This book attempts to evaluate the role of the Malay Peninsula as a crossroads in the great wave of commercial relationships along the maritime Silk Road from the first centuries of the Christian era to the 14th century. Through these exchanges, representatives of all the civilizations of Asia entered into contact along its shores. They left in this place a part of themselves, as can be seen in the great stylistic diversity of the religious and commercial artefacts which have been found in the area.
These artefacts have been analysed and categorized afresh in the light of more precise information provided in Chinese texts concerning the nature of the political entities developing at the time: often dynamic city states or more modest chiefdoms.