2026-06-26 –, Room 208 (Seats 40)
This paper examines the Ancient Maritime Silk Route as a historical model of long-distance interconnection that functioned without the ideological framework of modern globalization. Focusing on exchanges between China and Sri Lanka across the Indian Ocean, it draws on Chinese dynastic histories such as the Book of Han and Sri Lankan chronicles, including the Mahavamsa, to reconstruct patterns of trade, diplomacy, and Buddhist mobility. Contrary to narratives that link global integration primarily to modern economic systems, pre-modern maritime networks reveal durable forms of interdependence grounded in tribute relations, commercial reciprocity, and religious exchange. Port cities operated as cosmopolitan contact zones where merchants, monks, and envoys moved across political boundaries even as states maintained distinct sovereignties and regulated mobility, demonstrating that connectivity could coexist with fragmentation, hierarchy, and episodic conflict. By foregrounding Asian maritime experiences, this study argues that interregional connection does not require universalist ideology or institutionalized globalization; rather, the Maritime Silk Route sustained negotiated interaction among culturally diverse polities while preserving local autonomy. Reconsidering these networks offers a valuable historical framework for understanding the contemporary world, where intense interdependence persists alongside resurgent border regimes, and contributes to broader debates in world history about how to conceptualize connection in periods when globalization as a political project is contested or in retreat.
Ancient Maritime Silk Route; Indian Ocean World; China–Sri Lanka Relations; Pre-Modern Connectivity; Maritime Trade; Buddhist Exchange
Nimesha Ekanayake is a historian specializing in World History, with a focus on transregional connectivity, maritime networks, and cultural exchange between China and Sri Lanka. She holds a Master’s degree in World History from Southwest University, China, and a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Rajarata, Sri Lanka, graduating with second-class upper division.
Her research examines the Ancient Maritime Silk Route, exploring diplomatic, commercial, and religious interactions across the Indian Ocean world. Nimesha has published several peer-reviewed articles in indexed journals, covering topics such as diaspora identities, cross-cultural encounters, and historical governance in Asia. She has also presented her work at international conferences, including RUICHSS 2024 at the University of Ruhuna, ICAHH 2024 at Bhiksu University, and TrinCo 2024 at the Indian Maritime University.
In addition to her research, Nimesha has professional experience as a dental surgeon in the Sri Lankan government healthcare system, bringing a multidisciplinary perspective to her historical inquiries. Her current projects examine patterns of pre-modern interconnection, the role of religion and diplomacy in shaping Asian maritime networks, and the historical foundations of transnational identity formation.
Her scholarship is characterized by a comparative, interdisciplinary approach that bridges historical texts, archaeological evidence, and cultural analysis to rethink global connectivity beyond modern notions of globalization. At the World History Association 2026 conference, she will present a paper titled “Connected Seas, Closed States: The Ancient Maritime Silk Route and Pre-Global Interdependence,” which explores how historical maritime networks sustained interregional exchange while preserving local autonomy.