Indigo, one of the world's oldest dyestuff, and the only colourfast organic blue, has been widely used in the East since antiquity. There are those who consider that its roots lie in the Indian subcontinent, the 'home' of many textile technologies. Although indigo's origines are uncertain, as it appears to have been discovered independently by people in very diverse civilizations, the Indian influence can nevertheless hardly be over-emphasized since India was the linchpin of the early textile and spice trade both eastwards and westwards. As her people were highly accomplished in the textile arts, much technical expertise would have filtered along the trading routes, and subsequently Indian trade textiles were to have an enormous impact globally. China too has been renowned since its earliest history for the quality and colouring of its textiles, particularly of silk, which were widely traded along the Silk Road linking it to the West from the second century B.C. There are many specimens of multi-coloured textiles from the Han period (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) in the world's museums. While indigo was being produced commercially for trade, and exploited by the colonial powers of the time much was also being consumed locally to produce coloured textiles both for export and barter abroad and for local use. Small-scale production and dyeing with indigo can still be found today in more remote communities who have retained their dyeing traditions, or where there is a demand for naturally dyed cloth for ceremonial purposes.