Seafaring Communities in the Indian Ocean

Renewed interest in the ancient history of the Indian Ocean has largely followed the Braudelian model, exemplified in the writings of K.A.N. Chaudhuri (Asia Before Europe, Cambridge, 1990). These studies emphasize the cultural unity of the Indian Ocean that underlies economic exchanges in the region and have to some extent raised the question of religious underpinnings, particularly with reference to Islam. By contrast, Buddhism and Christianity have received scant attention, but these are now being actively pursued and developed by the coordinators (e.g. H.P. Ray, The Winds of Change: Buddhism and the maritime links of early South Asia, Oxford University Press, 1994). Religion, together with other cultural features such as languages are perceived in this context as identity-markers for trading networks essential to establishing trust between partners. A crucial aspect of this interaction involved missionary activity and the dispersal of cultural baggage including the spread of writing, navigational skills, and techniques of architecture among others.
Within this framework the analysis of literary sources becomes important for placing the archaeological data for the diffusion of material artefacts in perspective. Thus, Greek, Sanskrit, and Arab texts preserve stories of transoceanic voyages which at times appear fanciful, but which nevertheless provide data both on the stereotypes prevalent in the region, and on attempts to comprehend 'foreign' customs and practices. There is no inventory of all these records of travellers in antiquity and though the Seminar in Lyon does not aim to make such available, it certainly hopes to open up promising ways of research which have not yet been tapped. The extent to which these accounts can be used to validate archaeological discoveries was a question that was raised at the First Seminar in Delhi by G. Ducatez and A. Rougelle with regard to Arab accounts and medieval itineraries in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
These early texts also contain lists of commodities transported between the different regions of the Indian Ocean, though precise quantification of the goods involved continues to be problematic. Many of these sources, such as the papyri from Egypt or the Byzantine coins from South Asia have seldom received scholarly attention, a rare exception being the Vienna papyrus often quoted with regard to Rome's trade with the East. A theme which it is hoped can be developed in more detail at the Lyon Seminar relates to the impact of this maritime activity on the regional economies of the Indian Ocean littoral. An attempt has been made in this direction taking as an example the ancient economy of the Deccan around the beginning of the Christian era (H.P. Ray, Monastery and Guild: Commerce under the Satavahanas, Oxford University Press, 1986) and several speakers at the Seminar will focus on developments and changes in the different regions of the Indian Ocean. Although a quantitative economic history of the Indian Ocean in antiquity cannot be supported by reliable documentation, it is expected that the aggregation of several regional approaches will help to generate an overview of the ancient economy of the Indian Ocean. The spread and assimilation of words as a result of seafaring activity in the Indian Ocean is a theme that was briefly touched upon at the earlier Seminar in Delhi, but one that needs to be researched in greater detail. What is being envisaged is not the movements of people such as for example the debates on the peopling of the islands in Polynesia or the common heritage of Malay and the Barito group of languages with Malagasy, but the evolution of a nautical technology. P.-Y Manguin and B. Arunachalam have done some work on the terms for 'harbour' in the languages of the Indian Ocean. A related problem is the use of alien concepts and terms for maritime trade, e.g. the extent to which terms such as 'emporion', mentioned in the Periplus Maris Erythraei and other Greek texts provide apt descriptions of contemporary coastal sites in the region.
The Seminar at Delhi provided a good example of interdisciplinary research on maritime contacts with contributions from archaeologists, historians, and ethnographers and in an attempt to pursue this line of enquiry, the Second Seminar at Lyon plans to address the question of the seafaring capabilities of the communities of the region based on early European descriptions, medieval texts, and indigenous sources. This discussion will add to the knowledge of ship-building activity in the region prior to the arrival of the Europeans and will also help resolve the issue of an 'unchanging' and 'eternal' Indian tradition of boat-building and navigation that changed only after contact with the Europeans.

Organizers
Jean-François Salles (Maison de l'Orient Méditerranéen); Marie- Françoise Boussac (University of Lille-III); Himanshu Prabha Ray (Jawaharla

Correspondence addresses
Jean-François Salles
7, Rue Raulin
F-69007 Lyon
France
Tel: +33-7-2715822
Fax: +33-7-8581257
E-mail: Jean-Francois.Salles@mom.fr

Himanshu Prabha Ray
Centre for Historical Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi 110 067
India
Tel: +91-11-667557 ext. 253
Fax: +91-11-6865886