The Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor
The Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor is the throat of the Silk Road in Central Asia, connecting other corridors from all directions. It is 866 kilometers long, with rugged mountains, fertile river valleys and uninhabited deserts along the way. It first extends from east to west along the Zarafshan River, then turns southwest and crosses the Karakum Desert along the ancient caravan route to the Merv Oasis. From the 2nd century BC to the 16th century AD, the corridor became the main channel for communication between the East and the West and the trade of large quantities of goods on the Silk Road. It witnessed human travel, settlement, conquest, and defeat, and thus developed into a melting pot of ethnicities, cultures, religions, and technologies.