Editing Silk Road (section)

=== Maritime route ===
{{Main|Maritime Silk Road}}
[[File:Austronesian maritime trade network in the Indian Ocean.png|thumb|300px|right|[[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] [[Spice trade|proto-historic]] and historic ([[Maritime Silk Road]]) maritime trade network in Southeast Asia and the [[Indian Ocean]]<ref name="Manguin2016">{{cite book|first1=Pierre-Yves |last1=Manguin|editor1-first=Gwyn |editor1-last=Campbell|title =Early Exchange between Africa and the Wider Indian Ocean World |chapter =Austronesian Shipping in the Indian Ocean: From Outrigger Boats to Trading Ships|publisher =Palgrave Macmillan|year =2016|pages=51–76|isbn =9783319338224|chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=XsvDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA50}}</ref>]]
The Maritime Silk Road or Maritime Silk Route is the [[Maritime history|maritime]] section of the historic Silk Road that connected [[Southeast Asia]], [[East Asia]], the [[Indian subcontinent]], the [[Arabian Peninsula]], eastern [[Africa]], and [[Europe]]. It began by the 2nd century BCE and flourished until the 15th century CE.<ref>{{cite web| title = Maritime Silk Road| work = SEAArch| url = https://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/tag/maritime-silk-route/| access-date = 11 September 2017| archive-date = 5 January 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140105043328/http://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/tag/maritime-silk-route/| url-status = dead}}</ref> The Maritime Silk Road was primarily established and operated by [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] sailors in Southeast Asia who sailed large long-distance ocean-going [[sewn-plank]] and [[lashed-lug boat|lashed-lug]] [[Austronesian vessels|trade ships]].<ref name="Guan">{{cite journal |last1=Guan |first1=Kwa Chong |title=The Maritime Silk Road: History of an Idea |journal=NSC Working Paper |date=2016 |issue=23 |pages=1–30 |url=https://www.iseas.edu.sg/images/pdf/nscwps23.pdf |access-date=18 June 2024 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308032342/https://www.iseas.edu.sg/images/pdf/nscwps23.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{rp|page=11}}<ref name="Manguin1980">{{cite journal |last1=Manguin |first1=Pierre-Yves |title=The Southeast Asian Ship: An Historical Approach |journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies |date=September 1980 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=266–276 |doi=10.1017/S002246340000446X| issn = 0022-4634 }}</ref> The route was also utilized by the [[dhow]]s of the [[Persian people|Persian]] and [[Arab people|Arab]] traders in the [[Arabian Sea]] and beyond,<ref name="Guan"/>{{rp|page=13}} and the [[Tamils|Tamil]] merchants in [[South Asia]].<ref name="Guan"/>{{rp|page=13}} [[China]] also started building their own trade ships (''[[junk (ship)|chuán]]'') and followed the routes in the later period, from the 10th to the 15th centuries CE.<ref name="Flecker 2015">{{Cite journal |last=Flecker |first=Michael |date=August 2015 |title=Early Voyaging in the South China Sea: Implications on Territorial Claims |journal=Nalanda-Sriwijaya Center Working Paper Series |volume=19 |pages=1–53}}</ref><ref name="BilleINTRO"/>

The network followed the footsteps of older Austronesian [[Maritime Jade Road|jade maritime networks]] in Southeast Asia,<ref name="Tsang2000">{{cite journal |last1=Tsang |first1=Cheng-hwa |title=Recent advances in the Iron Age archaeology of Taiwan |journal=Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association |date=2000 |volume=20 |pages=153–158 |doi=10.7152/bippa.v20i0.11751 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |issn=1835-1794}}</ref><ref name="Turton2021">{{cite news |last1=Turton |first1= M.  |title=Notes from central Taiwan: Our brother to the south |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2021/05/17/2003757527 |access-date=24 December 2021 |work=Taipei Times |date=17 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="Everington 2017a">{{cite news |last1=Everington |first1=  K.  |title=Birthplace of Austronesians is Taiwan, capital was Taitung: Scholar |url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3247203 |access-date=24 December 2021|work=Taiwan News |date=6 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="BellwoodHung2011">{{cite book |last1=Bellwood |first1=Peter |last2=Hung |first2=H. |last3=Lizuka |first3=Yoshiyuki |chapter=Taiwan Jade in the Philippines: 3,000 Years of Trade and Long-distance Interaction |year=2011 |editor-last=Benitez-Johannot |editor-first=P. |title=Paths of Origins: The Austronesian Heritage in the Collections of the National Museum of the Philippines, the Museum Nasional Indonesia, and the Netherlands Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde |publisher=ArtPostAsia |isbn=978-971-94292-0-3}}</ref> as well as the maritime [[spice trade|spice networks]] between Southeast Asia and [[South Asia]], and the [[Indo-Roman trade relations|West Asian]] maritime networks in the [[Arabian Sea]] and beyond, coinciding with these ancient maritime trade roads by the current era.<ref name="Bellina2014">{{cite book|first1=Bérénice|last1= Bellina |editor1-first=John|editor1-last=Guy|title =Lost Kingdoms of Early Southeast Asia: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture 5th to 8th century|chapter =Southeast Asia and the Early Maritime Silk Road|publisher =Yale University Press|year =2014|pages=22–25|isbn =9781588395245|url =https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263007720}}</ref><ref name="Mahdi1999">{{cite book|first1= Waruno|last1=Mahdi|editor1-last =Blench|editor1-first= Roger |editor2-last=Spriggs|editor2-first=Matthew|title =Archaeology and Language III: Artefacts languages, and texts|chapter =The Dispersal of Austronesian boat forms in the Indian Ocean|volume = 34|publisher =Routledge|series =One World Archaeology |year =1999|pages=144–179|isbn =978-0415100540}}</ref><ref name="Saxce">{{cite book  |first1=Ariane  |last1=de Saxcé |editor1=Billé, Franck|editor2=Mehendale, Sanjyot|editor3=Lankton, James|title=The Maritime Silk Road: Global Connectivities, Regional Nodes, Localities |date=2022 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-90-4855-242-9 |series=Asian Borderlands |pages=129–148 |chapter=Networks and Cultural Mapping of South Asian Maritime Trade |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/689adfe3-2dfa-4a0d-b04b-3a5f60cb7fad/9789048552429.pdf}}</ref>

