Name Date

The Decline of the Silk Roads

Historical Context:
For nearly 1000 years the 7000-mile Silk Roads were a place to exchange luxury goods and ideas across
the great civilizations of the Eastern Hemisphere. Exchanges and cultural diffusion gave rise to new
political, religious, and economic powers. By the end of the period known as the Middle Ages, the Silk
Roads had declined for various reasons. Cultures became more violent and less open to exchange,
cutting off the flourishing East-West trade.

• Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying documents in Part A. As you
analyze the documents, take into account both the source of the document and the author’s point
of view. Be sure to:
1. Carefully read the document-based question. Consider what you already know about the
topic. How would you answer the question if you had no documents to examine?
2. Now, read each document carefully, underlining key phrases and words that address the
document-based question. You may also wish to use the margin to make brief notes. Answer
the questions which follow each document.
3. Based on your own knowledge and on the information found in the documents, formulate a
thesis that directly answer the question.
4. Organize supportive and relevant information into a brief outline.
5. Write a well-organized essay proving your thesis. The essay should be logically presented
and should include information both from the documents and from your own knowledge
outside of the documents.

Question: How did new threats, new technologies, and new political policies all contribute to the
decline of the Silk Roads at the end of the Middle Ages?

• Part A: Examine each document carefully, and answer the questions that follow
 The Decline of the Silk Roads

Document 1
Ibn al-Athir, a Muslim writer, describes the re-capture of Jerusalem in 1187 AD by the Islamic Empire.
Previously, Europeans had conquered the city twice in the years 492 AD and 1099 AD.

When the Franks saw how violently the Muslims were attacking...they grew desperate, and their
leaders assembled to take counsel. They decided to ask for safe-conduct out of the city and hand
Jerusalem over to Saladin [the Muslim leader]. They sent a deputation of their lords and nobles to
ask for terms, but when they spoke of it to Saladin he refused to grant their request. “We shall deal
with you,” he said, “just as you dealt with the population of Jerusalem when you took it in
492/1099, with murder and enslavement and other such savageries!”

Document 2
th
Map of the Mongol Empire in the 13 century and its invasion routes, published in the 2012 book A
Short History of the World, by Peter Lascelles.

Document 3
Ibn al-Athir, a Muslim writer, describes the invasion of the Tartars (a Mongol group), in 1220-1221 AD.

For some years I continued averse from mentioning this event, deeming it so horrible that I shrank
from recording it and ever withdrawing one foot as I advanced the other. To whom, indeed, can it
be easy to write the announcement of the death-blow of Islam and the Muslims, or who is he on
whom the remembrance thereof can weigh lightly? O would that my mother had not born me or
that I had died and become a forgotten thing ere this befell!
 The Decline of the Silk Roads
Document 4

A description of the Ming Dynasty, which ruled China from 1368-1644 AD, published in the textbook
World History, Patterns of Interaction.

Ming Relations with Foreign Countries China’s official trade policies in the 1500s reflected its
isolation. To keep the influence of outsiders to a minimum, only the government was to conduct
foreign trade, and only through coastal ports...China did not become highly industrialized for two
main reasons. First, the idea of commerce offended China’s Confucian beliefs. Merchants, it was
said, made their money “supporting foreigners and robbery.”

Document 5
Peter Lang, a historian, explains how the Silk Roads declined in his book Siho and Naga – Lao Textiles,
published in 2009.

The Chinese traded silk for medicines, perfumes, and slaves in addition to precious stones. As
overland trade became increasingly dangerous, and overseas trade became more popular, trade
along the Silk Road declined....by the end of the fourteenth century, trade and travel along the road
had decreased.

Document 6
A historian explains how the Silk Roads declined. Source: “From Silk to Oil,” published by The China
Institute in America.

The collapse of the Mongol empire and the late fifteenth-century discovery of the sea route from
Europe to Asia led to a precipitous decline of the Silk Roads trade in Central Asia, the crossroads
for this commerce, until the late nineteenth century. The flourishing oases and towns sank into
poverty, and nomadic empires, such as the Xiongnu and the Mongol, could no longer match the
advanced military technology (guns, rifles, cannons, etc.) and the growing populations of the
neighboring civilizations....Central Asia and the Silk Roads seemed to disappear from the historical
stage.
 The Decline of the Silk Roads

Document 7

The painting below, by Jean Chartier, depicts the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman army in 1453
AD.

Document 8

Ray Gonzales, writer at Humboldt State University, describes the decline of the Silk Roads.

Trade by sea became less dangerous and more profitable than the long and arduous land route.
Also, the demand for silk began to slump as European production was perfected and passed on.
Perhaps the greatest factor contributing to the decline of trade along the Silk Road was geography.
Maintaining existing settlements along the Taklimakan and Gobi deserts became increasingly
difficult during that era of political unease...Maintenance of wells, streets, and buildings was
neglected in light of invasion from bandits, lack of trade, and a sometimes imposing religion from
the West. Soon the old towns and religious sites were buried deeper beneath the sands.
 The Decline of the Silk Roads

Document 9

This map depicts global trade routes by the year 1600. Published by Hofstra University.

Document 10
The following is policy of the Tokugawa government of Japan, known as the “Closed Country Edict” of
1635 AD, and published in the book, World History Pattern of Interaction Primary Sources.

1. Japanese ships shall by no means be sent abroad.

2. No Japanese shall be sent abroad. Anyone violating this prohibition shall suffer the penalty of
death, and the ship owner and crew shall be held up together
with the ship.
3. All Japanese residing abroad shall be put to death when they return home.
4. All Christians shall be examined by official examiners.
5. Informers against Christians shall be rewarded.
6. The arrival of foreign ships must be reported . . . and watch kept over them....
8. Even ships shall not be left untouched in the matter of exterminating Christians.
9. Everything shall be done in order to see that no Christian is survived by descendants, and anyone
disregarding this injunction shall be put to death, while proper punishment shall be meted out to the
other members of his family according to their deeds.