Historic and Geopolitical Features of the “One Belt, One Road” Initiative

 

Historic and Geopolitical Features of the “One Belt, One Road” Initiative

 

Author: Lukasz Repucha

 

In 2013, China announced its global infrastructure development strategy, also known as The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or One Belt One Road (OBOR). It is a set of gigantic infrastructure projects intended to cover the Eurasian continent with a network of economic, energy, transport and other connections. Initially, the strategy consisted of six main specific corridors. The New Eurasian Land Bridge between China and Europe, The China-Mongolia-Russia Corridor between China and Eastern Russia via Mongolia, The China-Central Asia-West Asia Corridor between China and

Turkey, The China-Indochina Peninsula Corridor from southern China to Singapore, The ChinaPakistan Corridor from Kashgar through Pakistan to ports in Karachi and Gwadar, and The Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Corridor which connects China with those countries. The project evolved over time, attracting the interest of more countries. Geopolitical reality has also verified some of the noisy announcements, leading to various modifications to the original vision, which now looks more like an infrastructure web, than a system of corridors / tunnels connecting some larger geographic blocks. The idea was also enriched with its sea version - "21st Century Maritime Silk Road". Regardless of it, the OBOR system is a geopolitical project aimed at reversing the effects of so called Age of Discovery and taking power from the maritime powers, that control the seas and oceans, on which modern commodity exchange takes place. The Chinese in their vision refer to the continental system of land trade, that existed for about 1500 years in Eurasia, before the Portuguese (and other European nations which followed them) circumnavigated Africa and mastered the direct sea trade routes around the continent. The nineteenth-century science called this system the Silk Road and it is known under that name to this day. In this essay, I'm going to take a closer look at this system that the Chinese want to revive. I want to investigate what the trade in Eurasia looked like before dominance of the sea trade and sea powers, what routes it ran, how geography influenced it and what geopolitical importance it had.

 

Historical Silk Road trade system

 

At first I must answer the question what was the Silk Road in the past. A most common view on this term impute that it was a land trade route, between Europe and China on which merchants, like inside some kind of a tunnel, were moving goods from East to West, sometimes beeing attacked by some wild natives from the surrounding steppes. This vision is mostly false. Of course, some kind of preferred, convenient routes and roads, where the main traffic took place as on today's highways, existed and were clearly defined in space (thanks to numerous caravanserais along the most popular trails). All of these maps of the Silk Road, showing different lines going through Central Asia, are true then. However, such a description does not reflect the essence of the phenomenon which was the Silk Road. It was an enormous and complex, continental system of trade, conditioned by geography. System of geographic, cultural, economic blocs, between which goods were moved in many directions (not only from East to West). It was a chain of many meshes, that economically linked the geopolitical regions of the Eurasian coastal zone, even if they never came into direct political contact with each other, or these contacts were very rare. The chain itself consisted many different, fluctuating over the time, centres of power – from nomadic kingdoms to rich and powerful city states of Central Asia. They all derived prosperity from trade within the Silk Road system. The exchange of goods was like a relay race. Chinese merchants were not travelling to the Mediterranian. In most cases, they were passing their goods to other merchants in trading posts on borders of the Chinese Empire, and collecting goods from them. This was a first stage of that race which consisted many different stages. Most of the goods were transferred between neighboring blocks, as it was not profitable to transport them further. By contrast, the silk that gave the system its name represents the luxury goods sector. Their recipients were located along the entire system. Most often they were representatives of the privileged and wealthy upper classes of local societies. These goods had very high prices - the farther from the source, the higher price was. Turbulent history of Central Asia had a big influence on that trade system, but over the course of history there are many myths which have arisen. One of these myths for example, is the myth of wild nomads from the steppes, aggressive and driven by greed and lust for destruction, attacking agricultural societies along the Silk Road. They are seen as hostile element, disrupting trade and causing damage to mostly peaceful nations settled around cities, concentrated on agriculture and goods exchange. Historical evidences shows something completely different. Nomadic societies not only weren't alien element located on the fringes of the system, they were integrated part of that system and they were interested in making this system work flawlessly. Of course, many times they have waged wars against the settled peoples of Central Asia and against each other. But these peoples were doing exactly the same.

