Description: The essays in this volume 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.
Review Quotes: 'One of the most eminent scholars in the field of Indian Ocean studies, Pearson's wide-ranging oeuvre displays a certain unity in diversity...It is to be hoped that the new maritime history of the Indian Ocean will explore some of the directions plotted out here and elsewhere by Pearson.' Itinerario '... this book will surely provide inspiration and insights to many an Indian scholar of Indo-Portuguese or Maritime history.' Indica