From Wikipedia
The Silk Routes (collectively known as the "Silk Road") were important
paths for cultural, commercial and technological exchange between
traders, merchants, pilgrims, missionaries, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from Ancient China, Ancient India, Ancient Tibet, Persia and Mediterranean countries for almost 3,000 years. It gets its name from the lucrative Chinese silk trade, which began during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE).