Pax Mongolica Trade Network

Timeline

1. c. 1206–1260Mongolian Plateau · Mongolian PlateauDuring Mongol expansion, jam relay stations, standardized weights and measures, and caravan protection customs were established, giving Eurasian trade routes relatively predictable passage and resupply under imperial law.
2. c. 1260–1330Samarkand–Dadu trade route · SamarkandAfter the Yuan dynasty, Ilkhanate, Chagatai Khanate, and Golden Horde separated, the khanates still used paizi travel passes and relay-station relays; Samarkand, Dadu, and Caffa (Theodosia) became distribution hubs for silk, spices, and silver.
3. 1331–1340Transoxiana and Black Sea trade ports · TransoxianaDespite internal conflict in the Chagatai Khanate and decline of the Ilkhanate in the 1330s, caravans still transported goods along the Samarkand–Bukhara–Caffa line; accounts such as those of Ibn Battuta show cross-khanate travel remained possible, but rising tariff and protection costs reduced network resilience.
4. c. 1347–1368Black Sea–Mediterranean trade ports · CrimeaAround 1347 plague spread west along trade routes, damaging the populations and finances of the khanates; after the Yuan dynasty fell in 1368, traditional overland trade gave way to sea routes and local tariff barriers, leaving the Pax Mongolica trade network in name only.