Serving as the gateway between East and West, the Gulf of Thailand was a busy trade route for commercial vessels. Since the area was rich in resources, spices and exotic goods, traders also often stopped to purchase and sell merchandise, as well as stock up on food and water supplies. While the gulf was safer than many seas, inevitably some ships sank with their cargoes.

Researchers agree that silk production began in China in the first millennium B.C.  and that this led to the creation of the first Silk Roads, which connected to the Roman Empire, via India, Persia, Afghanistan, the Pamir mountains and beyond. By the first centuries B.C., it is clear from archaeological finds in Viet Nam that trading links had developed there and that silk was being produced and woven in the Giao Chi region.

Despite the lack of written records before the Hispanic era, archaeological finds provide a material history of extensive trade. Commerce occurred via the maritime and land silk roads that spread from China through mainland Asia, insular Southeast Asia, and eventually into the Philippines. The earliest Chinese finds date from late Tang Dynasty (9^th century AD), providing quantitative evidence of the Philippine share in maritime trade.

Much research has been done into life and times of the great Chinese navigator, Zheng He, who extended and promoted China’s official maritime trade during the Ming dynasty. Countries that Zheng He visited include: Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, the Philippines, the south Asian sub-continent, as well as Arabia and Africa. However, the bulk of research efforts has focused on Chinese sources and materials and discuss and review the historic geography, including place names and the routes that Zheng He followed.

The sea routes between South India, Sri Lanka and the Indonesian archipelago of Sumatra, Java and Bali were already well established by the beginning of the Christian era, long before Persian and Arab ships arrived. However, trade links extended once seasonal variations in monsoon winds were harnessed to support inter-continental journeys and as shipbuilding techniques advanced. Despite small populations, many areas of Indonesia became fertile sources for valuable products and markets, both for international, as well as local trade.

References to trade between the West (Alexandria) and India via the Persian Gulf are curiously absent from literature of the time, e.g. in the Perplus Maris Eryharraei. This makes it difficult for historians to assert with confidence where the prime silk routes ran at this time, who the main traders were, and what their relations with India were. While the Gulf area was well populated and active in maritime trade, trade was often closed due to troubled relations with Rome.

Until recently, few archaeological discoveries of Chinese porcelain in India had been reported, despite Chinese porcelain having a reputation for being of very high quality and therefore highly sought-after. In contrast, large quantities had been found in other Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Then, in 1950 more than 70 celadon and blue-and-white items were discovered in the Palace of Firuz Shah Tughlaq in Delhi.

The maritime routes of the Silk Road were the main porcelain and Spice Roads, as well as direct avenues of contact between the East and the West. Throughout time, maps and charts have reflected the cultural exchanges taking place between the East and the West, including international trade and religious activities Shifts in knowledge, power and culture resulting from the Silk Routes have been captured in a rang of maps, including the Ptolemy World Map (150 AD), the Islamic World Map (1154 AD), the Catalan Atlas (1375), and the Korean World Map 1402.

The Jurchen tribes, who established the 120 year Chin dynasty in the early 12th century AD, had a significant influence on the destiny of East Asian peoples. Archaeological research indicates that the Northern Jurchen culture of Priamurye had a distinctive character with traditions firmly rooted in the local cultural-historical past. The Jurchens were probably one of the most advanced ethnic communities at the time, having experience of offensive and defensive combat.

Kyongju, the capital city of the Silla dynasty, was slow to be influenced by foreign elements arriving from the northwest owing to its situation on the peninsula. This meant that Silla was able to assimilate foreign influences that arrived via the Silk Roads slowly rather than accepting them directly and indiscriminately. After unification on the peninsula, Silla became increasingly exposed to external influences.