The Austronesian maritime trade lanes later expanded into the Middle East and eastern Africa by the 1st millennium AD, resulting in the Austronesian colonization of Madagascar. These goods were then transported by land towards the Mediterranean and the Greco-Roman world via the incense route and the Roman–India routes by Indian and Persian traders. The maritime aspect of the trade was dominated by the Austronesian peoples in Southeast Asia, namely the ancient Indonesian sailors who established routes from Southeast Asia to Sri Lanka and India (and later China) by 1500 BC.
These spices found their way into the Near East before the beginning of the Christian era, with fantastic tales hiding their true sources. Spices such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove, and turmeric were known and used in antiquity and traded in the Eastern World. The spice trade involved historical civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. 1453, which spurred the Age of Discovery and European Colonialism. 1090, causing the Crusades, and by the Ottoman Empire c. European access to the economically important Silk Road (red) and spice trade routes (blue) was blocked by the Seljuk Empire c.