Asian Geographic – Special Edition 2017-2018

CHINA

INDIA

PAKISTAN

AFGHANISTAN

TURKMENISTAN

KAZAKHSTAN

UZBEKISTAN

KYRGYZSTAN

MONGOLIA

IRAN

Tehran

Aleppo

Damascus Baghdad

Tripoli

Antakya

Ashgabat

Samarkand

Bukhara

IRAQ

SYRIA

LEBANON

TURKEY

Kashgar

Hotan

Delhi

Qarqan

Dunhuang

Lanzhou

Xi’an

Kumul

Turpan

Silk Road

The network of routes yielded

numerous architectural

points of interest which

can be visited today

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The term Seidenstraße (Silk Road)

was first coined by a German

geographer, Ferdinand von

Richthofen, in the late 19th century

Persia, Central Asia and Russia, the Indian Subcontinent,

and, of course, China. Merchants traded from one city

to the next, selling their goods in the bazaars and caravanserais

to another buyer, who would then transport them on the

next leg of the journey. These goods travelled far, whereas

the men rarely did.

331–329 bc

Alexander the Great

takes control of Persia

and Central Asia

221 bc

Qin Dynasty unifies

China for the first

time

30 bc

Egypt comes under

Roman rule, giving

Rome control of the

spice trade

75 ad

Silk is already being

worn in Rome

89 ad

Han Dynasty defeats

the Xiongnu nomads,

bringing the Eurasian

steppe under Chinese

control

→

RUINS OF NIYA

Xinjiang-Uyghur Auto-

nomous Region, China

Niya was a prominent

stop-off point along

the Silk Road

ATESHKADE

Yazd, Iran

A sacred flame has been

burning here for the past

1,500 years.

KHUDAYAR

KHAN PALACE

Kokand, Uzbekistan

Khudayar, Khan of

Kokand, erected the

palace citadel in 1871

MEIDAN EMAM

Isfahan, Iran

Meidan Ema was built by

Shah Abbas I the Great in

the 17th century

H AT R A

Al-Jazīrah region, Iraq

Hatra is known as

Beit ’Elāhā’, meaning

“House of God”

SULTAN AHMED

MOSQUE – THE

“BLUE MOSQUE”

Istanbul, Turkey

Its six minarets were

initially controversial,

until a seventh minaret

was added to Mecca’s

Grand Mosque

MINARET OF

KUTLUG TIMUR

Kunya-Urgench,

Turkmenistan

The trunk of this 62-metre

monument is inlaid with

Arabic inscriptions

MOGAO CAVES

Dunhuang,

Gangsu, China

The enormous

architectural and

artistic effort involved

in creating these caves

spanned 10 dynasties

KYZ KALA

Near Mary, Turkmenistan

Kyz Kala is an unusual

windowless castle with

corrugated exterior walls

ABAKH HOJA

MAUSOLEUM

Kashgar,

Xinjiang, China

This mausoleum is

a prime example of

Islamic architecture

culture