The World Of The Indian Ocean, 1500-1800: Studies In Economic, Social And Cultural History (Variorum Collected Studies Series)

The articles in The World of the Indian Ocean, 1500-1800 describe the activities of people living on the coasts of the Indian Ocean, generously defined, during the early modern period. Most are based, at least in part, on Portuguese materials. A broad theme linking them all is the claim that in most areas of society and economy early modern Europeans and Asians had much in common, with the newly arrived Europeans having no particular advantage over their Asian interlocutors. The first five studies discuss aspects of trade and commerce, while the next group deal with social and religious themes, including conversions and a much quoted early attempt to investigate 'littoral society'. The third section presents four discussions of aspects of the early contact between Indian and European medical systems. Cover Series Half Title Title Copyright Contents Introduction Acknowledgements Economic And Trade History I Spain and Spanish trade in Southeast Asia II Brokers in western Indian port cities: their role in servicing foreign merchants III Goa-based seaborne trade, 17th—18th centuries IV Asia and world precious metal flows in the early modern period V Indians in east Africa: the early modern period Social And Religious Themes VI Littoral society: the case for the coast VII Goa during the first century of Portuguese rule VIII Conversions in South-east Asia: evidence from the Portuguese records IX The search for the similar: early contacts between Portuguese and Indians X The Indian Ocean and the Red Sea XI The East African coast in 1498: a synchronic study Medical Exchanges XII Hindu medical practice in sixteenth-century western India: evidence from the Portuguese sources XIII The Portuguese state and medicine in sixteenth- century Goa XIV The thin end of the wedge: medical relativities as a paradigm of early modem Indian-European relations XV First contacts between Indian and European medical systems: Goa in the sixteenth century Index A collection of articles published between 1968 and 2001 which deal with a range of themes centring around the history of the Indian Ocean region, including the economic history of the area, social and religious themes, and medical exchanges between European settlers and the indigenous population