In Asian Waters : Oceanic Worlds From Yemen to Yokohama

A sweeping account of how the sea routes of Asia have transformed a vast expanse of the globe over the past five hundred years, powerfully shaping the modern world In the centuries leading up to our own, the volume of traffic across Asian sea routes—an area stretching from East Africa and the Middle East to Japan—grew dramatically, eventually making them the busiest in the world. The result was a massive circulation of people, commodities, religion, culture, technology, and ideas. In this book, Eric Tagliacozzo chronicles how the seas and oceans of Asia have shaped the history of the largest continent for the past half millennium, leaving an indelible mark on the modern world in the process. Paying special attention to migration, trade, the environment, and cities, In Asian Waters examines the long history of contact between China and East Africa, the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism across the Bay of Bengal, and the intertwined histories of Islam and Christianity in the Philippines. The book illustrates how India became central to the spice trade, how the Indian Ocean became a "British lake" between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, and how lighthouses and sea mapping played important roles in imperialism. The volume ends by asking what may happen if China comes to rule the waves of Asia, as Britain once did. A novel account showing how Asian history can be seen as a whole when seen from the water, In Asian Waters presents a voyage into a past that is still alive in the present. Cover Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments A Note on Languages 1. South from Nagasaki, West from Hormuz Part I. Maritime Connections Preface: In Asian Waters 2. From China to Africa: Prolegomenon 3. Vietnam’s Maritime Trade Orbit Part II. Bodies of Water Preface: The Imbricated Histories of Two Seas 4. Smuggling in the South China Sea: Illicit Histories 5. The Center and Its Margins: How the Indian Ocean Became “British" Part III. Religion on the Tides Preface: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity in Asian Waters 6. Passage of Amulets: Hindu-Buddhist Transmissions in the Bay of Bengal 7. Zamboanga, Mindanao: Islam and Christianity at the End of the World Part IV. Cities and the Sea Preface: Urbanism Connects: The Life of Asian Cities 8. The Morphogenesis of Port Cities in “Greater Southeast Asia" 9. From Aden to Bombay, from Singapore to Pusan: Colonial Circuits Part V. The Bounty of the Oceans Preface: The Environmental History of Asian Seas 10. Fins, Slugs, Pearls: Marine Products and Sino-Southeast Asia 11. On the Docks: How India’s Southern Coasts Became “Spice Central" Part VI. Technologies of the Sea Preface: The Technological Imperative in the Maritime History of Asia 12. Foucault’s Other Panopticon, or Lighting Colonial Southeast Asia 13. Of Maps and Men: Hydrography and Empire 14. If China Rules the Waves Appendix A: Base Chronologies for Asia’s Seas Appendix B: Written-Down Oral Histories of the Swahili Coasts Appendix C: Fieldwork Excerpt from Sana’a: An Arab Herbalist Appendix D: Indian Spice Traders in India and Malaysia Appendix E: Dutch East Indies Regulations with Local Maritime States Appendix F: Chinese Marine Goods Traders in East and Southeast Asia Appendix G: Chinese Marine Products Newspaper Clipping, Taipei, Taiwan Bibliography Index "A sweeping account of how the sea routes of Asia have transformed a vast expanse of the globe over the past five hundred years, powerfully shaping the modern world in the centuries leading up to our own, the volume of traffic across Asian sea routes-an area stretching from East Africa and the Middle East to Japan-exploded, eventually making them the busiest in the world. The result was a massive circulation of people, commodities, religion, culture, technology, and ideas. In this book, Eric Tagliacozzo chronicles how the seas and oceans of Asia have shaped the history of the largest continent for the past half millennium, leaving an indelible mark on the modern world in the process.Paying special attention to migration, trade, the environment, and cities, In Asian Waters examines the long history of contact between China and East Africa; the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism across the Bay of Bengal; and the intertwined histories of Islam and Christianity in the Philippines. The book illustrates how India became central to the spice trade; how the Indian Ocean became a "British lake" between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries; and how lighthouses and sea mapping played important roles in imperialism. The volume ends by asking what may happen if China comes to rule the waves of Asia, as Britain once did. A novel account showing how Asian history can be seen as a whole when seen from the water, In Asian Waters presents a voyage into a past that is still alive in the present"-- Provided by publisher In the centuries leading up to our own, the volume of traffic across Asian sea routes, an area stretching from East Africa and the Middle East to Japan, grew dramatically, eventually making them the busiest in the world. The result was a massive circulation of people, commodities, religion, culture, technology, and ideas. In this book, Eric Tagliacozzo chronicles how the seas and oceans of Asia have shaped the history of the largest continent for the past half millennium, leaving an indelible mark on the modern world in the process. Paying special attention to migration, trade, the environment, and cities, In Asian Waters examines the long history of contact between China and East Africa, the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism across the Bay of Bengal, and the intertwined histories of Islam and Christianity in the Philippines. The book illustrates how India became central to the spice trade, how the Indian Ocean became a “British lake” between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, and how lighthouses and sea mapping played important roles in imperialism. The volume ends by asking what may happen if China comes to rule the waves of Asia, as Britain once did. A novel account showing how Asian history can be seen as a whole when seen from the water, In Asian Waters presents a voyage into a past that is still alive in the present