Driven by the Monsoons: Through the Indian Ocean and the Seas of China

The Silk Road may be one origin of globalization, but the Indian Ocean is another. Barry Cunliffe examines the beginning of maritime trade using the evidence of archaeology and the tales of great travellers such as Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and the Chinese Admiral, Zheng He. This story complements that of the land routes, showing how humans have been driven across thousands of years to create and maintain networks whatever the difficulties. Driven by the Monsoons illuminates maritime connections between the Indian Ocean and its surrounding water routes: the Arabian Gulf and the Red and China Seas. It begins with the movement of humans into South-East Asia and ends about 1600 CE when European companies emerge to takeover. It is tale of exotic goods, material needs, adventure, and desire. While conditions at sea and the abilities of the maritime communities provided a degree of stability, the direction and intensity of trade and the types of commodities on the move was determined by the fortunes and aspirations of distant empires, those of China in the east and South-West Asia and the Mediterranean in the west. This ever-changing pressure provided the dynamic situation in which society and economies in East Africa, India and South-East Asia flourished. Driven by the Monsoons explores the birth of the modern, connected, world.

Table of Contents:
1: In the Beginning 2: Building Networks: 5000-1000 BCE 3: The Impact of the Western Empires: 1000-30 BCE 4: The Indian Ocean: 30 BCE-CE 651 5: Meanwhile, in the East: 1000 BCE-CE 650 6: Interlude: Challenging the Endless Oceans 7: Reorientation: CE 650-960 8: Tempestuous Land, Calming Seas: CE 960-1368 9: Of Treasure Fleets and Gun Boats: CE 1370-1490 10: The World Encircled: CE 1490-1602 11: Riding the Monsoons: Retrospect and Prospect A Guide to Further Reading

About the Author :
Barry Cunliffe taught archaeology in the Universities of Bristol and Southampton and was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2008, thereafter becoming Emeritus Professor. He has excavated widely in Britain (Fishbourne, Bath, Danebury, Hengistbury Head, Brading) and in the Channel Islands, Brittany, and Spain, and has been President of the Council for British Archaeology and of the Society of Antiquaries, a Governor of the Museum of London, and a Trustee of the British Museum. He was a Commissioner of English Heritage from 2005 to 2013. His many publications include The Ancient Celts (1997, second edition 2018), Facing the Ocean (2001), The Druids: A Very Short Introduction (2010), Britain Begins (2012), By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean (2015), The Scythians (2019), and Facing the Sea of Sand (2023), all published by Oxford University Press. He received a knighthood in 2006.

Review :
Once again Barry Cunliffe brings his archaeological and historical expertise to bear on maritime spaces, the Indian Ocean and the seas off China, that have been sailed intensively for thousands of years. The story of these seas is the story of how Asia, Africa, and then Europe became connected, first through trade and migration, and then through conquest. It is also the story of cultural interactions, as religious ideas moved east and as silk and spices moved west.