Trade, Circulation, and Flow in the Indian Ocean World

218 Pages·2015·3.553 MB·English

by  Michael Pearson (eds.)

Trade, Circulation, and Flow
in the Indian Ocean World
Palgrave Series in Indian Ocean World Studies
General Editor
Gwyn Campbell, Indian Ocean World Centre, McGill University
Advisory Board
Philippe Beaujard, EHESS, CNRS, CEMAF, France
William Gervase Clarence-Smith, The School of Oriental and African Studies,
University of London
Masashi Haneda, IASA, University of Tokyo
Michael Pearson, University of New South Wales
Anthony Reid, Australian National University
Abdul Sheriff, Zanzibar Indian Ocean Research Institute
James Francis Warren, Murdoch University
The Palgrave Series in Indian Ocean World Studies is the first series dedicated
to the study of the Indian Ocean world from early times to the present day.
It incorporates, and contributes to, key debates in a wide array of disciplines,
including history, environmental studies, anthropology, archaeology, sociology,
political science, geography, economics, law, and labor and gender studies.
Moving beyond the restrictions imposed by Eurocentric timeframes and
national and regional studies analyses, this fundamentally interdisciplinary
series is committed to exploring new paradigms with which to interpret
past events, particularly those that are influenced by human-environment
interaction. In this way, it provides readers with compelling new insights into
areas from labor relations and migration to diplomacy and trade.
Starvation and the State: Famine, Slavery, and Power in Sudan, 1883–1956
Steven Serels
Sailors, Slaves, and Immigrants: Bondage in the Indian Ocean World, 1750–1914
Alessandro Stanziani
The Making of an Indian Ocean World-Economy, 1250–1650: Princes, Paddy fields,
and Bazaars
Ravi Palat
The Portuguese in the Creole Indian Ocean: Essays in Historical Cosmopolitanism
Fernando Rosa
Trade, Circulation, and Flow in the Indian Ocean World
Edited by Michael Pearson
Trade, Circulation, and Flow

in the Indian Ocean World
Edited by
Michael Pearson
TRADE, CIRCULATION, AND FLOW IN THE INDIAN OCEAN WORLD
Copyright © Michael Pearson 2015
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-56488-7
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First published 2015 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
The author has asserted their right to be identified as the author of this
work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire, RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of Nature America, Inc., One
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Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
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ISBN 978-1-349-57934-1
E-PDF ISBN: 978-1-137-56624-9
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-137-56624-9
Distribution in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world is by Palgrave
Macmillan®, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England,
company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data.
Trade, circulation, and flow in the Indian Ocean world / edited by
Michael Pearson.
pages cm.—(Palgrave series in Indian Ocean world studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Indian Ocean Region—Commerce. 2. Indian Ocean Region—
Economic conditions. 3. Indian Ocean Region—History. I. Pearson, M. N.
(Michael Naylor), 1941–
HF386.T68 2015
382.09182(cid:2)4—dc23 2015016791
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Contents
List of Illustrations v ii
1 Introduction: Maritime History and the Indian Ocean World 1
Michael Pearson
2 The Worlds of the Indian Ocean 1 5
Philippe Beaujard
3 The Southeast Asian Connection in the First Eurasian World
Economy, 200 BCE–CE 500 2 7
Sing Chew
4 Chinese Engagement with the Indian Ocean during the Song,
Yuan, and Ming Dynasties (Tenth to Sixteenth Centuries) 55
Geoff Wade
5 Massoi and Kain Timur in the Birdshead Peninsula of New
Guinea, the Easternmost Corner of the Indian Ocean World 83
Leonard Andaya
6 Continuity and Change in Maritime Trade in the Straits
of Melaka in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 109
M. R. Fernando
7 Competing Spatial Networks: Kasimbazar and
Chandernagore in Overland and Indian Ocean Worlds 129
Rila Mukherjee
8 Two Sixteenth-Century Indian Ocean Intellectuals in Goa
and Malabar: Orta and Zainuddin 1 53
Fernando Rosa Ribeiro
vi Contents
9 East African Travelers and Traders in the Indian Ocean:
Swahili Ships, Swahili Mobilities ca.1500–1800 167
Thomas Vernet
List of Contributors 203
Index 2 07
Illustrations
Maps
2.1 Western Asia and Egypt 3500–3000 BCE 16
2.2 E urasian and African World-Systems 2700–2200 BCE 1 7
2.3 The Afro-Eurasian World-Systems 1950–1700 BCE 1 8
2.4 The Afro-Eurasian World-Systems 1600–1200 BCE 1 8
2.5 Afro-Eurasian World-Systems between 750 and 350 BCE 1 9
2.6 T he Eurasian and African World-System from the First
to the Third Century 20
2.7 The Eurasian and African World-System from the Seventh
to the Nineth Century 2 1
2.8 The Eurasian and African World-System from the
Eleventh to the Twelfth Century 2 2
2.9 T he Eurasian and African World-System from the
Thirteenth to the Fourteenth Century 2 3
2.10 T he Eurasian and African World-System in the Fifteenth
Century 2 4
3.1 T he Global Trading World 33
5.1 The Island World of Southeast Asia 85
5.2 T he Onin and Kowiai Regions of Southwest New Guinea 86
5.3 Central and South Maluku 9 1
5.4 The Maluku World 94
7.1 B engal, within India 1 32
7.2 J acques Nicolas Bellin’s Map of Bengal, 1747 143
7.3 R igobert Bonne’s map of India, 1780 1 44
9.1 T ransoceanic East African voyages ca. 1500–1800 1 68
Figures
6.1 Ship Movements, 1682–1792 113
8.1 J ewtown, Mattanchery, Cochin 157
8.2 M ithal Mosque, Calicut 1 62
viii Illustrations
Tables
4.1 M aritime polities that sent official trade missions to the
Song court 59
6.1 Long-distance Commercial Traffic, 1642–1680 112
6.2 C ommercial Traffic by Port of Origin, 1642–1680 1 15
6.3 Commercial Traffic by Region, 1682–1792 117
6.4 Commodity Flow, 1682–1792 123
1
Introduction: Maritime History and the Indian
Ocean World *
Michael Pearson
A reader scanning the table of contents of this book will note at
once that there are several different genres of history included in
the collection. Some of the chapters focus on a particular area or
product, whereas some take a much more overarching view. Some
can be considered to be contributing to a particular “theory,” while
others are more empirical studies, designed to prove a point, not
construct a theory. Nevertheless, there are in fact strong similarities,
which transcend what may appear to be random diversity. Most
obviously, all focus on the Indian Ocean or some part of it. Most of
them deal with the ocean before any impact from Europe, or at least
before capitalism. In itself this is valuable, for we need to remember
that there was a coherent and integrated Indian Ocean long before
Europeans arrived. Much earlier writings on the ocean have
concentrated on trade, but while economic factors are certainly
central in this book, other matters are by no means ignored. Perhaps
most important, all of these chapters contribute, either explicitly or
implicitly, to the broader field of maritime history, demonstrating
its strengths and problems. My task in this short introduction is to
expand on these themes to show how in their totality these eight
chapters, ostensibly diverse, in fact make a coherent contribution
to our theme of “Trade, Circulation and Flow in the Indian Ocean
World.”
The late Jerry Bentley set out the basic question that all who write
on oceans have to confront. “Granting that received constructs such as