Long before globalisation became a modern concept, vast trade networks connected continents through the exchange of goods, ideas and culture.
Routes such as the Silk Road linked Asia, the Middle East and Europe, carrying silk, spices, metals and technologies across enormous distances.
These networks also spread religions, languages and scientific knowledge, influencing societies far beyond commerce itself.
Trade routes helped cities grow into centres of wealth and learning, while also exposing regions to conflict and disease transmission.
Historians argue that many foundations of the modern interconnected world can be traced back to these early systems of exchange.
In that sense, globalisation did not begin in the digital age — it has deep historical roots.
