The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History. By Sanjeev Sanyal .

Penguin, 2016.

Raj Nath Bhat

Alf ed Wege e i his The Origi of Co ti e ts a d O ea s’ argues that 270 million

years ago, the planet earth was a single land-mass, a gigantic super-continent (Pangea)
which broke up (drifted apart) 175 million years ago into two--northern and southern land-
masses. Further splits 160 and 90 million years ago gave birth to some of the contemporary
continents and oceans. The next drift, the scientists speculate, occurred 55 million years ago
when Indian Ocean, peninsular India and the Himalayas were created. The last drift, it is
believed, happened 45 million years ago that created Australia and Antarctica.

Homo sapiens (wise-man) evolved in the east African Rift Valley some 200,000 years ago.
There were other competing hominids around at that time; Neanderthals who were well
established in Europe and the West Asia became extinct some 24,000 years ago; Denisovans
who roamed across Asia too disappeared, so did the Homo floresiensis, a dwarfed
Indonesia-based species that reached a height of one meter with a weight of 25 kilograms.
Geneticists believe that there has been some inter-breeding between different hominid
species. According to Svante Paabo of the Max Plank Institute, Leipzig, 1--4 % DNA of the
non-African humans is derived from the Neanderthals. It relates mostly to hair and skin. The
Melanesians interbred with, now extinct, Denisovans who contribute 6% to the DNA of the
Melanesians today. Khoi-San people of the south-western Africa, geneticists suggest, are
genetically the oldest surviving modern Homo sapiens.

Genetic evidence suggests that a small band of Homo sapiens crossed over from the
present-day Djibouti to the Yemen-Oman region some 65.000 years ago. Sea-levels then
were nearly 120 meters lower than today, and the shorelines extended nearly a hundred
miles further out f o toda s o tou s p. ; 60,000 years ago they began to migrate via
the Persian gulf to the present-day Saurashtra in Gujarat; 55000 years ago, migrations to
south-east Asia took Ho o sapie s to toda s Mela esia, Papua Ne Gui ea, Fiji, pa ts of
Indonesia. A band of the Melanesians hopped across to the then virgin territory of Australia
some 45000 years ago. Australia then was home to gigantic animals and plants including 200
kg Kangaroo, flightless birds, and marsupial lion among others. Human arrival devastated
them all—twenty-three out of twenty-four gigantic species became extinct within a few
thousand years of their arrival! The Australian aboriginals devastated the ecological balance
of the territory. Similarly, human beings upon their entry into virgin territories, like
Madagascar, New Zealand, made devastating impact upon eco-systems there.

On way to south-east Asia so e g oup sta ed put i the Pu ulia egio of toda s West
Bengal. Some 42000 years old stone tools have recently been found there (p. 28). The
islands of Sumatra, Java and Borneo were connected to the Asian landmass then; the
migrants seem to have taken more northward route to Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and

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southern China. Geneticists claim that the peoples of East and south-east Asia [Chinese,
Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Tibetans, Myanmarese, Malay, Filipino, and Indonesians as well
as Polynesians] share the Y-chromosome haplogroup O-M175. Migrations from Persian Gulf
as well as north-western India continued westward to Europe as well as to the freezing
Siberia, from where some migrated back to Africa. Nearly 35000 years ago migrants reached
south-India as well as Sri Lanka which was connected then to the Indian land-mass.
Ge eti ists all these ig a ts as ancestral South Indians [ASI] (p. 28-29). At least one
such group (present day Onge community) reached Andaman and settled there. The
tshunami of De e e , did ot da age the se luded Onge and Jarawa communities
of the Andaman Islands but the Nicobarese suffered several hundred causalities: the former
have migrated there more than 30,000 years ago, whereas the latter are 600 years old
entrants. The oral traditions of the former saved them! (P. 17-18).