 

As mentioned earlier, the Silk Road consisted of blocks that can be more or less distinguished in terms of geographic, economic and cultural features. All of them had different sizes and different level of importance for the whole system, and they were connected with choke points      – passages of high strategic value.

 

The most eastern block contains the whole Chinese civilization. In different points of history its extent was fluctuating but in general it consisted of Chinese Central Plain as its core and surrounding regions colonized by Han people (Nanling Mountains and coastal plains beyond them on the south, Sichuan Basin on the west and Loess Plateau on northwest). Their political influence extended even further during the imperial periods when the Chinese were united under one centralized leadership. China had a largest economy in this part of world and was a big goods producer. It acted as the center of gravity and attracted merchants and goods from smaller economies in the area, both from the islands of southern Asia and the steppes to the north. Tea and silk (both raw silk and silk brocade) were the most coveted Chinese commodities, but not the only ones. Other goods (like: ginger, paper, gold or silver or copper ornaments, porcelain, pearls and many others) were also exported. Some of these products were specifically Chinese products and could not be obtained anywhere else. This fact was increasing their value on the market. Imports included for example horses, camels, sheep, jade, amber, carpets, cotton cloth, weapon and armor made from iron and steel, copper utensils, bullion and other. Thus, the Silk Road in the Far East began in Chinese urban and rural workshops (often working directly for the state and nobles), warehouses, and marketplaces. Then the goods were transported to the trading posts on Chinese border. In some cases, the movement of goods was organized by central authorities (as part of tributary system). Goods were exchanged along the entire length of the border. In the north, they were sold especially for horses, the shortage of which was a constant part of Chinese history. They were mainly paid with silk and tea. In the northwest, they were exchanged for products from Central Asia.

 

At this point, in the north-west, there was the first of the strategic choke points connecting the two adjacent blocks of the Silk Road trade system - Gansu Corridor. It’s a narrow plain and passage between the Kunlun Mountains (the northern edge of Tibetan Plateau) and Gobi Desert on Mongolian Plateau. Throughout the history different Chinese empires were waging wars for control over this passage with nomadic kingdoms. The traveler who passed the Gansu Corridor was entering a completely different world. He left the green steppe plains and fertile valleys behind him. The landscape was now dominated by a sandy desert and the climate was becoming dry. At this point, the road was entering next block of the Silk Road system.

 

Tarim Basin. It is a large basin, surrounded on the north, west and south by high mountains. It is filled with the Takla Makan desert. Communication took place here on its outskirts - in the south and north, and led from the oasis to the oasis (where local markets operated in fortified towns), sometimes along the watercourses, which are flowing down the mountains, and ending in salt lakes in the desert. It was inhabited first by the Indo-European tribes and after them (to this day) by the Turkish-speaking Uighurs. The oasis economy with its agriculture and characteristic products dominated here. The territory had numerous connections with the Tibetan Plateau and the peoples living there. These connections offered Tibetan economy participation in the Silk Road system (contemporary research suggests that some of the main trade routes turned south from the Tarim Basin and led through the Tibetan Plateau straight to the Indian Peninsula. Tibet would thus become part of the system - another block, but there should be devote additional research to this issue). There was also another connection to the north with the neighboring Dzungarian Basin, which is another large basin beyond the Tian Shan Mountains. It is covered with steppe and was inhabited by nomadic tribes with their pastoral economy. Through the Dzungarian Gate, communication routes led to the endless plains that are part of the Eurasian steppe (with its specific economy). In the north, they reach the Siberian taiga. The peoples inhabiting it, thanks to the connection to the south-east through the Dzungarian Basin or, directly, to the south with Transoxiana, could take part in the intercontinental trading system - with Silk Road as its core. Some inventories of goods, left by Arab geographers, confirm that such an exchange did take place. The northern route, through Dzungarian Gate and further on along northern edge of Tien Shan mountains, allowed to bypass Tarim Basin, and was an auxiliary route for the main trail. In history, Tarim and Dzungarian Basins were the westernmost frontier of Chinese expansion and influence in the years of its greatest power.

