Many objects were used as raw materials that were modified and altered, often adding value. The value in different forms frequently was added even before the caravan was on its way again. Traders knew their markets ready to meet the demands without wasting too much time and expenses. The business was bumming, and many people depended on its success. There were no records of Roman traders being seen in Changan, nor Chinese merchants in Rome. Still, their goods were appreciated and available in both places. Even if the people did not go that far, the goods did. The goods did not know borders. This obviously would have been in the interests of the Parthians and other middlemen making a living in trading and around the Silk Road taking as large a profit from the change of hands as they could. They risked, and they profited, and they risked more, and they profited more, but so many died. Violence and money often went together, as partners. This trade and the up keeping of the road were very demanding on the lives of people involved, many lives. Caravans from the entire known world slowly moved, step-by-step, toward the destination. If camels and horses could survive this road and this place, people could survive it too. Trade was an honorable profession. And, thousands went on pushing farther and farther, succeeding more often than not. Many lived to tell the tale, and some even wrote books. That was the history of the place that is still active even now.
It would be wrong to say that the Silk Road was just one nicely built and well-developed route. No, not at all. No single path ever existed. Different branches of the same road grew out, extended, branched, flourished and died over time to service all oasis realms of this vast region. If we could look at the Silk Road at its peak and from the modern passing satellite, we would see it as a tree with dozens of branches stretching out to all different regions of Asia, and Europe. Then, there were the waterways that took it to Africa that was a popular destination as well. It always functioned as a living organism continually adjusting to the surrounding. The routes all started from the capital of China in Changan, headed up the Gansu corridor and reached Dunhuang on the edge of the Taklimakan. The northern route then passed through Yumen Guan (Jade Gate Pass) and crossed the neck of the Gobi Desert to Hami (Kumul) before following the Tian Shan Mountains in the northern fringes of the Taklimakan Desert. Then, it passed through the major oases of Turfan and Kuqa before arriving at Kashgar at the foot of Pamir. The southern route branched off at Dunhuang passing through the Yang Guan and skirting the southern edges of the desert via Miran, Hetian (Khotan), and Shache (Yarkand). Finally, it turned north, meeting the other branch at Kashgar. Limitless smaller routes were also used but to a lesser extent. One of them branched off from the southern road and headed through the Eastern end of the Taklimakan Desert to the city of Loulan before joining the Northern course at Korla. Kashgar became the new crossroads of Asia, and it remained as is for generations. From Kashgar, the paths again divided heading across the Pamir Mountains to Samarkand and Bukhara (present Uzbekistan) and to the South of the Caspian Sea over the Karakorum into India and Tibet. An additional route split from the Northern route after Kuqa and headed across the Tian Shan range to the shores of the Caspian Sea via Tashkent, Uzbekistan. This was the spider web of the roads commonly called “The Silk Road,” and many parts of it are still, even today, the main road arteries when traveling there. Even if some parts of the road and the branches of it were not there any longer, people’s mind was still the same. They were the people, the nation, of the Silk Road.
The Silk Road was developing so fast and so actively that it started to attract more traders, travelers, and bandits as a feeder full of bird seeds would attract the birds. Profits to be made were so huge that numerous adventurers, good with the sword and a bow, joined the ranks of the bandits and the guards often, at the same time. Bandits from Tibet, China, Persia, India and all smaller tribes and nations in the small and bulky bands hid along the road using the steep terrain as the cover, ambushing the weaker caravans. The traders were forced to add to the expense by establishing the private armies of mercenaries to defend the convoys. Soon, it became a must. China and the other states in the area had to build some fortifications staffed with soldiers and supplies within a day of the caravan travel to better protect the travelers. Many forts were later joint by the wall, and many are still seen even now.
Caravans could spend now night or a few days within the vicinity of the fort offering some safety. Soon, well-populated settlements began to mushroom around the forts. These settlements provided rest (“caravan-saray” — the resting place for caravans), needed services, medical assistance, supplies, water, food, comfort, slaves, and the trade. Goods could be sold, and goods could be purchased there, and at a reasonable price. Many traders quickly understood that there was no need to travel the entire length of the road. They could make less money, but much quicker, and with fewer risks. All they had to do was just to make the part of the journey, sell the goods, and head back for more. The other trader would take it farther down the road selling it along the way. Actually, goods now moved faster and with a smaller amount of losses. Traders were meeting each other at predetermined places and at a specific time. The business was brisk. Time was not wasted, and the expenses were saved. Profits increased, and the demand for everything stabilized and widened. Goods were ordered in advance improving chances of the sale. This was becoming a new trend in the business nurturing and feeding the road even better than before. The people of the Silk Road were quite receptive to the change, and it took to the new heights permanently changing the surrounding area and the inhabitants of Central Asia. The Silk Road, like a living organism, was dictating the trends.
After the strong-arm rule of the Western Han dynasty passed, the successive regimes slowly brought more states under Chinese control. Settlements along the Silk Road came and went changing the hands of the owners and the occupants or frequently losing importance due to a change in the routes or the demands on the goods and services. Some settlements disappeared because of violent attacks by the bandits, foreign armies, and sometimes the mercenaries on their own service. Unfortunately, that happened way too often not to leave the scars. The Chinese, situated on the edge of the Lop-nor-Lake, garrison town of Loulan, for example, was substantial up to the third century A.D. Then, it was abandoned when the Chinese lost control of the route for a considerable time. Many settlements were buried by the sands of the Taklimakan Desert during the times of abandonment and could not be repopulated without significant difficulties and cost even if the need aroused. These settlements always reflected the nature of the trade passing through the region and the services the community could provide. Silk, on its way to the West, often got no farther than this region of Central Asia. It was needed there as well. Demand for the goods offered by the Silk Road was so high in the whole of Asia that only the unsold leftovers could make its way to the West. West wanted more of almost everything, but West had to earn the position of respect and the power with the East. West had to learn yet how to trade with the East, and that required some skills. Also, the West could not offer too many goods desired by the East, and trade was hanging in misbalance. West needed more time to become interesting for the East as the full trade partner. Back then, West was more a destination for sale and much less for the purchase. The dark ages left a deep impression on everything in Europe, including craft and art development. It took time, but things started to turn around in thirteen and fourteen centuries.