Austronesian [[thalassocracies]] controlled the flow of trade in the eastern regions of the Maritime Silk Road, especially the [[polities]] around the [[straits]] of [[Malacca Strait|Malacca]] and [[Bangka Strait|Bangka]], the [[Malay Peninsula]], and the [[Mekong Delta]]; through which passed the main routes of the Austronesian trade ships to [[Jiaozhi|Giao Chỉ]] (in the [[Tonkin Gulf]]) and [[Guangzhou]] (southern [[China]]), the endpoints (later also including [[Quanzhou]] by the 10th century CE).<ref name="Guan"/> Secondary routes also passed through the coastlines of the [[Gulf of Thailand]];<ref name="Manguin2016"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Li |first1=Tana |editor1-last=Cooke |editor1-first=Nola |editor2-last=Li |editor2-first=Tana |editor3-last=Anderson |editor3-first=James A. |title=The Tongking Gulf Through History |date=2011 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=9780812205022 |pages=39–44 |chapter=Jiaozhi (Giao Chỉ) in the Han period Tongking Gulf}}</ref> as well as through the [[Java Sea]], [[Celebes Sea]], [[Banda Sea]], and the [[Sulu Sea]], reconnecting with the main route through the northern [[Philippines]] and [[Taiwan]]. The secondary routes also continue onward to the [[East China Sea]] and the [[Yellow Sea]] for a limited extent.<ref name="Manguin2016"/><ref name="Lankton"/>

The main route of the western regions of the Maritime Silk Road directly crosses the [[Indian Ocean]] from the northern tip of [[Sumatra]] (or through the [[Sunda Strait]]) to [[Sri Lanka]], southern [[India]] and [[Bangladesh]], and the [[Maldives]]. It branches from here into routes through the [[Arabian Sea]] entering the [[Gulf of Oman]] (into the [[Persian Gulf]]), and the [[Gulf of Aden]] (into the [[Red Sea]]). Secondary routes also pass through the coastlines of the [[Bay of Bengal]], the Arabian Sea, and southwards along the coast of [[East Africa]] to [[Zanzibar]], the [[Comoros Islands|Comoros]], [[Madagascar]], and the [[Seychelles]].<ref name="Manguin2016"/><ref name="Chirikure">{{cite book  |first1=Shadreck  |last1=Chirikure |editor1=Billé, Franck|editor2=Mehendale, Sanjyot|editor3=Lankton, James|title=The Maritime Silk Road: Global Connectivities, Regional Nodes, Localities |date=2022 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-90-4855-242-9 |series=Asian Borderlands |pages=149–176 |chapter=Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean World |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/689adfe3-2dfa-4a0d-b04b-3a5f60cb7fad/9789048552429.pdf}}</ref>

The term "Maritime Silk Road" is a modern name, acquired from its similarity to the overland Silk Road. Like the overland routes, the ancient maritime routes through Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean had no particular name for the majority of its very long history.<ref name="Guan"/> Despite the modern name, the Maritime Silk Road involved exchanges in a wide variety of goods over a very wide region, not just silk or Asian exports.<ref name="BilleINTRO">{{cite book |last1=Billé |first1=Franck |last2=Mehendale |first2=Sanjyot |last3=Lankton |first3=James |editor1=Billé, Franck|editor2=Mehendale, Sanjyot|editor3=Lankton, James|title=The Maritime Silk Road: Global Connectivities, Regional Nodes, Localities |date=2022 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-90-4855-242-9 |series=Asian Borderlands |pages=11–26 |chapter=The Maritime Silk Road: An Introduction |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/689adfe3-2dfa-4a0d-b04b-3a5f60cb7fad/9789048552429.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Lankton">{{cite book  |first1=James W. |last1=Lankton |editor1=Billé, Franck|editor2=Mehendale, Sanjyot|editor3=Lankton, James|title=The Maritime Silk Road: Global Connectivities, Regional Nodes, Localities |date=2022 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-90-4855-242-9 |series=Asian Borderlands |pages=71–96 |chapter=From Regional to Global: Early Glass and the Development of the Maritime Silk Road |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/689adfe3-2dfa-4a0d-b04b-3a5f60cb7fad/9789048552429.pdf}}</ref> It differed significantly in several aspects from the overland Silk Road, and thus should not be viewed as a mere extension of it. Traders traveling through the Maritime Silk Road could span the entire distance of the maritime routes, instead of through regional relays as with the overland route. Ships could carry far larger amounts of goods, creating greater economic impact with each exchange. Goods carried by the ships also differed from goods carried by caravans. Traders on the maritime route faced different perils like weather and [[piracy]], but they were not affected by political instability and could simply avoid areas in conflict.<ref name="BilleINTRO"/>