Asia
...en where long and hard, but his love for trade and the scenery had kept him going. This tale shows that, as a merchant, many encounters along the Silk Road can make you profit. Nanaivandak became a wealthy merchant who traveled back and forth, encountering armies of different countries such as the Chinese. Although not all merchants had made money, some getting robbed or killed, it was still a connection between societies due to the fact that merchants came from many areas of Asia. Another tale that came from the book Life Along The Silk Road by Susan Whitfield is The Soldiers Tale. I believe that this tale is another example that is very important in showing how the silk roads have served to “connect Asia”. The name of the soldier is Seg Lhaton, who was a Tibetan soldier who lived from 747 to 790 A.D. At the start of the tale, Seg is being quartered and his army has cut off trade routes between Sogdiana and China, which had stopped one of China’s wealth and power sources. The place that Seg was located was Miran, which was a strategic place for the Tibetans because it was close to Tibet and trade routes laid down at Miran lead to the Silk Road. While Seg Lhaton was at the fort he spent nights telling about recent campaigns and battles that he had been in. Before Seg was born, according to Whitfield, “ The peace treaty of 730 between Tibet and China had been broken in 737 by a Chinese invasion and since then relations between the two countries had deteriorated. The battles that occurred between these two where focused on the north-eastern border between Tibet and China and a rout from the Silk Road that leads into India across the Pami mountains which is located to the west of Tibet. After Seg and other tribesman from the Yarlung valley finished the campaign of 747, they were aloud home for a period of leave. His journey home was full of rough terrain. Seg and his fellow tribesman had traveled along the Gilgit River until it connected with the Indus. Keeping to the mountains through northern Kashmir, Seg had traveled a succession of river valleys along the northern foothills of the Himalayas to the Zangpo River. When Seg Lhaton did make it home to his valley farm and family, he was not able to stay long before he had to move on north to where his next posting was located. After spending many nights in the desert fort of Miran, Seg received orders of leave and was exempted from performing any further military service. Seg Lhaton has been fighting since he was fifteen. It was not uncommon to see men of fifty fighting in battle, but since Seg had received multiple wounds throughout the years of fighting which included a leg wound received at Koko-Nor which cause him pain frequently. Seg traveled quickly from Tibetan camp to another, being reminded of all the grim battles that he had taken apart of in the last twenty-five years. Seg had picked some liquorice for his grandchildren. His son was off fighting along the Silk Road and Seg Lhaton pondered the question if his son would be so lucky enough to survive like he had. This story is very important to the connection of the Silk Road and Asia due to the fact that different empires fought over land that was valuable to them. These roads where valuable for trade, receiving supplies for armies, and ways of getting home. T...