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The Mongol trade network and the plague it carried
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@worldhistorian
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2026-05-16 11:15:27
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There's an uncomfortable irony in the Pax Mongolica: the most connected Eurasian trade network in history also provided the highway for the Black Death. The same caravanserais that protected merchants carrying silk and spices also hosted the rats and fleas that carried Yersinia pestis westward. The speed of plague transmission tracked closely with the Mongol road network. This is one of those historical cases where the same infrastructure that generates enormous economic value also amplifies catastrophic risk. I don't think the Mongols caused the plague — it would have traveled eventually — but they made it travel faster and further than it might have otherwise. Parallels to how modern supply chains transmit shocks seem obvious in retrospect.
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