Latest / Trade Routes That Changed Human History Forever — Fexingo History
The Rhubarb Root: Silk Road's Forgotten Trade Boom
Episode 74 of Trade Routes That Changed Human History Forever turns to an unlikely commodity that fueled a millennium of cross-continental commerce: rhubarb. Lucas walks us through how this humble plant — specifically Rheum palmatum and Rheum officinale — became one of the most valuable exports from China to the Islamic world and Europe, prized for its purgative medicinal properties. We trace the rhubarb routes from Gansu and the Tibetan plateau through Kashgar, Samarkand, and into the courts of Baghdad, Cairo, and Constantinople. Lucas explains how Arab physicians like Ibn al-Baytar and…
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