Samarkand-+Joseph,+LaMonica,+Mierjeski

From 600 CE to 1450 CE, Samarkand belonged to a variety of empires because of its envious location in Central Asia, which was vital to its success on the Silk Routes. Samarkand was significant during this time period because of its important contributions to trade along these roads, including their distinctive style of architecture and art which supported their economy and the expansion of their social boundaries. During the time of their success Samarkand was apart of more than one empire including the Sassanid Empire and the Mongols, resulting in them being in control by many different leaders. For example, Timur had an effect on their views regarding many different daily aspects such as religion, which was for the most part Muslim. The many different leaders over time were a main reason for the changing political views, social structures, and fluctuating economy. The basic governmental structure of Samarkand changed more than once due to the changing political leaders in this empire. Since it was a common piece of land that many empires fought for, it often changed ownership resulting in changing leaders. Each leader had a specific way that they preferred to control society making the laws and policies constantly changing. Samarkand was chosen to be the capital of Timur’s Empire and serve as the center for many political activities. For the most part, Samarkand belonged to a centralized government with one leader ruling the empire at a time. Though the style of ruling changed frequently as this empire changed handlers from the Sassanid Empire to the Mongols for example, its government was very successful and was able to rule over their citizens without any major problems. Different techniques such as incorporation of the military and religious beliefs into its politics were used in Samarkand. During the time that Samarkand was part of the Sassanid empire, military strategies were commonly enforced on the society in order to ensure that the leaders received the respect that they asked for. Another common method that was used in Samarkand relating to politics was the use of religion. Zoroastrianism, which was at one point the state religion of the Sassanid Empire, reinforced the importance of order in a society. The social classes that were established also set standards for stipulations on who can make government decisions and be involved with the empires politics. For most of the empire's existence, nomads occupied much of land and contributed to a big part of its population. They had somewhat of an influence on the political aspect of Samarkand’s daily life. With the nomads dominating most of the population, they were easily able to have a say in decisions made by the government that were taken into consideration. With Timur ruling Samarkand after he conquered the land, which extended from India to Turkey, the political aspect of daily life and the governmental structure of the society changed. Since he had a lot of past experience with the military due to a variety of reasons. He used this skill to control the empire as well. Timur had all the power to rule over the citizens of Samarkand, who at this time belonged to the Mongols. It was considered to have a centralized government. Unlike the political policies of Samarkand during the time it was being ruled by the Sassanid Empire, one leader was given the authority to control all the activities of the government. Samarkand was chosen to be the capital of Timur's empire for obvious reasons; one being that the visual appeal of the city was very high. Another reason was that Samarkand was a bustling city full of life and wonderful people. The landscape of Samarkand was unique because of the high quality of architecture, art and they participated in many social activities. Samarkand was also very well known for its religious buildings like monasteries and mosques. Timur had many beautiful buildings built in Samarkand throughout his time as emperor. Even though Samarkand was the capital of the empire, it was just like any other city. They had musical instruments, special clothing and other unique products that were special to the city. The features of Samarkand and the people of the city were what really separated this capital from other cities of the Middle East. Samarkand was considered a very artsy city. They manufactured a lot of ceramics in the city and used their unique sense of style to create pieces of artwork that couldn't be acquired anywhere else. The potters of Samarkand didn’t just make unique pieces of art. They also made plain old ordinary pottery but wasn’t as well known as the distinctive bowls, plates, and other pieces of pottery made by the craftsmen. The quality of the pottery depended on the quality of the supplies craftsmen were working with. A person of the higher class worked with better materials and sold the lower class craftsmen pottery for more money. Pottery wasn’t the only type of art that was created in Samarkand. Music was also a big part of the daily life of the people of Samarkand. Music was used in many different parts of the Samarkand life. Musical instruments were used in the military, rituals, ceremonies and more. The types of instruments usually used were percussion and wind. When an instrument was played in the military, special training was needed and so were special classes. Music, pottery and art were small things Samarkand was known for. Samarkand was also known for its architecture. The city had big buildings, monasteries, and mosques. One of the most famous types of buildings that Samarkand was filled with was mosques. With