WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -A number of theories exist as to where the 14th century plague originated and how exactly it spread. One of the most often cited is that it was carried by infected rodents across the Silk Roads, reaching Europe along with infected merchants and travellers.

Detailed explanation-2: -The spread of disease and trade went side by side. The fleas that carried the deadly bacterium known as Yersinia pestis, were transferred by the rats across the major trading route of the Silk Road, infesting anyone on its way and eventually reaching Crimea where it traveled to mainland Europe via merchant ships.

Detailed explanation-3: -The spread of the Black Death coincided with the beginning of a smaller, more connected and integrated world, thanks in part to the Silk Road. Along its routes, microbes spread as readily as people, inventions and ideas.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Silk Road began in north-central China in Xi’an (in modern Shaanxi province). A caravan track stretched west along the Great Wall of China, across the Pamirs, through Afghanistan, and into the Levant and Anatolia. Its length was about 4, 000 miles (more than 6, 400 km).

Detailed explanation-5: -Some research suggests that the Black Death, which devastated Europe in the late 1340s C.E., likely spread from Asia along the Silk Road.