The
Northern Silk Road is a
prehistoric trackway in northern
China originating in the early capital of
Xi'an and extending north of the
Taklamakan Desert to reach the ancient
kingdoms of
Parthia,
Bactria and eventually
Persia and
Rome. It is the northern-most branch of several
Silk Roads providing trade,
military movements and cultural exchange between China and the west. The use of this route was expanded pursuant to actions by the
Han Dynasty in the latter part of the first millennium BC to push back northern tribes and control the safe passage of Chinese troops and merchants.