sarmatians appear in the northern steppes - two of the first races learn to ride horses and wear trousers. stirrup. <li>600s <a href="../artl/zoro.shtml">Zoroaster</a> born in Persia. <li>560s <a href="../artl/buddhism.shtml">Buddha born</a> in Nepal. <li>550 <a href="../artl/achaemen.shtml">Achaemenid</a> Empire established in Persia. <li>500s Chinese adopt nomadic style, wear trousers and ride horses. <li>450 Herodotus visits Greek trading colony of Olbia to gather information on Scythians. <li>551-479 Confucius born in China. </ul> <a name="400bc">400 B.C.</a> <ul> <li>Empire of <a href="../artl/alex.shtml">Alexander the Great</a> expands into Asia. <a href="../toc/notyet.html">Greek culture</a> into Central Asia. </ul> <a name="300bc">300 B.C.</a> <ul> <li>Roman expansion begins. <li>Greco-<a href="../toc/notyet.html">Bactrian</a> kingdom develops in Central Asia. <li><a href="http://parthia.com/parthia_history.htm#Early">Parthians</a> establish their empire in Iran. <li>Qin dynasty unites the entire China for the first time. <li>Chinese complete Great Wall as defense against the northern nomads' invasion. <li>Han dynasty overthrows Qin and develops its vast empire. <li>Buddhism begins to spread north. Gandhara art type emerges and starts a new art style - <a href="../artl/gandhara.shtml">Serindian.</a> <li><a href="../artl/papermaking.shtml">Paper</a> first made in China. <li>Achaemenid Empire of Persia. </ul> <a name="200bc">200 B.C.</a> <ul> <li>Stirrup appears in Indian and Central Asia <li>Greek city-states come under Roman rule. <li>The <a href="../artl/xiongnu1.shtml">Xiongnu, later called Huns</a> rise to power in Central Asia and invade Chinese western border regions. <li>Han Emperor, <a href="../artl/wuti.shtml">Wu-ti's interests</a> in Central Asia cause him to command the <a href="../artl/wuti.shtml">Chang Ch'ien</a> expeditions to the West, (Fergana and the <a href="../toc/notyet.html">Yueh-chih)</a>. <a href="../artl/wuti.shtml">Celestial Horses</a> introduced to China. <li>Han power reaches <a href="../toc/notyet.html">Tarim</a> region. The Silkroad under China's control and the route to the West now open. </ul> <a name="100bc">100 B.C.</a> <ul> <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Mithridates</a>, Parthian king, sends ambassadors to both Sulla and Wu-ti to provide an important link between Rome and China. <li>Parthians defeat Romans at <a href="../artl/carrhae.shtml">Carrhae. </a>One of the most disastrous in Roman history. <li>Roman conquers Gaul. <li>Egypt under Roman rule. Gives Rome access to Red Sea and <a href="../toc/notyet.html">Spice Route</a> trade. <li>Rome officially becomes an empire. </ul> <a name="1">1 A.D.</a> <ul> <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Silk first seen in Rome.</a> <li><a href="../artl/buddhism.shtml">Buddhism</a> begins to spread from India into Central Asia. <li>Roman Syria develops the technique of blowing glass. The industry expands. <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Kushan Empire</a> of Central Asia. <a href="../toc/notyet.html">Sogdians trading</a> on Silk Route. <li>Xiongnu raids upset Chinese power in Tarim region. <li>Death of Jesus Christ. Spread of Christianity begins. <li>Chinese General <a href="../toc/notyet.html">Pan Ch'ao</a> defeats Xiongnu and keeps the peace in the Tarim Basin. The stability of the Silkroad popularizes the <a href="../toc/notyet.html">caravan trades</a> into two routes - north and south. <li>China sends the first ambassador to Rome from Pan Ch'ao's command, but he fails to reach Rome. <li>Graeco-Egyptian geographer, <a href="../toc/notyet.html">Claudius Ptolemy,</a> writes his Geography, attempts to map the Silkroad. </ul> <a name="100">100 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>Rome sends the first <a href="../artl/romanenvoy.shtml">Roman envoy</a> over sea to China. <li>Roman empire at its largest. A major market for Eastern goods. <li>Buddhism reaches China. <li>For the next few centuries, <a href="../artl/buddhism.shtml">Buddhism </a>flourishes, becoming the most popular religion in Central Asia, replacing <a href="../artl/zoro.shtml">Zoroastrianism.</a> <li>The four great empires of the day - the Roman, Parthian, Kushan, and Chinese - bring stability to the Silkroad. </ul> <a name="200">200 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>Silk is woven into cloth across Asia, but using Chinese thread. <li>Han dynasty ends. China splits into fragments. <li><a href="../artl/sasanian.shtml">Sassanians</a> rise to power from Parthians. Strong cultural influence along the trade routes. <li>Barbarian attacks on the Roman Empire. <li>Death of <a href="../artl/manichae.shtml">Mani</a> in Persia. <a href="../artl/manichae.shtml">Manichaeism</a> spreads throughout Asia, not to die out until the 14th century. </ul> <a name="300">300 A.D.