Timur as the emperor of the empire, he had a lot of say in what went on throughout the city. Timur was married to a Chinese woman who wanted to have mosques built throughout the city of Samarkand. Mosques were religious buildings that were used to pray in. Samarkand ended up being a very religious city for the reason that there were mosques scattered throughout the capital of the empire. People were a big part of the city of Samarkand as well. They were the center of the society and created everything that went on in Samarkand. They were the ones that created the art and buildings that Samarkand was famous for. In other societies people are separated into “groups” according to your wealth and social status. The city of Samarkand didn’t work that way. Everyone was created morally equal and no one was judged by how much money they had or what kind of work they did. The religion of Islam was the influence that created this type of civilization and was how Samarkand worked this way. Even though Samarkand was part of many different empires and had undergone many different emperors, the way the people of Samarkand went about their daily life didn’t change that much. The multitude of emperors hadn’t effected the people of Samarkand until Timur chose it as his capital. Timur caused the city to become very popular and overall more beautiful. Timur and all the other people who ruled Samarkand had a positive effect on the social aspects of the city. Samarkand was a very popular city in every empire it was a part of. As a result of this, the city became very important along the Silk Routes. The economy of Samarkand changed many times due to the changing empires it was under. Agriculture and trading different items were two parts of the economy of Samarkand under the Samanid Empire. Specifically, Samarkand traded Samanid coins during this time because they did not have an economy of their own. The items Samarkand traded were the items that the empire made, such as pottery and coins. Coins were made in the Samanid Empire and were found in baltic countries later on. Because Samarkand was part of different empires, the rulers were also different. In the start of the eighth century, the city became under Arab control. During this time period, the Arabs found a way to make paper from the Chinese after defeating them in the Battle of Talas. They used this paper making skill in Samarkand. This paper was used to trade with in the Silk Routes. Knowing this technique, the first paper mill was founded in Samarkand and it was the first in the Islamic world. The paper mill then moved to Europe. It moved to Europe from the usage of the Silk Routes. In the fourteenth century, Timur had become the ruler under the Timurid Empire. Timur made Samarkand his capital and this increased its popularity on the Silk Routes and in the Middle East as well. Timur had imported artisans from other parts of the world as he conquered the land. Samarkand was the most populated city on the Silk Routes with over hundreds of thousands of people living in the city. The reason for its economical success was due to its prime location on the silk routes. Its prime location was in the middle of the entire Silk Road; therefore it had a lot of merchants pass through and trade different items from their city or empire. This location was very important because of its items it imported and exported from China to Europe. Samarkand allowed a large income to be consistently coming in because of the many products it traded. The Samarkand people exported many items that were produced in the markets. They traded leather, linen, silk that mostly came from the Chinese, stones, grapes that mostly came from Rome, and spices that came from India. These items were also sold in markets. Merchants from different cities brought different products to Samarkand. Merchants from Damascus brought silk and very fine glass. These items were considered the best in the world. Gunpowder was also traded along the Silk Routes in Samarkand. It was traded to Europe during this time. Since the Samarkand people were Muslim, they also spread the religion on the Silk Routes. At first Samarkand practiced Zoroastrianism and some practiced Christianity. Buddhism was not known in Samarkand then but Islam made its way into Samarkand by the invasion of the Arabs in the eighth century. Islam succeeded in taking over Samarkand and was from then on its prime religion. The economy of Samarkand remained the same in only one way. Its location on the Silk Routes and how it influenced the people of Samarkand stayed the same. Even though Samarkand changed rulers and was apart different empires, it remained a large part of the Silk Routes in that it was the midway point in the routes. Being the midway point was very important because people from Europe needed to trade with people from China and needed a place to stop. Samarkand was that kind of place and made it easier for the merchants’ journeys.

Between 600 CE and 1450 CE, Samarkand was an important city in the empires it was part of because of its location in Asia stretching across the Silk Routes. This location provided its trading network to be a success, the architecture and art to be known throughout Asia, and its social grid, which included the area of land around the empire to stretch dramatically. Samarkand was at one time controlled by the Sassanid Empire, the Saminad Empire, and the Mongols, forcing it to be controlled by different leaders during these times. Since Samarkand was under different rules, all of these qualities were changing, but it remained a very large part of the Silk Routes.