How Did Religion Spread Along the Silk Road? Crash Course Geography #31

Today we’re going to talk about the collection of routes known as the Silk Roads, and explore how worldview and other ideas spread along those trade routes. The Silk Roads are responsible for everything from the spices we use when we cook to the cloth we see as beautiful, but today we’re going to focus on religion, and show how these routes influenced the beliefs of billions of people through time and space.

SOURCES

General:
Gregory, Derek, Ron Johnston, Geraldine Pratt, Michael Watts, and Sarah Whatmore, eds. 2009. The Dictionary of Human Geography. 5th ed. Willey-Blackwell. ISBN: 978-1-4051-3288-6
Getis, Bjelland, and Getis. Introduction to Geography, 15 ed. McGraw-Hill Education. 2017. ISBN: 978-1-259-57000-1
Hobbs, Joseph J. Fundamental of World Regional Geography, 4th ed. Cengage. 2017.
Cracking the AP Human Geography Exam: 2020 edition.  The Princeton Review.

SIlk Road:

Maps and Cartographers:

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[ReligionForBreakfast]

Always refreshing when Crashcourse mentions religion. The Greco-Buddhist statue near the end is such a fascinating example of religious objects and artistic forms spreading across the Silk Roads (in addition to religious ideas/stories).

[enchantedtonight]

8:01 The University of al-Qarawiyyin was founded by a Muslim woman, Fatima al-Fihri. It started out as a mosque and grew to become an incredible educational institute that shaped the modern university structure! Thanks for mentioning it!

[kkandbeyond]

It's always good to receive a refresher course.

[onewhoisanonymous]

My students are now studying the Silk Road this is perfect!

[altGoolam]

Religions follow their communities, and MOST human interaction is NOT through war or violence. Most cultural exchange, particularly before Colonialism, has been through trade and mutually beneficial across cultures. We have a warped Imperialist understanding about the nature of civilization.

[hunam_]

I like the Starbucks cup in the shot at 1:33. Nice GoT reference!

[hotbeekslab]

My crash course coin came yesterday and its great ive been showing it off to everyone i can! Thank you for all the work you guys do!

[ssotkow]

Word of mouth was important for the spread of Buddhism, as it took over 400 years for Siddhārtha Gautama's (The Buddha) teachings to be finally written down. One can imagine how some oral transmission concepts could've been distorted in just a matter of moments when playing a schoolyard telephone game, let alone a span of centuries.

[alesk]

crash course geography, i appreciate u <3

[tyxorion]

More on the origins of religions please

[reginaromsey]

My cook friends insist on Fresh spices. People have been taken by the silly concept that medieval foods were over spiced. Those medieval spices like Pepper had been picked years before, packed in bags or boxes, put on a ship, to a ship, to a ship, to a camel, to a ship. Others were put on a camel, to a donkey, to a camel, to a camel, to a ship, to a horse cart, to a donkey to a ship.

[davidandrews]

Is the question, “is there a banana in this soup, ” an avatar reference?

[mr.potato]

Who else would wanna see 1 hour long conversation between the spanish/italian traveler, the Muslim traveler and asian one

[williambilyeu]

I have a degree with a major in history and minors in geography and other subjects. I have always been interested in geography and history and the overlap.
This was an interesting episode. I love the ladybug in the background. I collect such items too.

[keithcharles]

Thank You😉public schools never go this in depth. Inclusively, they never bring into kids perspectives and curiosity the relevance of history and geography to our modern world and everyday lives. Thank You 😉😎Crash Course.♥️

[raquetdude]

The religion that first used it does not exist now, Manichaeism. Started in Persia and reach both India, China and Western Europe in the late 200s

[SagaciousEagle]

I watch these kind of videos on topics like this, except this one is dangerously captivating.

[davegan]

Read "the silk roads" Peter Frankopan. Excellent

[MohammedLiswi]

Interesting information and exciting maps

[Lunatik]

It is currently blowing my mind that there is no reason why we don't view the Earth and maps in the south to north orientation, other than because of named polarities.