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 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-3: -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-4: -Ask: How did shipping routes aid in transmitting the plague? [Answer: Infected rats and fleas made way onto ships in contaminated food and supplies. The plague was also transmitted through rat, work animal, and human waste. Ships could efficiently get to other continents as they sailed the seas.]

Detailed explanation-5: -In the process, the traders and their animals also passed along contagions, which spread slowly and gradually between points along the Silk Road. As bad luck would have it, the route also brought travelers in close proximity to what some researchers point to as a source for a particularly dangerous disease.