[[File:Austronesian maritime trade network in the Indian Ocean.png|thumb|left|[[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] proto-historic and [[Maritime Silk Road|historic]] maritime [[Indian Ocean trade|trade network in the Indian Ocean]]<ref name="Manguin2016">{{cite book|first1=Pierre-Yves |last1=Manguin|editor1-first=Gwyn |editor1-last=Campbell|title =Early Exchange between Africa and the Wider Indian Ocean World |chapter =Austronesian Shipping in the Indian Ocean: From Outrigger Boats to Trading Ships|publisher =Palgrave Macmillan|year =2016|pages=51–76|isbn =9783319338224|chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=XsvDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA50}}</ref>]]
Sailing ships are an ancient HOLI
Sailing ships are an ancient technology, making far-reaching trade like the ancient [[spice trade]] possible. With the [[Mongol invasion of Java]], cannons started to be used in [[naval warfare]] (e.g. [[Cetbang]] by the [[Majapahit]]),<ref name="Wade 2005 pp. 37–58">{{cite journal | last=Wade | first=Geoff | title=The Zheng He Voyages: A Reassessment | journal=Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society | publisher=Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society | volume=78 | issue=1 (288) | year=2005 | issn=2180-4338 | jstor=41493537 | pages=37–58 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/41493537 | access-date=2021-08-18}}</ref> and by the 14th century [[naval artillery]] was employed in Europe, documented at the [[Battle of Arnemuiden]] (1338). The 15th century, besides the established seapowers of the central [[Indian Ocean trade]], such as the [[Thalassocracy|maritime kingdoms]] of [[Austronesia]], saw a rise in the deployment of oceans voyaging fleets (including carrying naval artillery) from the extreme points of the trade, such as the [[Ming treasure voyages]] or the [[Iberia]]n naval ventures all the way along the [[Africa]]n Atlantic coast and across the [[Atlantic Ocean]], starting the [[Age of Discovery]].
[[File:ZhengHeShips.gif|thumb|Several of [[Zheng He]]'s 15th century ships as depicted on a [[woodblock print]], early 17th century]]