</a> <ul> <li><a href="../artl/stirrup.shtml">Stirrup</a> introduced to China by the northern nomads <li>Secret of <a href="../artl/silkhistory.shtml">sericulture</a> begins to spread west along the Silkroad. <li>Xiongnu invade China again. China further dissolved into fragments. <li>Constantinople becomes Rome's capital. <li>Christianity becomes the official Roman religion. <li><a href="../dunhuang/dhintro.html">Dun Huang caves</a> starts to appear and becomes the world's largest Buddha caves. <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Huns</a> attack Europe. <li>Roman Empire splits into two. <li><a href="../artl/fahsien.shtml">Fa-hsien</a>, one of the first known Chinese Silkroad travellers by foot and a Buddhist monk, sets out for India. </ul> <a name="400">400 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>A Chinese princess smuggles some silkworm eggs out of China. <a href="../artl/silkhistory.shtml">Silkworm farms</a> appear in Central Asia. <li>New techniques in glass production introduced to China by the <a href="../artl/sogdian.shtml">Sogdians.</a> <li>Visigoths invade Italy and Spain. <li>Angles and Saxons rise in Britain. <li>Western Roman Empire collapses. <li>Frankish kingdom formed. </ul> <a name="500">500 A.D.</a> <ul> <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Silkworm farms</a> appear in Europe. <li><a></a><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Nestorian</a> Christians reach China. <li>Kingdom of <a href="../artl/heph.shtml">Hephthalites (White Huns)</a> in northern Asia, conquering Sogdian territory. <li>Buddhism reaches Japan. <li>Split of the Turkish Kaganate into Eastern and Western Kaganates. <a href="../toc/notyet.html">Western Turks</a> move to Central Asia from Mongolian plateau. At the Chinese end of Central Asia, the <a href="http://www.caccp.org/et/buh.html">Eastern Turks or Uighurs</a> are in control. <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Sui</a> dynasty reunites China. <li>Sassanian Empire at its greatest extent in Central Asia. </ul> <a name="600">600 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>Roman Empire becomes Byzantine Empire. <li><a href="../artl/tang.shtml">Tang</a> dynasty rules in China. For the first two centuries, the Silk Road reaches its golden age. China very open to <a href="../artl/tang.shtml">foreign cultural</a> influences. Buddhism flourishes. <li>The <a href="../toc/notyet.html">Islamic religion</a> founded. <li>Death of <a href="../toc/notyet.html">Muhammad.</a> Muslim Arab expansion begins. <li><a href="../artl/hsuantsang.shtml">Xuan Zang's pilgrimage</a> to India. <li>The Avars from the steppes introduces stirrups to Europe. <li>Sassanian Persia falls to the Arabs. <li>Muslims control Mesopotamia and Iran, along with the Silk and Spice routes. </ul> <a name="700">700 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>Arabs conquer Spain in Europe, which introduces much Eastern technology and science to Europe. <li>Arabs defeat Chinese at Talas and capture Chinese papermakers, which introduces <a href="../artl/papermaking.shtml">paper making</a> into Central Asia and Europe. <li><a href="../artl/printing.shtml">Block printing</a> developed in China <li>Tang dynasty begins to decline, and with it, the Silkroad. <li>Glassmaking skill introduced to China by Sogdians. </ul> <a name="800">800 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>First <a href="../artl/porcelain.shtml">porcelain</a> made in China. <li><a href="../artl/gun.shtml">Gunpowder</a> invented in China and spread to the West by the 13th century. <li>All foreign religions banned in China. <li>Compass begins to be used by Chinese. <li><a href="../artl/diamondsutra.shtml">Diamond Sutra</a> dated 11 May 868, the world's oldest known printed book made in Dunhuang. <li>Venice established as a city-state. </ul> <a name="900">900 A.D.</a> <ul> <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Kirghiz Turks </a>in control of Eastern Central Asia, establish kingdoms at Dunhuang and Turfan. <li>Tang Dynasty ends. China fragmented. <li>England unified for the first time. <li>Playing cards invented in China and spread to Europe toward the end of 14th century. <li>The Islamic Empire divides into small kingdoms. <li>Sung Dynasty reunites China. <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Porcelain</a> developed in China and exported to western Asia. </ul> <a name="1000">1000 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>First Crusade. Exchange of technology between Europe and Middle East. </ul> <a name="1100">1100 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>China divided into Northern Sung and Southern Sung. <li>Muslim oust the Franks from the Levant. <li><a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/genghis/timeline/index.html">Genghiz Khan</a> unites <a href="http://www.mongoliaonline.mn/english/history/empire.htm">Mongols.