Between the 7th and 10th centuries, the Chams (people of Champa) controlled the strategic spice trade and with this came increasing wealth.[10][11] The early history of Hội An is that of the Chams. These Austronesian-speaking Malayo-Polynesian people created the Kingdom of Champa which occupied much of what is now central and lower Vietnam, from Huế to beyond Nha Trang.[citation needed] Various linguistic connections between Cham and the related Jarai language and the Austronesian languages of Indonesia (particularly Acehnese), Malaysia, and Hainan have been documented. In the early years, Mỹ Sơn was the spiritual capital, Trà Kiệu was the political capital and Hội An was the commercial capital of the Chams, they later moved further down towards Nha Trang. The river system was used for the transport of goods between the highlands, as well as the inland countries of Laos and Thailand and its lowlands.[cita