The Spice Route is the name given to the network of sea routes that link the East with the West. They stretch from the west coast of Japan, through the islands of Indonesia, around India to the lands of the Middle East - and from there, across the Mediterranean to Europe. It is a distance of over 15,000 kilometres and, even today, is not an easy journey.

From our very earliest History, people have travelled the Spice Routes. At first they probably only ventured short distances from their home ports but over the centuries their ships sailed further and further across the oceans. They braved treacherous seas and a possibly hostile reception on arrival in an unknown land. These journeys were not undertaken purely in the spirit of adventure - the driving force behind them was trade.

The Spice Routes were, and still are, first and foremost trade routes.

Trade is a central part of our lives. When we buy something we are trading, exchanging one item (usually money) for another. However, our purchase is the final link in a long chain of buyers and sellers: from the supplier of raw materials, to the manufacturer, to the wholesaler, to the shop - and if the goods we buy come from abroad there may well be several other stages in between. The journey of the goods between all these links in the chain is called a trade route (in fact, the word 'trade' derives from a term meaning a track or a course).

In the case of the Spice Routes the links were formed by traders buying and selling goods from port to port. The principal and most profitable goods they traded in were spices - giving the routes their name.