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India भारत

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Jaisalmer जैसलमेर

Anthera, a jewellery seller, wears the jewellery typical of the tribal communities living in this part of the Thar Desert. About 400 years ago, Jaisalmer became a well-frequented Silk Road pit stop for travellers who preferred to cut across the Thar rather than attempt crossing the Pamir Mountains of Central Asia. Merchants would cross the desert with caravans laden with silk, spices and precious stones risking their lives to reach distant markets. With so many tourists visiting Rajasthan today – approximately 47 million per year (pre-pandemic) — traders like Anthera can wait for the markets to come to her.

Delhi दिल्ली

It took six years of conservation work and 200,000 workdays by master craftsmen to restore the 16th century garden tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun to its former glory. Led by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the project included the conservation of over 30 monuments and the creation of a 69-hectare city park.

Humayun’s Tomb Complex, Delhi

The restoration of the Mughal Emperor Humayun’s 16th century garden tomb, the jewel of Mughal architecture that predates the Taj Mahal, was completed by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in September of 2013. Six years of conservation works and 200,000 work days undertaken by master craftsmen have been required to restore the Tomb’s Mughal finery.

The restoration of Humayun’s Tomb and Gardens has regenerated a significant amount of enhanced green space for the city and the surrounding community, returning it to its historically authentic format, which has rekindled interest in the rich history and expressions of Mughal life. The restoration effort has significantly increased the number of visitors to the World Heritage Site.

Delhi दिल्ली

As part of the works, the Trust trained a large number of local people in a variety of techniques including stonework and tile-making that not only offered a way of reviving these fast-disappearing skills but also of creating employment opportunities. The Trust also helped establish a women’s enterprise in the nearby area of Nizamuddin Basti. Insha e Noor produce hand-crafted products inspired by the tomb that are sold on site generating additional livelihood opportunities. Thanks to AKTC for use of this photographs.

Humayun’s Tomb Complex, Delhi

The restoration of the Mughal Emperor Humayun’s 16th century garden tomb, the jewel of Mughal architecture that predates the Taj Mahal, was completed by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in September of 2013. Six years of conservation works and 200,000 work days undertaken by master craftsmen have been required to restore the Tomb’s Mughal finery.

The restoration of Humayun’s Tomb and Gardens has regenerated a significant amount of enhanced green space for the city and the surrounding community, returning it to its historically authentic format, which has rekindled interest in the rich history and expressions of Mughal life. The restoration effort has significantly increased the number of visitors to the World Heritage Site.

Agra आगरा

Prayer time at the Taj Mahal Mosque. Each year millions of people visit the Taj Mahal – a mausoleum dedicated to Mumtaz Mahal, the beloved wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. It is easy to forget that the site is also home to this richly decorated and comparatively under visited mosque where local Muslims come to pray.

Agra

Prayer time at the Taj Mahal Mosque. Each year millions of people visit the Taj Mahal – a mausoleum dedicated to Mumtaz Mahal, the beloved wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.

It is easy to forget that the site is also home to this richly decorated and comparatively under visited mosque where local Muslims come to pray. Islam grew in prominence in India during the Muslim rule of the Mughals.

The Mughals emerged in 1526 in what is today’s Uzbekistan and swept south, conquering much of the subcontinent and creating an enormous empire.

By the 17th century, the Mughal economy was the largest in the world producing about a quarter of the world’s economic and industrial output. Its enormous wealth allowed for the construction of the eye-wateringly expensive Taj Mahal and its complex, where this mosque can be found.

Taj Mahal Masjid
Inside the Taj Mahal Masjid
Inside the Taj Mahal Masjid

Agra आगरा

Islam grew in prominence in India during the Muslim rule of the Mughals. The Mughals emerged in 1526 in what is today’s Uzbekistan and swept south, conquering much of the subcontinent and creating an enormous empire. By the 17th century, the Mughal economy was the largest in the world producing about a quarter of the world’s economic and industrial output. Its enormous wealth allowed for the construction of the eye-wateringly expensive Taj Mahal and its complex, where this mosque can be found.

Agra

Prayer time at the Taj Mahal Mosque. Each year millions of people visit the Taj Mahal – a mausoleum dedicated to Mumtaz Mahal, the beloved wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.

It is easy to forget that the site is also home to this richly decorated and comparatively under visited mosque where local Muslims come to pray. Islam grew in prominence in India during the Muslim rule of the Mughals.

The Mughals emerged in 1526 in what is today’s Uzbekistan and swept south, conquering much of the subcontinent and creating an enormous empire.

By the 17th century, the Mughal economy was the largest in the world producing about a quarter of the world’s economic and industrial output. Its enormous wealth allowed for the construction of the eye-wateringly expensive Taj Mahal and its complex, where this mosque can be found.

