Silk Route and Frontiers of India

An online course on the Silk Routes, India’s frontier regions and its impact on today’s geopolitics.

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When trade created empires, when empires created borders.

Follow caravans, kings and armies across the Himalayas and the high plateaus. From Bronze Age ports to twenty-first-century standoffs, see how a web of routes became one of the world’s most volatile frontiers.

Contemporary Relevance: Galwan, Doklam, Aksai Chin and CPEC are not isolated flashpoints. They sit on corridors that once carried textiles, horses, monks and mercenaries.

Video lessons
8+ Hrs
Structured chapters
Timeline
4700+
Years of history
Resources
58
Learning resources
Modules
10
IVC to modern borders
Course Overview

Silk Route & India’s Frontiers

Explore how mountain passes, river valleys and trading towns shaped India’s relationship with Central Asia, Tibet and China.

The Silk Route was never a single road. It was a shifting, seasonal network of caravan tracks and maritime corridors linking the subcontinent with the world. Regions that now sound like remote frontiers— Kashmir, Ladakh, Tibet—were once the heartbeat of this traffic.

The 8th Century: Empires on the Roof of the World

In the mid-eighth century, four powers—the Karkota dynasty of Kashmir, the Tang Empire, the Tibetan Kingdom, and the Umayyad Caliphate— struggled for the trans-Himalayan corridors. This forgotten era set patterns of influence that echo across today’s maps.

In the twenty-first century, the same mountain passes frame border standoffs. Where caravans once moved textiles, we now see patrols and strategic highways like CPEC.

  • Beginner Friendly: No prior knowledge of South Asian history required.
  • Academic Rigor: Content from the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.
  • Certificate: Earn a verified certificate upon completion.

What You Will Learn

A concept-driven journey from Harappan docks to high-altitude border posts.

The Silk Route System

Understand the overland and maritime corridors linking India with Persia, Arabia and China.

Indus Valley Commerce

Trace Harappan trade with Mesopotamia and how Bronze Age ports foreshadow later chokepoints.

Kashmir under Lalitaditya

Study how an upland kingdom turned into a Central Asian power player.

Buddhism & The Routes

Follow monasteries, translators and merchants as Buddhism traveled to China and Tibet.

Gilgit-Baltistan

Examine how a Silk Route junction turned into a modern nuclear flashpoint.

Modern Geopolitics

Read Galwan and Doklam not as isolated crises, but as chapters in a 2,000-year struggle.

Course Curriculum

1 Subject

Silk Route and Frontiers of India

58 Learning Materials

01. Antiquity of the trade routes

From Prehistoric Barter Trade to the Rise of Agriculture

Video
00:10:11

From Prehistoric Barter Trade to the Rise of Agriculture

PDF

Advent of the Wheel and Accelerated Development

Video
00:08:12

Advent of the Wheel and Accelerated Development

PDF

Ancient Waterways, Trade Explosion and Eventual Decline

Video
00:17:26

Ancient Waterways, Trade Explosion and Eventual Decline

PDF

Lesson Summary

Video
00:04:33

Lesson Summary

PDF

Silk Route Lecture 1 - Spplementary Material

PDF

02. History of Silk Routes

Brief Timeline and General History

Video
00:05:30

Brief Timeline and General History

PDF

Early days of Silk Route

Video
00:11:36

Early days of Silk Route

PDF

Ancient India’s Interactions with the Silk Route

Video
00:06:43

Ancient India’s Interactions with the Silk Route

PDF

The Dark Heritage and the Bright Side

Video
00:08:16

The Dark Heritage and the Bright Side

PDF

Conclusion

Video
00:02:40

Conclusion

PDF

Lesson Summary

Video
00:06:12

Lesson Summary

PDF

Silk Route - Lecture 2 Supplementary Material

PDF

03. North-West Trade Routes

Geography and General History

Video
00:08:03

Geography and General History

PDF

Archaeological Evidence and Cultural Exchange

Video
00:05:48

Archaeological Evidence and Cultural Exchange

PDF

Military Expeditions and Historical Significance

Video
00:14:47

Military Expeditions and Historical Significance

PDF

Lesson Summary

Video
00:04:52

Lesson Summary

PDF

04. Himalayan Trade Routes

Overview and General History

Video
00:08:42

References from Literary History

Video
00:13:16

Archaeological Evidence

Video
00:10:05

Learning Summary

Video
00:04:44

05. Historical Political Events on the Northern Frontiers

Early History

Video
00:08:03

The Great Game for Power

Video
00:21:07

The Mongol Dominance and The Eventual Decline

Video
00:08:35

Lesson Summary

Video
00:03:47

06. Gilgit-Baltistan – The Crossroads of Asia

The Origins of Gilgit-Baltistan

Video
00:11:03

Gilgit-Baltistan - At the Crossroads of Asia

Video
00:10:35

Historical References and Significance

Video
00:15:34

Lesson Summary

Video
00:03:52

07. Leh and Ladakh

Brief History

Video
00:10:22

The Karakoram Routes

Video
00:15:54

Ladakh and Tarim Basin

Video
00:06:35

Lesson Summary

Video
00:04:11

08. The Trade History of Leh-Ladakh and Akasi Chin

Brief Overview

Video
00:07:15

Aksai Chin

Video
00:14:57

The History of Trade

Video
00:12:00

Lesson Summary

Video
00:04:23

09. South-West Silk Route & the North-East India

The South-West Silk Route and India’s Trade to the East

Video
00:11:36

Trade through Assam and other North-Eastern Kingdoms

Video
00:14:02

Sikkim and the Modern Landscape

Video
00:09:51

Lesson Summary

Video
00:05:35

10.. The 21st Century

Summary So Far

Video
00:11:21

Central Asia: Significant Once Again

Video
00:11:58

Silk Route and India’s Frontiers in the 21st Century

Video
00:11:25

Lesson Summary

Video
00:04:02

Travel India’s Frontiers Across Time

Build a continuous picture of how trade, states and borders shape each other.

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Silk Route & India's Frontiers: Kashmir, Tibet & Geopolitics | BORI Course