The genetic mutations before the last Ice Age {20,000 BCE] continued with the populations
in the Persian Gulf as well as the Western India. R1 emerged somewhere in the Persian Gulf-
Western India, possibly Iran. Some 25000 years ago, it split into R1A and R1B; the former
dominated the Eastern populations whereas the latter became predominant among the
Western [European] populations. R1A further split and one of its split branches, R1A1a is
the do i a t o th I dia a est al g oup [ANI]. Forty percent of Chinese males derive
their genes from just three Neolithic grandfathers (p. 35).

The second Ice-age lasted between 30000 and 20000 BCE. 20000 years ago snows melted
submerging vast chunks of landmass [nearly 150 kilometers deep] along the coast-lines.
Future under-water Archaeology will provide descriptions of the lost kingdoms, treasures,
fauna and flora to satisfy the inquisitive minds.

Pre-Neolithic hunter-gatherers built astonishingly huge stone pillars 11500 years ago at
Goebekli Tepe in Turkey and a stepped pyramid at Gunung Padang in Java-Indonesia. There
is pre-Neolithi e ide e of fa i g f o Is ael as ell as I dia. The e is e ide e of
organized food-production 15000 years ago in the Nile-flood-plain in Africa. The Egyptian
civilization evolved out of the Nile oasis people (p. 32). It may be noted that the wild grain-
a ieties, f o hi h Wheat has ee do esti ated, g e just a fe iles a a f o
Goebekli Tepe in Turkey. The kind of linear evolution from Paleolithic to Neolithic, then to
Bronze, Iron and the modern age does not answer queries and questions in face of
contemporary findings. History is required to review the classifications propounded by it in
the context of socio-economic, cultural, technological evolution. Agriculture and animals
were domesticated at multiple locations at different periods in history. Hence, the view that
West Asia is the single and original place of agriculture must be abandoned. Farming
emerged independently at several places across the world. Melanesians were the first to
domesticate sugar-cane and banana; banana was independently domesticated in India and
south-east Asia; rice and pigs were domesticated in China, rice-cultivation spread rapidly to
south-east Asia and India; sesame and cotton were first cultivated in India; west-Africa grew

2
sorghum and millet; cow was domesticated independently in India [humped] and west Asia
[non-humped] (p. 35). The legend of Great Floods is familiar to the followers of both the
Dharmik [Indian] as well as Semitic philosophies. In 5000 BCE the Persian Gulf was
completely flooded which resulted in shifting of coast-lines across the Western coast from
Sindh/Gujarat to Tamil Nadu [submerging all that existed in that stretch of nearly 150
kilometers]; Sri Lanka got severed from the Indian land-mass; Sundaland diminished further
to give shape to the present-day Java, Sumatra and Borneo. Some groups from the northern
India migrated westward towards Iran, Central Asia and Eastern Europe and carried the
R1A1a gene with them that is why Indians are closer to central Asians and East Europeans
than to the West Europeans who carry R1b gene that had separated much earlier (p. 37).
Thus, one can easily assess the lingui-cultural proximity between India and Europe. A 2012
study by Marc Haber and his team concludes that R1A1a-M17 clearly demonstrates that
there has not been any human expansion from Ponti Steppe to central Asia and India. The
conclusion is further confirmed by a 2015 study on the genes of 6000 men from the Indian
sub-continent which found that the oldest strains of the R1A haplogroup are found in the
Indian sub-continent and that this strain is 15500 years old whereas the East-European
strain is 12,500 years old. The DNA extracts suggest that the appearance of lighter-skin
among East Europeans is only 7000 years old. Desertification in Sahara and Arabia and
flooding in Western Indian coastal regions forced people in 4500 BCE to concentrate along
the rivers Nile in Egypt and the Euphrates and Tigris in Mesopotamia (p. 38). In the Indian
peninsula, civilizations evolved along Indus [11500 years ago] and Ghaghar (also known as
Saraswati) rivers in north-western regions [Tibet—Sindh; and Himachal—Gujarat] (ibid).
Baluchistan, in Present-day Pakistan, was the first place in south Asia to witness agriculture-
based settlements where Barley followed by Wheat were domesticated [the best
documented Mehargarh in the Bolan Valley might have been occupied before 6000 BCE
(p.39)]. Around the same time (6000 BCE), archaeologists have found forty sites close to
Prayag in Central India where domesticated as well as wild rice were consumed. China had
domesticated rice even earlier. The deeper layers at the central Indian sites reveal various
animal bones, including those of horses. The older (stone-age) rock-paintings at Bhimbetkar
in Madhya Pradesh also exhibit horses which indicate that horse was known to India from
an early age (p. 40).

