Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v2.c13.22

v2.c13.22

The geographical position of Malayasia invested it with a high degree of commercial importance. Situated on the highway of maritime traffic between China on the one hand and western countries like India, Greece, Rome and Arabia on the other, it was bound to develop important centres of trade and commerce. The route to China from the west lay either through the Straits of Malacca or along the western coast of Sumatra and then through the Sunda Strait. Thus Sumatra and Malay Peninsula, and, to a certain extent, Java also profited by this trade. The main volume of this trade must always have passed through the Straits of Malacca, and sometimes, perhaps, the goods were transported by land across the Isthmus of Kra in order to avoid the long voyage along the eastern and western coasts of the Malay Peninsula.