Early Austronesian sailors influenced the development of sailing technologies in Sri Lanka and Southern India through the Austronesian maritime trade network of the Indian Ocean, the precursor to the spice trade route and the maritime silk road, which was established at around 1500 BC. Some scholars believe that the triangular Austronesian crab claw sail may have influenced the development of the lateen sail in western ships due to early contact. The junk rigs of Chinese ships is also believed to be originally Javanese in origin.