The Indian Ocean - Michael Pearson [125]
Figure 3 Surat in East-India. Produced by Raspischen (Publishers), c. 1836. © National Maritime Museum, London
muslin, pearls, diamonds, and every precious gem; together with ivory, sandal-wood, pepper, cassia, cinnamon, and other luxuries. This valuable commerce was carried on by vessels belonging to the European or native merchants settled in Bombay; totally independent and unconnected with the trade of the East India Company.2
The great port cities reflected this variety, being still home to a vast array of merchants from many parts of the world. The Jesuit Manuel Godinho was in Surat in 1663, and found
over a hundred thousand: white Mughals, Indian Muslims, all types of pagans, Christians of various nationalities and, in fact, people from all over the world who have either settled in Surat or have come to the port on business. In Surat we find Spaniards, Frenchmen, Germans, English, Dutch, Flemish, Dunkirkians, Italians, Hungarians, Poles, Swedes, Turks, Arabs, Persians, Tartars, Georgians, Scythians, Chinese, Malabaris, Bengalis, Sinhalese, Armenians and an endless variety of other strange barbarian people.
As for its trade,
Foreign vessels visiting the port are countless. At any time of the year one may find in Surat ships bound for China, Malacca, Achin, Macassar, Moluccas, Djakarta, Maldives, Bengal, Tenassserim, Ceylon, Cochin, Cannanore, Calicut, Mecca, Aden, Suez, Mogadishu, Kishm, Muscat, Madagascar, Hormuz, Basra, Sind, England, and so on, to any place one may think of.3
We can now turn to a description of continuing structures of trade in the Indian Ocean. Lancaster, on the first English expedition to the east in 1591–92, moved from one economic world to another as he proceeded up the East African coast, just as had Gama a century earlier. In the extreme south he commented on 'certaine blacke salvages, very brutish'. The English bought an ox for two knives, a heifer for one knife, and some for even less. Then they got to Great Comoro and a more familiar and sophisticated world. 'Their king came aboord our ship in a gowne of crimosine [crimson] satin, pinked after the Moorish fashion downe to the knee; whom we entertained in the best manner, and had some conference with him of the state of the place and marchandises.'4
'Asians' also were well aware of differences, in ways which make clear there is no such thing as an 'Asian' at this time, or indeed any other time. The Persian ambassador Sulaiman was intrigued by some islands in the Bay of Bengal:
One of the many strange islands which we passed on our voyage [from Siam back home to Persia] was the island of Andaman. This island is flourishing and extremely green and here lives a group of cannibals who have long teeth like dogs. The teeth of these savages are so long that they project from their mouth, but otherwise their bodies are like human beings. As for their dress, they are content to wear nothing more than the leaves of trees to cover their loins. If anyone has the misfortune of falling into their hands, they carry off the poor man and eagerly devour him. For this reason people do not visit Andaman and not many details are known about the island or the inhabitants.
At a different level, he was less than impressed with the veneration paid in Sri Lanka to the relic of the Tooth of the Buddha. 'The king of Ceylon and all the Indians living on the island believe in this nonsense and are fervently engaged in idolatry.'5
These are perhaps differences of civilisation, but then we also cannot lump together all Muslims: they were a diverse lot, and even within this broad category they were far from controlling all trade in the Indian Ocean at this time. Hindus from different parts of India, Buddhists from mainland southeast Asia, Armenians, Jews, Christians all shared in the trade. Within the Muslim 'community'