Who coined the modern term “Silk Road” in 1877 for the ancient trade routes across Eurasia?

Ferdinand von Richthofen coined the modern term “Silk Road” in 1877 for the ancient trade routes across Eurasia.

Richthofen was a German geographer and geologist who studied China and Central Asia. He used the German expression Seidenstraße, meaning “Silk Road,” to describe the connected routes linking China with regions farther west. The singular label became popular later, although the historical network consisted of many land and sea routes rather than one road.

The name highlights silk because Chinese silk was a prestigious long-distance commodity, especially in the Roman and later Byzantine worlds. However, merchants also moved horses, spices, precious stones, glassware, metals, textiles, paper, and religious ideas.

Modern historians often use “Silk Roads” in the plural to emphasize the network’s complexity. The routes changed over time as empires rose and fell, deserts shifted in importance, and political conditions affected travel and taxation.