The Indian Ocean - Michael Pearson [8]
Yet as we look at these connections, a matter absolutely central to my discussion, we need to proceed with caution. If one finds a Roman coin in south India, what does this show? Does it mean that Romans themselves traded to this area? Or is this a coin which arrived over several stages? The coin is there, but does this show there was an Indian Ocean world, in this case linked to the far-off Mediterranean, with which it had some sort of commonality and integration? Remembering that most long-distance trade was in luxuries only, how many people were affected by these connections? Similarly with Chinese ceramics on the Swahili coast. If we find Buddhism, which originated in India, in Java, does this make Java a cultural colony? Connections go two ways. A Chinese pot will be used in different ways in different places, and may be copied or modified. A Hadhrami preaching Islam will find a different response in Kilwa from that in Aceh or Hyderabad, and his words will have different meanings in these two places. European weaponry found different sorts of acceptance in different places.
Clearly we need to consider Rene Barendse's notion of the 'greater' Indian Ocean, analogous to the Analistas' 'long' sixteenth century. The former highlights connections far past the geographical limits of the ocean, the latter far past the arbitrary dates of 1500 and 1600. What is important is the turning points, not the turning of centuries. On this matter I have found a central theme in The Corrupting Sea extremely useful; I will use their terminology frequently in this book. Horden and Purcell distinguish between history in the Mediterranean, and the history of the Mediterranean. There is 'history in the Mediterranean – contingently so, not Mediterranean-wide, perhaps better seen as part of the larger history of either Christendom or Islam – and history of the Mediterranean – for the understanding of which a firm sense of place and a search for Mediterranean-wide comparisons are both vital.'32
In 1744 John Campbell wrote that 'The peculiar Pleasure and Improvement that Books of Voyages and Travels afford, are sufficient Reasons why they are as much, if not more read, than any other Branch of polite Literature.'33 I hope people will read my book. To this end, I want it to have a whiff of ozone, not just be a collection of statistics about trade. I have accumulated numerous first-hand accounts of what it was like to travel over the ocean, the earliest being from Fa-Hsien, a Buddhist pilgrim from China, who returned by sea to China in 413–14, and the latest an account of sailing in the Volvo Around the World Race in 2001–2. I have people going on pilgrimage to Mecca, I have Alan Villiers in a dhow and on a great four-master barque with 30 sails and 35,000 square feet of canvas, I have migrants going to Australia, I have Salem whalers and sealers, I have fleet commanders, Somerset Maugham, E.M. Forster and Mark Twain. I have even (tried to) read novels by Wilbur Smith. I will quote extensively from these actual accounts of life on the Indian Ocean, inspissating my dry prose with their compelling descriptions.
I want to write a more total history than has appeared so far. With all due deference, too many previous works have been almost entirely histories of trade, and especially European trade, rather than of the ocean. I want lots of connections, the ocean acting as a transmitter for disease, religion, tourists, goods, information, not just pepper and cotton cloths. To provide space for what really interests me, I will sometimes merely summarise existing literature on topics already well covered, especially to do with politics and trade, and refer the reader to more complete specialist works.
One other caveat. I am aware that my book fails to pay the amount