Silk Road Cities Quiz: Samarkand, Bukhara and Kashgar

Caravans once carried silk, spices, paper and ideas between China and the Mediterranean, and this Silk Road cities quiz visits the oasis towns where they rested. Play 10 interactive questions on Samarkand's Registan, Bukhara's Kalyan Minaret, Kashgar's markets, Chang'an, Dunhuang's Mogao Caves, Merv, Khiva and Ferdinand von Richthofen, who coined the name.

Start Silk Road Cities Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Name
Who coined the term Silk Road in 1877?
Registan
In which city is the Registan square?
Timur
Which ruler made Samarkand his capital?
Minaret
Which landmark from 1127 rises over Bukhara?
Kashgar
In which modern region is Kashgar?
East
Which Chinese capital was a major eastern hub of the Silk Road?
Caves
Which Buddhist cave complex lies near Dunhuang?
Merv
In which modern country are the ruins of Merv?
Khiva
What is Itchan Kala in Khiva?
Goods
Besides silk, which invention traveled west along these routes?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Who coined the term Silk Road in 1877?
Answer: Ferdinand von Richthofen
He was a German geographer.
Q2: In which city is the Registan square?
Answer: Samarkand
Three madrasas frame it.
Q3: Which ruler made Samarkand his capital?
Answer: Timur
He built grand monuments in the 1300s.
Q4: Which landmark from 1127 rises over Bukhara?
Answer: The Kalyan Minaret
Genghis Khan is said to have spared it.
Q5: In which modern region is Kashgar?
Answer: Xinjiang, China
It sits at the western edge of the Taklamakan.
Q6: Which Chinese capital was a major eastern hub of the Silk Road?
Answer: Chang'an, today's Xi'an
Caravans set out from its markets.
Q7: Which Buddhist cave complex lies near Dunhuang?
Answer: The Mogao Caves
Its murals span a thousand years.
Q8: In which modern country are the ruins of Merv?
Answer: Turkmenistan
It was once one of the world's largest cities.
Q9: What is Itchan Kala in Khiva?
Answer: A walled inner town
It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Q10: Besides silk, which invention traveled west along these routes?
Answer: Papermaking
It reached Samarkand by the 700s.

Silk Road Cities Quiz – Oasis Cities of the Silk Road

The Silk Road was a network of trade routes linking China with Central Asia, Persia and the Mediterranean. German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen coined the name in 1877.

Samarkand, in Uzbekistan, became Timur's capital, and its Registan square is framed by three madrasas. Bukhara's Kalyan Minaret dates from 1127, and Khiva's walled Itchan Kala is a UNESCO site. Merv, in Turkmenistan, was once a huge city.

In the east, caravans left Chang'an, now Xi'an, and passed Dunhuang, home of the Mogao Caves. Kashgar, in Xinjiang, still hosts famous markets. Goods, religions and inventions such as papermaking traveled these routes.

What This Quiz Teaches

History and travel fans will enjoy these questions.

Who named the Silk Road
Which cities were key
Which monuments survive
What traveled the routes
Where the routes began

Did You Know?

Camels were vital for desert crossings.
Caravanserais offered rest stops.
Buddhism spread east along the routes.
UNESCO listed a Silk Road corridor in 2014.
Ulugh Beg built an observatory in Samarkand.