The Asiatic Roots and Rootedness of the Eurasian Project

Abstract

Historically, the geographical area of Eurasia represents the heart of the Silk Road, which was traversed by Italian merchants, Central Asian and Middle Eastern traders. It connected Central Asia with the Lower Volga and Northern China to Kara Korum (Mongolia) and for centuries facilitated trade from the east to the west and vice versa.1 The Mongol Empire in the 13th century connected peoples, goods and ideas via this Silk Road from China to the Mediterranean.2 Once the Mongols had conquered China, Russia, Transcaucasia and Iran, there was a blossoming of trade right across their empire which was in large part driven by funding provided by the Mongol Khans and their family members to Muslim, Central Asian and Chinese traders. In addition, by providing infrastructure and communication networks throughout the empire, the Mongols made trading more attractive and profitable. According to Cosmo (2005), ‘the Mongols had indeed been exceptional in their ability to provide infrastructure underpinning trade even when formal backing of European states was lacking’.3 By 1221, Central Asian traders were playing a very important role in trade across the region.4 The union of China, Turkestan, Persia and Russia in one huge empire regulated by a strict Yasa under princes who were concerned for the safety of the caravans and tolerant of all cults, reopened by sea and by land the world routes that had been blocked since the end of antiquity.