Taj Mahal Masjid
Inside the Taj Mahal Masjid
Inside the Taj Mahal Masjid

Gujarat गुजरात

During antiquity and the medieval period, ports in Gujarat exported goods from Central Asia to southern India, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, Greece and Rome. Today, Gujarat’s exports reach even further afield. Many of its groundnut farmers sell their excess produce through the state’s ports to markets in China. The Aga Khan Foundation works with a large number of these farmers to help mitigate the effects of climate change, boost agricultural productivity and incomes.

Gujarat गुजरात

Agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network have been active in Gujarat for over 100 years. Their activities also include improving sanitation facilities, promoting good hygiene practices and increasing access to clean water as well as improving maternal, neo-natal and child health.

The Silk Road

In 138 BCE, General Zhang Qian of China’s Han Dynasty was sent on a diplomatic mission to develop economic and cultural links with the peoples of Central Asia. In so doing, he set in motion the creation of a transcontinental trade route that would shape the world as we know it today.

The Silk Road, as it would later be called, is neither an actual road nor a single route. It refers to the historic network of trade routes that stretched thousands of miles across Eurasia connecting China with Europe. Grain, livestock, leather, precious stones, porcelain, wool, gold and, of course, silk were transported along its network of trading posts and markets. As a consequence, two thousand years ago affluent Romans could garb themselves in silk clothes made in China while gold coins bearing Caesar’s image were spent in spice markets in India.

It was not only goods that travelled these routes but knowledge, religions and people too. Gunpowder, the magnetic compass, the printing press, and advanced mathematics all came to Europe from China and the Islamic world. Buddhism, Christianity and Islam each found new converts in the lands that opened up to the East and West. Along these same routes, Mongol armies swept across Eurasia — as did bubonic plague, travelling with merchants and their animals.

These exchanges had a profound impact on the empires and civilisations through which they passed, giving them political, religious and cultural shape. Many of the more networked cities developed into hubs of culture and learning and, in some, the sparks of a golden age were ignited.

By the late 16th century, the Silk Road had lost its prominence to new maritime trade routes but the legacy of interconnectivity and exchange endured. Today, it is being reimagined on an unprecedented scale. Through China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Eurasia is the focus of the largest and most expensive infrastructure project in history. If realised, a massive network of roads, railways, pipelines and ports could connect as much as 65% of the world’s population and radically alter the flow of global trade. It is already beginning to reshape Eurasia, focusing world attention once again on the exchange of goods and ideas running from East to West. While these investments will bring enormous opportunities, they come with many risks, especially for Central Asia. Regional insecurity, rising inequality, cultural dislocation, resource scarcity and climate change — all these must be mediated if the new Silk Road is to deliver prosperity to all of those who live along it.

The Aga Khan Foundation & The Silk Road

The Aga Khan Foundation and agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) have been active in countries along the Silk Road for decades. AKDN is a long-term partner in the development of Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.

Alongside its partners, AKDN has channelled significant financial and human resources into economic, social and cultural development in these regions. Promoting pluralism, self-reliance and women’s empowerment have been central to those efforts. AKDN’s initiatives are wide-ranging and include agriculture and food security, climate resilience, education, energy, enterprise development, financial services, healthcare, infrastructure, telecommunications and promoting civil society. It has also restored hundreds of historical monuments, parks and gardens and supported some of Central Asia’s greatest musicians to transmit their knowledge and perform on the world’s stage. AKDN’s overarching aim is to improve the quality of life.

This exhibition

The Silk Road: A Living History invites you to take a journey from London to Beijing, encountering some of the people, places and cultures in-between. The exhibition aims to celebrate the diversity found along this route, explore how historical customs live on today, and reveal connections between what appear at first glance to be very different cultures. Ultimately, the exhibition aims to help build bridges of interest and understanding between distant places and challenge perceptions of less well-known or understood parts of the world. The exhibition was created by Christopher Wilton-Steer, a travel photographer and Head of Communications at the Aga Khan Foundation (UK).

This exhibition is not an exhaustive photographic documentation of Eurasia’s people and cultures. It is a record of some of those Christopher encountered over the course of an overland journey from London to Beijing that he undertook in 2019 and therefore reflects only a fraction of the realities of these places. It is one of an infinite number of stories that could be told.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank first and foremost the wonderful and kind people I met on my travels and who allowed me into their lives. I am grateful to Simon Norfolk, Gary Otte, Andrew Quilty, Sebastian Schutyser and Kapila Productions for allowing me to use some of their photographs of places or events I was unable to visit on my journey. I would like to acknowledge the invaluable travel advice I received from Wild Frontiers and Eastern Turkey Tours, and the support from King’s Cross Central General Partner Ltd. who have allowed for this exhibition to take place in this public space. Lastly, I would like to thank my colleagues across the Aga Khan Development Network for their support and especially the Aga Khan Foundation who shared in the vision for this exhibition.

Christopher Wilton-Steer

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