Overland Silk Road in the 16th Century

Timeline

1. c. 1581–1584Jiayu Pass · GansuThe Ming court treated Jiayu Pass as its northwestern gateway; tribute missions, mutual-trade delegations, and Shanxi merchant camel caravans set out westward through it, carrying silk, tea, and porcelain in exchange for horses and gemstones from the Western Regions.
2. c. 1585–1587Samarkand · UzbekistanOases such as Samarkand and Khiva, controlled by the Khanate of Bukhara, served as Central Asian hubs where Persian and Indian merchants consolidated goods and exchanged for Spanish silver coins from the Americas.
3. c. 1588–1590Aleppo · SyriaCaravans reached Aleppo and Istanbul under Ottoman rule, where Eastern goods were shipped onward into Venetian and Genoese trade networks; the overland Silk Road still carried weight in global trade in the 1580s.