 

One of the most important cities in the Tarim Basin was (and still is) Kashgar. It lies at the western end of this land. From this city, trade routes entered another strategic choke point - mountain passes and passages in the Pamir Mountains. On the other side, they came out in two places. One of them is the Fergana Valley in the north where the Syr Darya River (ancient Jaxartes) forms. The second place is the land known in antiquity as Bactria, where the Amu Darya (ancient Oxus) river forms. Both rivers are the main watercourses of the region, flowing into the inland Aral Sea (which now has almost vanished).

 

Following both rivers, after leaving the mountain valleys, merchants traveling from the east were reaching the land, known to the peoples of Mediterranean as Transoxiana (the land beyond the Oxus River). It’s another, large and very important block of the trade system. I would call it a „junction”. Transoxiana, its constituent and adjoining lands (Ferghana, Sogdiana, Bactria, Chorasmia) lie north of the Iranian Plateau and west of the Tibetan Plateau, on the great plains of central Asia. A dry continental climate prevails here. The plains are crossed by the two great rivers, which were mentioned earlier. Amu Darya and Syr Darya originate from the mountain ranges to the east and run northwest to the inland Aral Sea. Desert landscapes dominate in their middle and lower reaches. The rivers cross two great deserts - Karakum Desert and Kyzylkum Desert. Settlements are concentrated here in fertile river valleys and oases. Location at the crossroads of continental trade routes has resulted in the emergence of great centers of power, strong city-states, and their legendary wealth. Two of them, the most famous, are Bukhara and Samarkand, located in Sogdiana, west of the Pamir Mountains. Geography determined that travelers, having crossed the mountain passes, coming from the east, from Ferghana or Bactria, naturally flowed into these cities. From Sogdiana, the routes diverged in three directions. Northwards, along the great rivers, through the territory of Chorasmia (which was lying on the shores of the Aral Sea) and then through the steppes, towards the passage to Europe, between the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea (an important choke point). The road ended in commercial cities and colonies (which were the outposts of the Mediterranean world in the northeast, originally Greek, then under the control of Rome and Venice) on the shores of the Black Sea. It was an auxiliary route of the Silk Road which gained more importance especially in the Middle Ages (it allowed to bypass Middle East with its powers controlling main route of the Silk Road). The southern route led through Bactria to the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains. The mountain passes in this mountain range were another strategically important choke point. On the other side, the trails descended to the populous and rich Indus Valley and further to the Indian Peninsula. This, in turn, was, like China, a huge civilization and economic complex (even if politically divided for most of its history) of the Eurasian coastal zone. The southern route was not part of the Silk Road in the strict sense, but it was of equal importance, connecting Central Asia and the east-west routes with the powerful economic block on the south. This route became very important in late antiquity when the areas of Sogdiana and northern India were joined under one political authority of the Kushan Empire. The roads leading through the Hindu Kush probably constituted the communication and economic axis of this kingdom. This, however, existed for a relatively short time, about 300 years. The western route, which was a continuation of the Silk Road system, led to the Iranian Plateau.

  

 

 

Overview map showing the east-west axis on which the blocks of the Silk Road trade system were located. Available here.

 

A merchant who found himself in the trading cities of Sogdiana had access to a very diverse list of goods and merchandise from many distant parts of the world. A partial description of goods that were produced in the cities of central Asia or flowed to them was provided by an Arabic geographer from the 10th century - Al-Maqdisi. From the far north - Siberia, Urals and Volga region:

sable skins, squirrel skins, ermine skins, marten skins, weasel skins, fox skins, beaver skins, goat skins, wax, birch bark, fur caps, arrows, walrus tusks, castoreum, amber, horse skins, honey, hazelnuts, falcons, swords, armor, Slavic slaves, sheep and oxen. Chorasmia was a producer of grapes, raisins, almond cakes, sesame seeds, luxury fabrics, carpets, blankets, satin and more. In the cities of Sogdiana itself, luxury clothes and fabrics, copper vessels, cups, tents, stirrups, bridles, straps, wool, woolen clothing, capes, carpets, cotton and other items were produced. Horseskin saddles, quivers, tents, leather hides, arrows, livestock, and more were the products of the nomadic economy of neighboring regions. In addition, metals were brought from mines located in the surrounding lands - copper, iron, silver. From the Far East there was an influx of products from China, especially silk, silk fabrics and brocades. From the south, products of the Indian economy were imported, especially spices, ebony and precious stones.

