Knowledge and the Indian Ocean: Intangible Networks of Western India and Beyond

by Sara Keller (Editor)

Overview

This volume examines Western India’s contributions to the spread of ideas, beliefs and other intangible ties across the Indian Ocean world. The region, particularly Gujarat and Bombay, is well-established in the Indian imaginary and in scholarship as a mercantile hub. These essays move beyond this identity to examine the region as a dynamic place of learning and a host of knowledge, tracing the flow of knowledge, aesthetic sensibilities, values, memories and genetic programs. Contributors traverse the fields of history, anthropology, agriculture, botany, medicine, sociology and more to offer path-breaking perspectives on Western India’s deep socio-cultural impact across the centuries. Western India emerges as a pivotal region in the maritime world as a transmitter of knowledge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783319968384
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	09/12/2018
Series:	Palgrave Series in Indian Ocean World Studies
Edition description:	1st ed. 2019
Pages:	266
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Sara Keller is a building archaeologist at the research center Orient et Méditerranée, France.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction.- I. Knowledge, Science and Techniques.- 2. Places We Can Go: Some notes on sea/knowledge.- 3. Knowing the Sea: Thalassographies to Thalassology of the Indian Ocean (up to c. 1500 CE).- 4. A Chinese Muse in the Caliph's Court - The Influence of Chinese Ceramic Technology across the Indian Ocean (8th to 14th Century CE).- 5. Ava: A Living Tradition of Reverence for Water among the Zoroastrians.- 6. Scholars in Gujarat's Bazaars—Revisiting L’académie ambulante ("The Roving Academy").- 7. Gujarat Ornamental Furniture: Artisans, Techniques, Skills and Global Markets during the Nineteenth Century.- 8. 'Without a Counterpart on the Globe": Geographical Knowledge and the Mapping of "Kutch" in the Nineteenth Century.- II. Skill, Migration and Identities.- 9. Gujarat Sufis, "Sants" and the Indian Ocean World in Medieval Times.- 10. Doing Well but also Doing Good? East African Indian Merchants and Their Charitable Work, c. 1850–1920.- 11. Narratives of Transcendental Decision-Making: Seeking Health and Healing at Sufi Shrines in Gujarat.- 12. Voices of the Sidis: The Tradition of the Fakirs.- 13. Linguistic and Cultural Contributions of Gujarat in Eastern Africa.- 14. The Transnational Life and Political Philosophy of Shyamji Krishnavarma.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This is a path-breaking collection of essays that brings alive the rich cultural, economic and political life of Western India over the centuries. More importantly, it informs us of the critical relevance this history has to our understanding of the world of the Western Indian Ocean that is predominantly framed within the story of Western capitalism and imperialism. A fascinating array of histories that will delight the historian as well as the casual reader.” (Seema Alavi, Professor of South Asian History, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India)“This volume is not just an addition to the existing and expanding scholarship on Gujarat and the Indian Ocean, but an innovative intervention that charts bold new conceptual trails. These bring out the vitality of Gujarat as a major actor in the configuration of the Indian Ocean World. The volume in more ways than one establishes beyond doubt the richness of emerging scholarship by academics and public historians.” (Lakshmi Subramanian, Professor of History, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, India)