Caravan Merchants and the Silk Road

Caravane sur la Route de la soie - Caravan on the Silk Road. Source: Atlas Catalan via Wikimedia Commons

The above illustration shows a caravan of merchants traversing the famed Silk Road. As evidenced here, caravan merchants usually consisted of large groups of travellers, often on camelback as well as horses.

The camels were capable of carrying large loads over long distances, and having troops of merchants meant that tradeable goods could be carried in bulk. These caravan convoys were a prominent feature of land trade routes, but even greater volumes of trade were conducted through sea routes.

Source: wikimedia commons

In the above map, overland routes on the Silk Road are shown in red, while sea routes are shown in blue. The Silk Road was extensive, covering several continents. As indicated by its name, Silk was a primary good traded along these routes. The trade in silk is seen by many historians as a key factor in the exchange of cultures and development of economic and social hubs.