 

A merchant who obtained selected goods in Sogdiana and intended to transport them westward had to cross the Karakum Desert. On the way there was Merv (known also as Alexandria and Antiochia Margiana in antiquity) - a powerful city strategically located in an oasis on a desert trail. This area can be considered a strategic choke point connecting the Transoxiana block with the Iranian Plateau block.

 

Until now, the routes (on which the merchants traveled along the Silk Road system) avoided the uplands, led mainly through the lowlands and entered the mountain ranges only where it was necessary. But elevated area of Iranian Plateau is a gate to the Middle East region from the east, which can't be bypassed. It is another great civilization and economic block located between the Middle East and Central Asia, and a core of many empires that originated from this area. The Iranian Plateau borders the sea, but its landform caused, that this fact did not have much economic significance. This is probably the reason why the main trail did not turn south. It ran along the northern edge of the plateau from one fortified town to another - between wastelands of the Great Salt Desert (Kavir Desert) and Albroz mountain range. It is the shortest route to the Mesopotamia. Before, however, it reached the Zagros Mountains, some of the routes departed north through Media and Armenia. They led to ancient Colchis on the shores of the Black Sea, and descended through Cappadocia into Anatolia, connecting Caucasus region with continental trade system. The Silk Road was a source of enormous revenues and power for many empires that formed on the Iranian Plateau.

 

Zagros mountain range is 1600 km long, located between Anatolia and Ormuz Strait. It’s the western edge of Iranian Plateau. From the perspective of a person standing in the Mesopotamian plains, the Zagros Mountains give the impression of a wall stretching from horizon to horizon. Through the passages of strategical value, situated in it, which were like breaches in this wall, a stream of caravans, heading from Central Asia and Persia, was descending into the Tigris and Euphrates valleys.

 

Mesopotamia is a land which consists of the river systems of both mentioned rivers. It is a small block of the trade system, but historically very strong in terms of civilization, culture and economy. It is sandwiched between the Mediterranean world and the Iranian Plateau. Its central point was (and still is) located where the Tigris and Euphrates come closest to each other. For most of its history, the main urban centers of the entire land were situated here - from Babylon, through Seleucia-on-Tigris, Ctesiphon to Baghdad. Most of the caravans going from the east stopped here. Many of them did not move further west, content with trade on the spot. From this point between the Euphrates and the Tigris, trade routes ran northwest along one river or the other. Through Palmyra located in an oasis in the Syrian desert, caravans reached Damascus and from there to the Mediterranean coast in ancient Phoenicia. Its port cities belonged strictly to the Mediterranean trade system and played an important role in it. Another route continued northwest to Upper Mesopotamia and turned west there, crossing the Euphrates where it most approached the Mediterranean Sea. On the other side, the trail ended in Antioch, a mighty and prosperous harbour city on the seashore and the main city of Syria.

 

This is where the Silk Road ended, having reached the ports in westernmost, powerful block of the system. It included the lands adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea - most of Europe, northern Africa and the western part of the Middle East. From that point on, all diverging roads were already elements of communication and trade within this bloc, with its own trading system. For most of history, it was heterogeneous in terms of its civilizations and cultures, politically fragmented. However, the geography of the region, and its numerous resources, made it possible to develop high-frequency trade and interconnection between its centres of power. This allowed, throughout a history, for a rapid increase of wealth within it, and the emergence of wealthy upper classes in local societies generating a demand for luxury goods.

