Mongol Empire - Part 10: The Silk Road Explosion: Trade Under Mongol Protection

The Silk Road is ancient. Trade between China and the Mediterranean stretches back 2,000 years.

But for most of that history, the “road” was more legend than infrastructure. Goods moved in fragments – passed hand to hand through dozens of intermediaries, each adding cost and risk. Few travelers crossed the entire route. Most goods changed owners multiple times.

Under the Mongols, for the first time, merchants could travel from Beijing to Baghdad under a single political authority. The result was an explosion of trade that transformed both ends of Eurasia.

The Pre-Mongol Reality

Before understanding the Mongol transformation, consider what the Silk Road was actually like:

Fragmentation

The route crossed:

• Dozens of kingdoms and empires
• Multiple language zones
• Different legal systems
• Competing religions
• Warring powers

Each jurisdiction meant:

• New taxes and tolls
• Different rules
• Potential hostility
• Risk of confiscation

Danger

Travelers faced:

• Bandits in ungoverned regions
• Raiders from nomadic groups
• Officials who might seize goods
• Wars that closed routes entirely
• Natural hazards (deserts, mountains, weather)

The Indirect Trade

Because of these obstacles:

• Goods passed through many hands
• Each intermediary took a margin
• Price multiplication was enormous
• End consumers paid 10-100× origin prices
• Only the highest-value goods were worth moving

The Mongol Transformation

The Mongol Empire changed everything:

Single Sovereignty

For the first time:

• One political authority from Korea to Poland
• Common legal framework (the Yasa)
• Unified documentation (paiza system)
• Coordinated administration

A merchant with proper credentials could traverse the entire system.

Security Guarantee

Mongol military power provided:

• Active patrols on major routes
• Severe punishment for banditry (death, often public)
• Garrison posts at key points
• Quick response to threats

The message was clear: interfere with trade and face annihilation.

Infrastructure

The Yam network offered:

• Way-stations for rest and resupply
• Fresh horses for urgent travel
• Emergency services
• Consistent facilities across the route

Simplified Taxation

Instead of dozens of tolls:

• Standardized tax rates
• Collected at designated points
• Predictable costs
• No arbitrary confiscation

The Routes

Under Mongol control, several major routes flourished:

The Northern Route

• Across the Central Asian steppe
• Mongolia → Kazakhstan → Russia → Europe
• Fastest but most exposed to weather
• Primarily for high-value, low-bulk goods

The Central Route

• Through the Tarim Basin and Persia
• China → Kashgar → Samarkand → Tabriz → Mediterranean
• The classic “Silk Road”
• Most developed infrastructure

The Southern Route

• Via India and the Indian Ocean
• China → Southeast Asia → India → Arabia → Mediterranean
• Maritime component
• Bulk goods and spices

The Integration

Mongol control allowed these routes to function as a network:

• Goods could shift between routes based on conditions
• Information traveled about which routes were optimal
• Merchants could choose based on season, cargo, and destination

Who Traded?

The Pax Mongolica attracted merchants from across Eurasia:

Chinese Merchants

• Silk, porcelain, tea producers
• Previously limited to regional trade
• Now could reach Western markets directly
• Built commercial networks across Central Asia

Muslim Merchants

• Long-distance trade specialists
• Expertise in finance and credit
• Arabic and Persian language skills
• Pre-existing networks expanded under Mongol peace

Italian Merchants

• Venice and Genoa led European commercial expansion
• Established trading posts across Mongol territory
• Developed sophisticated credit instruments
• Became Western intermediaries

Central Asian Merchants

• Sogdians, Uyghurs, and other Central Asian peoples
• Traditional intermediaries
• Now could operate at larger scale
• Often served as translators and cultural bridges

What Moved

Trade volume increased across all categories:

Luxury Goods (Traditional)

• Silk – Still the signature commodity
• Spices – Pepper, cinnamon, cloves
• Precious stones – Rubies, sapphires, jade
• Perfumes – Frankincense, musk

Bulk Commodities (New under Mongols)

The security allowed lower-value, higher-volume trade:

• Textiles – Beyond silk, cotton and wool
• Metals – Iron, copper, tin
• Horses – Essential for Central Asian economies
• Grain – In times of local shortage

Technologies and Knowledge

• Paper-making techniques → Europe
• Printing methods → Europe
• Gunpowder formulations → West
• Navigation instruments → Europe
• Mathematical knowledge → multiple directions

People

The routes carried:

• Merchants – The obvious travelers
• Missionaries – Franciscans, Nestorians
• Craftsmen – Recruited for Mongol projects
• Slaves – An unfortunate but significant trade
• Diplomats – Official missions

The Commercial Revolution

Trade volume multiplied. Evidence includes:

