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Map of Silk Road: Silk Route would usually go from Tehran, Chalus, Behshahr, Meshed, Herat, Bamian Valley is WNW of Kabul, to Kabul. The modern road cuts south at Herat to Farah, across Helman River to Kandahar on it's south bank,
Ghazni, Kabul.
China travel: The 2,000-year-old silk road has demonstrated a lasting charm through the centuries. Today it still attracts thousands of tourists from across the world with its rich historic sites, cultural relics, beautiful scenery and colorful folklore.
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From Kabul the route also heads NE into the Panjshir Valley; Kabul to Charjkar [Begram], and along the Panjshir River. Gap in cities. It follows the narrow strip of Afghanistan, along the Oxus River to Sinkiang Province, China(Chinese Culture).
Along the narrow strip, with Pakistan south and USSR to the north, the Silk Route goes NW through the following small villages along the Oxus River : Zebak, Zarkhari, Ishkashim, Shikarf, Urgand, Pigash, Khandut, Qala Panja, Kharat, Nurss, Sarhad, [over Daliz Pass] to Langar, Gumbaz, [over Wakhjir Pass] into Sinkiang Province; [Another route nearby is just past Daliz Pass, then over Dehli Sang Pass to Misgar in Kashmir.
When we talk about the Silk Road, the impression is that it is all one road. This is not really true. It consists of many sections, branches, and alternates. There was more than one end and several beginning points. Another misconception is that the road connects the important cities along the way. This Is true when we build paved roads and highways in modern days. But in the days of the Silk Road, the object was to get from here to there by the quickest, safest, and most convenient path. The existence of the road then made the cities greater Chinese Culture.
All along the routes there were caravansaries, or inns, which rendered services to the caravaneers. If there was a strong government, it was in their best interest to keep the caravansaries in good repair and to keep bandits at bay. If they did not, the Silk Road would simply move to a different branch and bypass the difficulties. As the route became established, these caravansaries tended to be about a days march apart. If the location was just an overnight stop, the village remained small. Or again, if there were more than one road that crossed at a town, that town also became wealthy, large and well-established.
Much as it is in today's real estate market, location was everything. Villages prospered if they controlled the only water for a few hundred miles, as at Damascus. Or if they controlled the only reasonable pass over a long mountain range, as at Tarsus. And finally, the long land routes only lasted until transportation by sea became commonplace. By the 1st century of the current era, the land routes had heavy competition all over the ancient world. By the end of the 2nd century most of the famous routes were falling into disrepair, the trade having moved to the sea routes.
Silk Road
One final comment on the Silk Route; silk was only a minor article of trade carried on the route. Silk was the most exotic, but not the most common. The traders heading east to China carried gold and silver, precious stones, local textiles and carved ivory. This was used to pay for silk and porcelain, or spices like cinnamon bark. Pepper came in from India and joined the Silk Road in Afghanistan. And animals were also traded in both directions, the steppes of Iran and Afghanistan producing fine horses.
The trade goods moved in fits and starts. Something picked up here and traded there, very little traveled the entire route. At each trade, the merchant increased his profit margin, if he knew what he was doing. Silk traveled the entire road, as did pepper. That explains where the names came
from.