c. 139 BCE–c. 220 CE
Central Asian networks under the Han and the so-called Silk Roads
Trade & global routes · Rutas terrestres · Intermediarios · Seda · Diplomacia
From the second century BCE, exchanges of high-value goods between China, Central Asia, Western Asia, and the Mediterranean intensified through multiple routes and intermediaries. “Silk Road” is a modern label for networks that had no single name and included diplomacy, war, taxation, and local commerce as well as long journeys. Zhang Qian’s mission was diplomatic, not a simple commercial opening.
Precision, calendar, and review
- Start
- year · approximate
- End
- year · approximate
- Calendar and convention
- Historical-era years; the source calendar is not identified. No conversion of days is assumed.
- Year zero
- The scale goes from 1 BCE to 1 CE without year zero. Changing era names changes labels only.
- Documentary review
- Date not recorded
Reading the date: duration of a process.
Sources
- www.unesco.org (opens in a new tab)
Source provenance and scope
- Publication date
- 2026-04-15
- What this date describes
- The cited source or edition; it may postdate the historical event.
- Source updated
- 2026-04-15
- Bibliographic date checked
- 2026-09-23
- Date evidence
- Declared in the cited source’s publisher metadata.
The correspondence between this reference and individual claims has not yet been itemized.
This record is an editorial synthesis. Consult the sources to check claims and their limits. Chronological relationships alone do not establish causation.