The Silk Road was a network of trade routes organized from the Chinese silk business since the 1st century BC. C., which extended throughout the Asian continent, connecting China with Mongolia, the Indian subcontinent, Persia, Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Europe and Africa. Its different routes began in the city of Chang'an (currently Xi'an) in China, passing among others by Karakórum (Mongolia), the Khunjerab Pass (China / Pakistan), Susa (Persia), the Fergana Valley (Tajikistan) ), Samarkand (Uzbekistan), Taxila (Pakistan), Antioch in Turkey, Alexandria (Egypt), Kazan (Russia) and Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) at the gates of Europe, reaching the Spanish kingdoms in the fifteenth century, the confines of Europe and Somalia and Ethiopia in East Africa.