An Analysis on the Name of the Silk Road, Based on Economic Geography

The famous route, today known as the Silk Road, was the longest and the most used trade road in the history of Eastern lands. A large part of this route which started from western region of China and reached eastern Mediterranean coasts, crossed through Grand Khorasan land, from Qums to Jayhoun. In 19th century researches of Europeans, the name the "Silk Road" became common and it became widespread afterwards. Nowadays everyone calls this route as the Silk Road. They have called this trade route as the Silk Road as they had thought Silk was the main and the most important product traded on this route. In the present paper, it will be analyzed whether the name was given correctly or not. Based on the findings of the present paper, naming this route as the Silk Road, could not have been true because of two fundamental reasons which are based on historical reports and actual realities. Firstly, prior to the 19th century, the name Silk Road did not appear in any Islamic and Iranian geographical sources and the larger part of this route was called the Khorasan Route. Secondly, after analyzing economic geography and traded products on the route, it was concluded that Silk was only one of the hundred products which were traded on that route while it was not superior to other products.