Archaeological

• Expanded settlements along routes
• Coin hoards in Central Asia
• Chinese ceramics in European finds
• Mongol artifacts across the route

Documentary

• Increased references in chronicles
• Merchant records and letters
• Official trade statistics (where available)
• Traveler accounts (Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta)

Economic

• Price convergence between East and West
• New commodities appearing in markets
• Merchant wealth increasing
• Urban growth at trade nodes

Case Study: The Polo Family Enterprise

The Polo family of Venice illustrates the commercial possibilities:

First Journey (1260-1269)

Niccolò and Maffeo Polo (Marco’s father and uncle):

• Left Constantinople for trading venture
• Reached the court of Kublai Khan in China
• Established commercial relationship
• Returned with invitation to bring more merchants

Second Journey (1271-1295)

The brothers returned with young Marco:

• Carried papal letters and gifts
• Traveled the land route across Central Asia
• Spent ~17 years in Mongol service
• Returned with fortune via sea route

The Business Model

The Polos demonstrate:

• Long-distance trade was now feasible
• Personal relationships with Mongol rulers were valuable
• Extended stays could be profitable
• Return journeys justified multi-year investments

The Infrastructure Economics

The Mongols invested in trade infrastructure because it paid:

Direct Revenue

• Customs and taxes on trade
• Fees for Yam services
• Levies on merchant transactions
• Commercial penalties and fees

Indirect Benefits

• Wealthy merchants strengthened the economy
• Trade cities generated additional taxes
• Technology and expertise arrived via trade
• Information traveled with merchants

Security Investment Return

Military spending on route security generated:

• Increased trade volume
• Higher tax collections
• More stable provinces
• Reputation for protecting commerce

The virtuous cycle: Security → Trade → Wealth → More Security

The Institutional Innovation

The Mongols created institutions that facilitated commerce:

The Ortaq System

Mongol rulers invested in merchant partnerships (ortaq):

• Khan provided capital
• Merchants provided expertise
• Profits shared
• Risk distributed

This state-merchant partnership anticipated later commercial innovations.

Credit Instruments

Long-distance trade required:

• Letters of credit
• Bills of exchange
• Banking relationships
• Trust networks

Muslim and Italian merchants developed these; Mongol security made them work across continents.

Standard Weights and Measures

Trade required:

• Consistent measurement
• Fair exchange rates
• Reliable scales
• Honest middlemen

Mongol law enforced commercial standards, reducing friction.

The Legacy

The Mongol Silk Road left permanent marks:

Trade Networks

• Italian commercial networks persisted after Mongol collapse
• Muslim trading diasporas remained in place
• Chinese maritime trade expanded based on Mongol-era contacts

Knowledge Transfer

• Technologies transferred under the Mongols remained
• Europeans knew about Asia in ways they hadn’t before
• The idea of East-West trade persisted

The Exploration Imperative

When the Silk Road closed after Mongol collapse:

• Europeans sought alternative routes to Asia
• Portuguese sailed around Africa
• Columbus sailed west

The Age of Exploration was partly an attempt to restore Mongol-era access.

Modern Parallels

The Mongol Silk Road offers lessons for contemporary trade policy:

Security Precedes Commerce

Trade requires:

• Physical security of routes
• Legal security of contracts
• Political stability

The Mongols provided all three. Modern trade agreements attempt the same.

Infrastructure Multiplies Returns

Investment in:

• Transportation networks
• Communication systems
• Legal frameworks

generates returns far exceeding costs.

Standardization Reduces Friction

Common:

• Rules
• Standards
• Documentation

makes every transaction easier.

Trade Creates Stakeholders

Merchants who profit from trade become:

• Advocates for peace
• Supporters of the system
• Resisters of disruption

The Mongols made conquered populations into trade beneficiaries.

Conclusion: The Security Dividend

The Silk Road existed before the Mongols. But it was dangerous, fragmented, and inefficient.

What the Mongols provided was security at scale – the military power to suppress banditry, the political authority to standardize rules, and the administrative capacity to maintain systems across 24 million square kilometers.

The result was an explosion of trade that:

• Connected civilizations that had been distant
• Transferred technologies that shaped the future
• Created wealth across Eurasia
• Demonstrated what peace could produce

The Mongol Silk Road was a proof of concept: unified, secure trading systems multiply economic activity.

When the Mongol peace ended, so did the explosion. It would take centuries – and new technologies – before similar integration returned.

But the lesson remained: trade follows security, and both multiply each other.

This post is part of the Mongol Empire series, exploring the military, economic, and organizational innovations that built history’s largest contiguous empire.

Previous: Paper Money and Passports – Innovations we still use today

Next: Terror as Strategy – The calculated psychology of Mongol warfare