by The Security Guarantors of a Transcontinental Free Trade Zone
This nomination for the Mongol Khans, whose 13th- and 14th-century empire created the Pax Mongolicaa period of unprecedented security across the entire Silk Road. By subjugating (often brutally) the disparate kingdoms and tribes between China and Europe, the Mongols eliminated the myriad tolls, bandits, and rival armies that had plagued transcontinental trade. They established the Yam, a postal relay system that also functioned as a protected network for merchants. Under this enforced peace, trade routes became safer and more efficient than ever before, allowing figures like Marco Polo to travel from Venice to Beijing. This reduction of transaction costs and risk sparked a golden age of Eurasian exchange, moving goods, technologies, and ideas (including the Black Death) with new speed. The Mongols themselves were not primarily merchants, but their conquests had the unintended consequence of creating history’s largest contiguous free trade zone. They proved, paradoxically, that a single, ruthless political authority can stimulate global commerce by imposing peace and standardization across vast regions, demonstrating that security and open routes are the most basic prerequisites for long-distance business.