 

Two events were of the greatest importance in the economic history of this region. The first was the rise of the Roman Empire which took over the entire Mediterranean region. It combined all the lands around the sea into one political and cultural organism. This laid the foundations for the creation of the large-scale trading system that henceforth was the internal system of the empire. The Roman Empire also produced a class of wealthy nobles, and these in turn created a demand for luxury goods from the Far East, regardless of price (what greatly fueled trade on the Silk Road). The second was the conquest of the Middle East and North Africa by the Islamic civilization in the 6th century and the division of the Mediterranean world into three rival cultural blocs. At the same time, the economic decline of the western part of the region resulted in falling out of the large-scale luxury goods trade for several centuries. It was not until the Middle Ages that this trade was resumed, especially by Italian merchants doing business with the Muslim cities of Syro-Palestine and Alexandria (and also through the colonies in the Crimea region).

 

The Silk Road flourished for about one and a half thousand years. At that time it was, in its own way, a pre-sea world trading system. Technological developments, especially in the field of shipbuilding, established dominance of maritime trade and led to the gradual decline of the importance of land routes. The final blow to the Central Asian trading system was the partition of Central Asia by Russia and China in the 18th and 19th centuries.

 

The Silk Road had great geopolitical importance. The territories through which trade routes passed, took on strategic importance. These lands were the suppliers of enormous financial revenues for each center of power and the state organ which controlled them. It didn't matter whether it was a nomadic kingdom, a federation of city-states, or a vast empire of the sedentary peoples from the Eurasian coastal zone. The fees charged to traders, customs, and the operation of caravan routes (e.g. by ensuring safety) entitling to collecting tolls - all this was a source of specific revenues. In addition, political control over individual blocks or only choke points, made it possible to decide on participation in the trading system. It was an enormous political leverage that made it possible to put pressure on the neighboring centers of power, and was giving an advantage over them. Besides, it wasn't just goods that spread along the trade routes across the continent. New ideas and technological solutions also followed them. The control of individual blocks of the Silk Road system, especially those in the chain between the extreme Chinese and Mediterranean blocks, was a source of enormous advantages. However, the dangers also came along with the chances. These areas have always been the first target for any sufficiently strong political organism in the area which required their defense and entangled the empires that controlled these areas in various conflicts. In addition, the wealth that flowed through these regions gave rise to the natural formation of strong local powerful and wealthy factions and coteries there, posing a threat to the order of every empire they were part. However, these problems did not appear to be serious enough to overshadow the advantages of having control over system components.

 

Coastal trade system in southern Eurasia before Age of Discovery

 

In the pre-modern era, a maritime trade system developed along the southern and eastern shores of Eurasia. It was, in a way, a mirror image of the land trading system known today as the Silk Road. Most merchant ships, due to their technical advancement, traveled along the coast, between neighbouring ports. Some ventured further into the open waters, using the monsoon winds to make long journeys.

 

This maritime trade engaged of the economies of states, empires and centers of power from Japan to Egypt. It can be divided into two large geographical zones. The central point separating them from each other was the Indian Peninsula.

 

The first zone stretched to the east of it. It was additionally divided into two parts by the Strait of Malacca. The first part covered the area east of the strait and was the "Chinese" zone. The Chinese economy was dominant here and was the center of gravity in this part of the world. In the days leading up to the Sung Dynasty, Chinese marine technology was not advanced enough to allow deep-sea voyages in the open waters. Consequently, most of the long distance trade was dominated by merchants from Southeast Asia, Persia and Arabia, who had the appropriate ships at their disposal. Chinese merchants were sailing down the coast to Korea, Japan, and south to Vietnam. The center of maritime trade in this part of the world was Guangzhou, which became the hub of spice, incense, silk, pearls, jasper, gold, silver, lacquerware and porcelain trade. Chinese goods from this period are found throughout the region - in the Philippines, Northern Borneo, Singapore and Malaya. The strength of the Chinese economy is evidenced for example by the fact, that for a long time Chinese copper money was legal tender on the Japanese islands. On the other side of the Strait of Malacca was the second sub-region - South Asia and the eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Chinese merchants began to sail to these waters more often in the Sung Dynasty, when they developed appropriate marine technologies.

