Silk Road

Silk Road

The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 km (4,000 mi) on land, it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds. The name "Silk Road" was coined in the late 19th century, but some 20th- and 21st-century historians instead prefer the term Silk Routes, on the grounds that it more accurately describes the intricate web of land and sea routes connecting Central, East, South, Southeast, and West Asia as well as East Africa and Southern Europe. In fact, some scholars criticise or even dismiss the idea of silk roads and call for a new definition or alternate term. According to them, the literature using this term has "privileged the sedentary and literate empires at either end of Eurasia" thereby ignoring the contributions of steppe nomads. In addition, the classic definition sidelines prominent civilisations such as India and Iran.

Silk Road (marketplace)

Silk Road was an online black market and the first modern darknet market. It was launched in 2011 by its American founder Ross Ulbricht under the pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts". As part of the dark web, Silk Road operated as a hidden service on the Tor network, allowing users to buy and sell products and services between each other anonymously. All transactions were conducted with bitcoin, a cryptocurrency which aided in protecting user identities. The website was known for its illegal drug marketplace, among other illegal and legal product listings. Between February 2011 and July 2013, the site facilitated sales amounting to 9,519,664 bitcoins.

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven or knitted into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin (75-80%) and a smaller coating of sericin (20-25%). It is most commonly produced from the cocoons of certain insect larvae. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori, which are reared in captivity (sericulture).

Road

A road is a thoroughfare from one place to another, primarily used for movement of traffic. Many roads are paved.

Silk Road

Proper noun

1. An extensive interconnected network of trade routes across Asia, North and Northeast Africa, and Europe, historically used by silk traders.