The Sea Silk Road from the Persian Gulf to China Sea (from the time of its opening until the Dominance of Mongols)

The Sea Silk Road was the vastest commercial network of the world for 1700 years (100 BC-1600 AD). Given the several difficulties happening in the land route of this road, the sea route was an important reason for merchants’ attention to trade through the Silk Sea Road. Although this route was long and unknown, and there was the possibility of occurrence of several dangers, in many cases it was greatly superior to the land route. The most important people who had a role in expanding and popularizing this route were Iranian and Chinese merchants and statesmen. A study of historical sources reveals that Iranian ships were commuting between India and China, and some important ports such as Canton and Changzhou in China, and Siraf, Ablah, Basra (2nd and 3rd centuries AH), Hormoz, and Kish (8th century AH) in Iran, which were among the most important ports of that time, are the remnants of the Sea Silk Road. This sea route was popular almost until the end of the Safavid Era. With the changes in the political and economic situations of different countries in the world, this route was gradually forgotten and lost its initial appeal. The present research mainly focuses on the sea connections from the Persian Gulf to the China Sea until the beginning of the Mongol Period. The required data for this historical research has been collected from historical sources following the analytic-descriptive method of research.