 

The Malabar Coast, on the southwest coast of the Indian Ocean, was the focal point of the entire maritime trade system of the Indian Ocean. It was here that merchants from China were ending their journey and rarely ventured further west. The Malabar Coast was also the easternmost point for Mediterranean merchants departing from Egypt. Both Chinese copper money and Roman coins have been found on the Indian Peninsula. The goods traded in India included, in addition to roots and spices, also pearls, tortoise shells, rhinoceros horns, steel, brass, coral, agate, frankincense and large pieces of ivory.

 

West of India, there was a second zone. It was dominated by the Persians and Arabs. It was connecting India, Persia, Arabia and the east coast of Africa. During the Ptolemaic times and in the Roman period that followed, the merchants of the Mediterranean world also were carrying out a strong commercial activity here. A great source, describing this trade, is the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. It is a kind of ancient handbook for merchants trading in the Indian Ocean area. Roman merchants, and the Greek ones, were departing from the ports of the Red Sea and travelling along the African coast. After reaching the Horn of Africa, they traded with the local states and tribes, exchanging Alexandrian craftsmanship for local goods such as exotic animal skins, slaves, ivory, and more. Some merchants were travelling further south, possibly as far as present-day Tanzania or Mozambique, or crossing the Gulf of Aden and purchasing francinces in Yemen and then returning home. The others were catching monsoon winds and sailing further east to the Malabar Coast where they had access to a wide range of oriental goods, including those brought from the Far East by Chinese merchants. After selling goods, brought with them from Egypt and Africa they were purchasing Asian ones and then waiting for change of the season and the direction of the winds, what was allowing them to return home. The journey was long, it was taking about eight months. It was also extremely dangerous. Not only because of troubled waters, but also because of the scourge of piracy. Merchants who managed to reach the Red Sea were sailing to several transhipment stations on its coast. The main one was Myos Hormos. In this harbor, goods were transferred from ships to caravans. The cargo was then transported to the Nile valley and loaded onto river barges. The final destination was Alexandria, where exotic goods from the east were hitting sky-high prices. After the Arab conquests, this system was completely dominated by the Arabs, who became middleman between the Orient and the Mediterranean world. This allowed them to dictate their prices. Trade with Arabs, on the other hand, during the European Middle Ages, was dominated by Italian merchants, who could dictate their prices to other participants of the system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Places described in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. The map shows the trading system of the western Indian Ocean during Roman times. Map available here.

 

The prices of oriental goods and the legendary riches of the Orient tempted everyone who wanted to get rich. The vision of bypassing the entire chain of middlemen and getting directly to the source of oriental goods was a vision of gaining great wealth. However, the existence of the African continent, stretching along the north-south axis for many thousands of kilometers, effectively separated these two worlds. In times of near-coastal shipping requiring numerous ports, potential attempts to circumnavigate the continent and establish trade routes around it were unprofitable. It was only the revolution in maritime technology and the development of deep-sea shipping that made such trips make sense. Sailing around the Cape of Good Hope and discovering the way to the East (as well as the discovery of the Americas) caused a global revolution in trade and then also in world geopolitics, which created the world we live in today.

 

Sources

 

Beckwith, Christoper I. 2020. Imperia Jedwabnego Szlaku. Od epoki brązu do czasów obecnych. PIW. Original title: Empires of the Silk Road. A History of Central Eurasia from Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton University Press 2009.

 

Beckwith, Christoper I. 1991. The impact of the horse and silk trade on the economies of T’ang China and the Uighur Empire. - available here

 

Casson, Lionel 1954. Trade in the Ancient World. – available here

 

Christian, David 2000. Silk Roads or Steppe Roads? The Silk Roads in World History. - available here

 

Jenott, Lance 2004. The Voyage around the Erythraean Sea – available here

 

Khazanov, Anatoly M. Steppe Nomads in the Eurasian Trade. - available here

 

Mehraby, Rahman 2018. Iran on the Silk Road, Ancient Network of Trade Routes. – available here

 

Shiba, Yoshinobu 1983. Sung Foreign Trade: Its Scope and Organisation. - available here

 

Alexandria, Center of Trade. - available here

 

Gateway cities of Uzbekistan on the Great Silk Roads. – available  here