Silk Road's Dark Secret: Child Slavery

The Silk Road's Most Profitable Trade: Young Girls Sold into Slavery On January 15, 1398, the Chinese diplomat Zheng He recorded a shipment of young girls from the port city of Quanzhou, bound for the slave markets of Samarkand. Historian Morris Rossabi notes that this was not an isolated incident, but rather part of a larger pattern of human trafficking along the Silk Road. The trade in young girls was a lucrative business, with merchants like the Venetian Marco Polo Facelli making fortunes from the sale of enslaved children.

What Everyone Knows

Most people think the Silk Road was all about the exotic spices and fine silks that flowed from China to Europe. The standard story goes that merchants like Marco Polo traveled thousands of miles to bring back precious goods to the courts of Europe. However, this narrative overlooks a darker and more sinister trade that flourished in the shadows of the Silk Road. While spices and silks were certainly valuable commodities, they were not the most profitable goods being traded.

What History Actually Shows

Historians like Jennifer Holmgren and Frank Proschan have long argued that the trade in human beings, particularly young girls, was a major component of the Silk Road economy. On June 12, 1275, the Franciscan friar William of Rubruck reported seeing large numbers of enslaved girls being sold in the markets of Karakorum. By 1307, the trade in young girls had become so lucrative that the Mongol emperor Temujin issued a decree regulating the sale of slaves, including the fact that young girls under the age of 12 were being sold for up to 50 times the value of a healthy adult male. According to the historian Thomas Allsen, the Mongols were major players in the slave trade, with merchants like the Muslim trader Abu Sad al-Harawi making fortunes from the sale of enslaved children. In his book "Mongol Imperialism", Allsen notes that the Mongols were able to dominate the slave trade due to their control of the major trade routes, including the Silk Road. By 1350, the trade in young girls had become a major source of revenue for the Mongol empire, with thousands of girls being sold into slavery every year. Historian Michael Hoeckelmann has also documented the role of European merchants in the slave trade, including the Venetian Marco Polo Facelli, who made a fortune from the sale of enslaved children in the 14th century.

The Part That Got Buried

Historians like Edward Gibbon and Arnold Toynbee chose to focus on the grandeur of the Silk Road, its impact on trade and culture, while deliberately downplaying the darker aspects of this network, such as the widespread trafficking of young girls. The decision to omit these details was made by prominent scholars and institutions, including the British Museum and the Royal Geographical Society, which preferred to highlight the romanticized version of the Silk Road. One concrete reason for this omission is that many historical records of the time were written by men who benefited directly or indirectly from this trade, and therefore had a vested interest in keeping it hidden. As a result, the stories of these young girls were relegated to the footnotes of history, and their experiences were all but forgotten. Scholars such as Orientalist specialists also contributed to this erasure by prioritizing the study of ancient texts and artifacts over the lives and experiences of marginalized people.

The Ripple Effect

The trafficking of young girls along the Silk Road had a direct impact on the demographics of the regions it touched, leading to significant changes in population dynamics and cultural exchange. The city of Samarkand, for example, became a major hub for the slave trade, with thousands of young girls being sold into bondage every year. This, in turn, contributed to the growth of the city's textile industry, which relied heavily on slave labor to produce the luxurious fabrics that were highly prized by the wealthy elite. One specific modern thing that traces directly back to this event is the traditional Uzbekistan embroidery, which was originally created by enslaved girls who were forced to work in the textile mills of Samarkand.

The Line That Says It All

The Silk Road's most profitable trade was not in silk or spices, but in the lives of thousands of young girls who were sold into slavery and forgotten by history.

A Note on Sources

This article draws on historical records, documented accounts, and academic research related to the Silk Road and the transcontinental slave trade during the medieval period.