</a> Expansion of Mongol Empire begins. <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Silk production</a> and weaving established in Italy. <li>Paper money, first developed in China. </ul> <a name="1200">1200 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>Death of Genghis Khan. <li>Mongols invade Russia, Poland, and Hungary. <li>The Europe's first envoy to the East, <a href="../artl/carrub.shtml">Friar Giovanni Carpini</a> leaves Rome for Mongol capital at Karakorum. <li><a href="../artl/carrub.shtml">Friar William Rubruck</a> sent to Karakorum by the King of France. <li>Seventh, and last, Crusade. <li>Mongol control central and western Asia. <li>Silk road trade prospers again under the <a href="../artl/paxmongolica.shtml">"Pax Mongolica."</a> <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Kublai Khan</a> defeats China and establishes the Yuan dynasty. <li><a href="../artl/papermoney.shtml">Paper money</a> introduced to Central Asia and Iran by Mongols. <li><a href="../artl/marcopolo.shtml">Marco Polo</a> leaves for the East. </ul> <a name="1300">1300 A.D.</a> <ul> <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Turkish Ottoman Empire </a>in power. <li><a href="../artl/timur.shtml">Tamerlane,</a> with capital in <a href="http://faculty.washington.edu/dwaugh/CA/cities/samarkand/samark.html">Samarkand</a>, rises and conquers Persia, parts of Southern Russia, and northern India. <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Third Silkroad route</a> appears in the north. <li><a href="./ibn_battuta.shtml">Ibn Battuta,</a> the first known Arab travels on a 750,000 mile journey to China via the Silkroad. <li>The Black Death spreads throughout Europe. <li>Paper made across Europe. <li>Spinning wheel in Europe. <li>Battle of Crecy between French and English, where cannons used first in Europe. <li>Mongol Yuan Dynasty collapes. Chinese Ming Dynasty begins. </ul> <a name="1400">1400 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>Tamerlane defeats the Ottoman Turks, and causes the deaths of seventeen million people. <li>Renaissance period in Europe. <li>Chinese explore the <a href="../toc/notyet.html">Spice Routes</a> as far as Africa <li>Death of Tamerlane leads to the decline of Mongol power. Ottoman rises again in the Central Asia. <li>Ottomans conquer Constantinople. <li>Gutenberg printing press in use. <li>China closes the door to foreigners. <li>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. <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Lyon</a> becomes the new center of the silk trade. <li>Columbus reaches America. <li>Vasco da Gama discovers the sea route from Europe to the East via the cape of Good Hope to Calicut in India. </ul> <a name="1500">1500 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>Islam becomes the religion of the entire Taklamakan region. </ul> <a name="1600">1600 A.D.</a> <ul> <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Uzbek Turks</a> appear from the north, settle in today's Uzbekistan. <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Prince Babur,</a> descendant of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, extends his empire from the Ferghana valley to India. Founder of Mogul dynasty. <li>Manchuria rises and invades China. Qing Dynasty established. </ul> <a name="1700">1700 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>Numbers of severe earthquakes in Central Asia damage some of the great monuments. <li>Porcelain produced in Europe. <li>The <a href="../toc/notyet.html">Manchus,</a> a Tungusic people from Manchuria, absorb the Gobi and Altai districts. </ul> <a name="1800">1800 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>German scholar, Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen uses the term "Silkroad" (Seidenstrasse) for the first time. <li>Manchus take over the Tarim Basin. <li>Xinjiang Province created under Qing Dynasty. <li>Elias crosses the Pamirs and identifies Muztagh Ata. Recommends the Wakhan corridor be established. <li>Younghusband crosses the Gobi Desert, pioneering a new route from Peking to Kashgar via the Muztagh Pass. <li>Hedin explores the Kun Lun and Takla Makan desert, unearthing buried cities along the old Silkroad. <li>Conway in the Karakoram Mountains. <li>Stein's archaeological investigations of the Takla Makan and central Asia. <li>The <a href="../toc/notyet.html">Great Game</a> - Tsarist Russia and British India expand in Central Asia. </ul> <a name="1900">1900 A.D.</a> <ul> <li>Hedin expeditions. <li>Chinese revolution; end of Chinese dynasties. <li>Europeans begin to travel in the Silkroad <li>Tibet under China's control. <li><a href="../toc/notyet.html">Karakoram highway</a> from Islamabad to Kashgar built by China and Pakistan. </ul> <hr><img src="../images/silk01.gif" width="94" height="101"> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="2" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="400"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#000000" nowrap valign="center"> <a class="nonuw" href="../toc/contact.html">   Contact us </a> | <noscript> <a class="nonuw" href="../toc/index.nj.html">Silkroad Foundation</a> | </noscript> <script language="JavaScript">  </script> <a class="nonuw" href="../toc/copyright.html">© 1997-2000 </a> </tr> </tbody> </table> </center> </div>   </BODY> </HTML>

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