<P> During the early 13th century Khwarezmia was invaded by the early Mongol Empire . The Mongol ruler Genghis Khan had the once vibrant cities of Bukhara and Samarkand burned to the ground after besieging them . However, in 1370 Samarkand saw a revival as the capital of the new Timurid Empire . The Turko - Mongol ruler Timur forcefully moved artisans and intellectuals from across Asia to Samarkand, making it one of the most important trade centers and cultural entrepôts of the Islamic world . </P> <P> The Mongol expansion throughout the Asian continent from around 1207 to 1360 helped bring political stability and re-established the Silk Road (via Karakorum). It also brought an end to the dominance of the Islamic Caliphate over world trade . Because the Mongols came to control the trade routes, trade circulated throughout the region, though they never abandoned their nomadic lifestyle . </P> <P> The Mongol rulers wanted to establish their capital on the Central Asian steppe, so to accomplish this goal, after every conquest they enlisted local people (traders, scholars, artisans) to help them construct and manage their empire . </P> <P> The Mongol diplomat Rabban Bar Sauma visited the courts of Europe in 1287--88 and provided a detailed written report to the Mongols . Around the same time, the Venetian explorer Marco Polo became one of the first Europeans to travel the Silk Road to China . His tales, documented in The Travels of Marco Polo, opened Western eyes to some of the customs of the Far East . He was not the first to bring back stories, but he was one of the most widely read . He had been preceded by numerous Christian missionaries to the East, such as William of Rubruck, Benedykt Polak, Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, and Andrew of Longjumeau . Later envoys included Odoric of Pordenone, Giovanni de' Marignolli, John of Montecorvino, Niccolò de' Conti, and Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan Muslim traveller who passed through the present - day Middle East and across the Silk Road from Tabriz between 1325--54 . </P>

Who helped establish the silk road trading route