Reference no: EM132230346 , Length: word count:2500

Essay Assignment -

Write a 2500-word essay on one of the essay topics listed below. Feel free to choose which one you would like. The essay should be properly referenced and include a separate bibliography.

List of essay topics - These are suggestions. You are not required to base your essay on the materials suggested for each topic. You might find material that better supports your argument or that is more accessible.

Essay questions -

1) What were the aspects of the geography and ecology of Central Asia that led to the rise of pastoral nomadism and irrigation agriculture. Did they lead to trade?

This question asks you to look at trade along the Silk Road as conditioned by ecological factors. You might want to look at such factors as availability of water; mountain, oasis, desert steppe ecology; animal populations, plant distribution; as well as human interactions with both other groups and the environment.

2) Discuss what contribution art and iconography made to the diffusion of religious traditions along the Silk Road?

The question asks you to discuss why and how religions use material culture to promote their cause. Does a religion need to express its faith and identity through art and architecture? What function does art serve in shaping a particular religious world view?

3) To what degree did either Buddhism or Islam (choose one of the two) provide a basis for cultural exchange and trade along the Silk Road?

The question asks you to view the believers' religiosity and the active spread of religious beliefs as stimulating cultural exchange and facilitating commercial activities.

4) What were the characteristic components of international trade along the Silk Road in the Pre-Mongol era; the traders, their means of transport, their goods, their geographical range, the currency they used and so on? To what extent was this trade dominated by the major empires situated at either end of the Silk Road?

This question asks you to look into the components that were important for trade along the Silk Road: the traders, their means of transport, their goods, their geographical range, the currency they used and so on. You are also asked to give some thought to how this trade was promoted or perhaps impeded by the empires whose inhabitants produced and bought the goods traded along the Silk Road.

5) Would you agree with the statement that, "International trade shaped the economy, culture and civilisation of many Central Asian Silk Road societies in the pre-Mongol era". Compare the impact of this international trade to other forces such as economic, political and cultural forces that were at work in the societies along the Silk Road.

6) Discuss and express your opinion of the veracity of the claim that, "After arriving in China, religions imported from the Silk Road were changed almost beyond recognition."

7) Nomadic pastoralists founded states and even empires long the Silk Road, using examples discuss the methods they used in this process and the particular problems they faced.

8) What were the most important features of political and military relations along the long Eurasian border between agrarian states and pastoralists? You must illustrate your arguments with specific examples (for example, What kind of threats and opportunities did the nomadic pastoralists present for China?)

9) Since the break-up of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the independent Central Asian states, China has been extremely active in its effort to rehabilitate the concept of 'Silk Road'. This endeavor eventually helped shape Chinese government's grand initiative "One Belt and One Road". Examine the geo-political and economic viability of this effort, and appraise its global implication.

Attachment:- Assignemnt File.rar