The Silk Road, or Silk Route was an important path for cultural, commercial and technological exchange between traders, merchants, pilgrims, missionaries, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from Ancient China, Ancient India, Ancient Tibet, Persian Empire and Mediterranean countries for almost 3000 years. It is one of the world's oldest and most historically important trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa. Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, India, Egypt, Persia, Arabia, and Rome, and in several respects helped lay the foundations for the modern world.

The Silk Road gets its name from the lucrative Chinese silk trade, which began during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 CE). It was a major reason for the connection of trade routes into an extensive trans-continental network.