Knowledge and the Indian Ocean: Intangible Networks of Western India and Beyond (Palgrave Series in Indian Ocean World Studies)

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. Front Matter ....Pages i-xli Introduction (Sara Keller)....Pages 1-15 Front Matter ....Pages 17-17 Places We Can Go: Some Notes on Sea/Knowledge (Sarah Bancroft)....Pages 19-28 Knowing the Sea: Thalassographies to Thalassology of the Indian Ocean (up to c. 1500 CE) (Ranabir Chakravarti)....Pages 29-46 A Chinese Muse in the Caliph’s Court: The Influence of Chinese Ceramic Technology Across the Indian Ocean (Eighth to Fourteenth Century CE) (Rukshana Nanji)....Pages 47-64 Ava: A Living Tradition of Reverence for Water Among the Zoroastrians (Shernaz Cama)....Pages 65-85 Scholars in Gujarat’s Bazaars: Revisiting L’académie ambulante (“The Roving Academy”) (Sara Keller, Fernando Rosa)....Pages 87-112 Gujarat Ornamental Furniture: Artisans, Techniques, Skills and Global Markets During the Nineteenth Century (Louiza Rodrigues)....Pages 113-136 “Without a Counterpart on the Globe”: Geographical Knowledge and the Mapping of “Kutch” in the Nineteenth Century (Mariam Dossal)....Pages 137-160 Front Matter ....Pages 161-161 Gujarat Sufis, “Sants” and the Indian Ocean World in Medieval Times (Makrand Mehta)....Pages 163-172 Doing Well but Also Doing Good? East African Indian Merchants and Their Charitable Work, c. 1850–1920 (Margret Frenz)....Pages 173-188 Narratives of Transcendental Decision-Making: Seeking Health and Healing at Sufi Shrines in Gujarat (Helene Basu)....Pages 189-203 Voices of the Sidis: Indians of African Descent (Beheroze Shroff)....Pages 205-224 Linguistic and Cultural Contributions of Gujarat in Eastern Africa (Abdulaziz Yusuf Lodhi)....Pages 225-243 The Transnational Life and Political Philosophy of Shyamji Krishnavarma (Edward Simpson)....Pages 245-257 Back Matter ....Pages 259-266 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 scholarlship 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, argiculture, 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--back cover