|
Home
|
Excerpt from The Merchant's Tale: Nanaivandak, 730-751 Nanaivandak was from Samarkand. It had taken him several months to travel from Samarkand to Chang'an. There were scores of caravans, providing shelter for itinerant(moving) merchants and warehouse space for their animals and goods. His dress and heavily bearded face distinguished him from the Chinese, Turks, and Tibetans and this language was the lingua franca (common language)of the Silk Road. Although Nanaivandak paid heavy bribes to customs officers at the Chinese frontier, his profits from the sale of wool, jade, and gems was considerable. . He bought silk which was valued by his countrymen and by the Truks who lived on the northern borders of Sogdiana. Although silk was now made in Damascus by captured Chinese prisoners-of-war, the finest silks were sill from China. Nanaivanda's father took him on short trading trips when he was young and he immediately loved the journey itself, especially the mountains. He remembered his first trip to China in 730 AD. They had traveled the northern route because of rumors of Tibetan troops along the southern route of Kashgar. They traded goods along the way but the brass, amber, and coral were destined for Chang'an. The Chinese officials used the brass for ornaments for the girdles of officials and the Buddhists needed brass for statues. They brought golden ornaments worked by the artisans of Samarkand in the Persian style. It was a hard journey with freezing temperatures on the mountain passes. They had to be constantly watchful for bandits. By the summer they reached the region where the recently sheared sheep offered them another product for trade. They traveled along the western stretch of the Tarim Basin to China - a difficult route in winter and dangerous in spring when the melting snows caused avalanches and ice falls. They collected fresh horses and yaks although they would change to camels when they reached the desert to the south. When they changed to the camels - an expensive fee since on camel could cost up to 14 bolts of silk - they were responsible for the injury or death of any camel during the period of hire. They had to also provide for food, fodder, and fuel. The caravan owners were unhelpful and the road changed at every stage. Whenever possible, Nanaivandak and his uncle traveled with other merchants. There were horror stories that circulated among the travlers - few wells, sudden winds sweeping down from the north, sandstorms. They would sometimes encounter the bones of small groups who had broken away or decided to take less well trodden routes. The greatest risk was bandits. His uncle told of one experience when a small group of merchants had left the caravan early to try to get a head start on business in the next town. They were ambushed and killed by bandits on the road and all their goods were taken. Nanaivandak saw evidence along the route: ruined and abandoned towns, carcasses in varying stages of decay, petrified trees, human, and animal bones. And when they reached Chang'an where over 200 merchants' guilds were represented in the market area, there were willow trees, a lake, and blossoming fruit trees. Anything could be had in Chang'an.
Life Along the Silk Road Susan Whitfield, John Murray, Life Along the Silk Road, Albemarie Street, London, 1999.
|