<P> The southwestern route is believed to be the Ganges / Brahmaputra Delta, which has been the subject of international interest for over two millennia . Strabo, the 1st - century Roman writer, mentions the deltaic lands: "Regarding merchants who now sail from Egypt...as far as the Ganges, they are only private citizens ..." His comments are interesting as Roman beads and other materials are being found at Wari - Bateshwar ruins, the ancient city with roots from much earlier, before the Bronze Age, presently being slowly excavated beside the Old Brahmaputra in Bangladesh . Ptolemy's map of the Ganges Delta, a remarkably accurate effort, showed that his informants knew all about the course of the Brahmaputra River, crossing through the Himalayas then bending westward to its source in Tibet . It is doubtless that this delta was a major international trading center, almost certainly from much earlier than the Common Era . Gemstones and other merchandise from Thailand and Java were traded in the delta and through it . Chinese archaeological writer Bin Yang and some earlier writers and archaeologists, such as Janice Stargardt, strongly suggest this route of international trade as Sichuan - Yunnan - Burma - Bangladesh route . According to Bin Yang, especially from the 12th century the route was used to ship bullion from Yunnan (gold and silver are among the minerals in which Yunnan is rich), through northern Burma, into modern Bangladesh, making use of the ancient route, known as the' Ledo' route . The emerging evidence of the ancient cities of Bangladesh, in particular Wari - Bateshwar ruins, Mahasthangarh, Bhitagarh, Bikrampur, Egarasindhur, and Sonargaon, are believed to be the international trade centers in this route . </P> <P> Maritime Silk Road or Maritime Silk Route refer to the maritime section of historic Silk Road that connects China to Southeast Asia, Indonesian archipelago, Indian subcontinent, Arabian peninsula, all the way to Egypt and finally Europe . </P> <P> The trade route encompassed numbers of bodies of waters; including South China Sea, Strait of Malacca, Indian Ocean, Gulf of Bengal, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf and the Red Sea . The maritime route overlaps with historic Southeast Asian maritime trade, Spice trade, Indian Ocean trade and after 8th century--the Arabian naval trade network . The network also extend eastward to East China Sea and Yellow Sea to connect China with Korean Peninsula and Japanese archipelago . </P> <P> Richard Foltz, Xinru Liu, and others have described how trading activities along the Silk Road over many centuries facilitated the transmission not just of goods but also ideas and culture, notably in the area of religions . Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Manichaeism, and Islam all spread across Eurasia through trade networks that were tied to specific religious communities and their institutions . Notably, established Buddhist monasteries along the Silk Road offered a haven, as well as a new religion for foreigners . </P>

The silk road ran from china to what is now south africa