Beyond 4500 BCE the hubs of the riverside civilizations began to emerge. Thus there was
Sumerian city-state in Mesopotamia, Egypt [3100 BCE], Indus in north-west India, Harappan
in the lower region of north-western India. The early Indus-Harappan civilization lasted for
nearly 700 years from 3200 BCE to 2600 BCE; the following phase lasted between 2600 BCE
and 2000 BCE when cities like Lakhpat, Dholavira, Kalibangan, Harappa and Mohenjodaro
rose. Its decline began thereafter till it petered out in 1400 BCE. Harappans developed
sophisticated cities but not the Pyramids as the Egyptians did. Before 2000 BCE, both Indus
and Ghaghar flowed through Rann of Kutch in Gujarat to enter the sea at Lakhpat; Ghaghar
dried up long ago but the Indus got diverted only recently after the 1819 earthquake (p. 44).

3
Seals, tools, pottery, beads and many other objects excavated by the archaeologists across
Iran-Oman-Bahrain region display a strong Harappan affinity (p. 46). Harappans also used
land routes through Afghanistan and central Iran to trade with Mesopotamia. The Akkadian
king Sargon (2334-2279 BCE) refers to ships from Gujarat (Meluhha), Bahrain (Magan) and
Oman (Dilmun). Ha appa eights a d easu es e e the sta da d a oss West Asia; the
Indian currency was a legal tender in several West Asian countries even in May, 1966 (ibid).
Harappans exported cotton textiles, ghee, beads, carnelian, weights and measures.
Although nothing is known about the language(s) that Harappans spoke yet the oldest
extant knowledge text, Rig Veda, composed by seers and poet-philosophers from different
egio s i diffe e t a ieties of egio al spee hes testifies to the fa t that the ‘ig-vedic
people belonged to “apt-si dhu , the la d of se e i e s; the egio that falls i the
present-day Punjab-Haryana-Rajasthan and their adjoining areas, i.e. the region where
Harappans flourished. Rig Vedic people, derived from the ANI gene pool at the end of the
Ice Age, were part of the broader Harappan location.

Rig Veda mentions Saraswati River in forty five hymns, in full flow as the greatest and the
most important life-line of the populace. Ganga is mentioned only twice. Saraswati is placed
between the Yamuna and Satluj (p. 50), exactly where the dry river-bed of the Ghaghar is
located. The later Vedas do not give prominence to Saraswati. Therefore Rig Veda can be
assigned to the early Harappans before 2600 BCE. After 2000 BCE, due to weakening or
successive failure of Monsoon rains, rivers shrunk in width or dried up completely. Similar
changes in rain-fall patterns in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran caused immense political
dis uptio s the e. I a s Ji oft i ilizatio died out; Eg pt eased to be a single Empire; the
Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia too collapsed. Post-Vedic texts of 2100 BCE and beyond
state that the “a as ati ‘i e o Ghagha disappea ed u de g ou d. “ a it of ate
forced Harappans to shift from Barley-Wheat to Millet production which necessitated small
rural settlement culture to grow. Thus cities had to be abandoned. Search for water led
people to reach the Himalayan foot-hills as well as Gangetic plains. The people from Gujarat
seem to have migrated south to the Narmada and Tapti valleys. Genetic records testify to
the rapid mixing of ANI and ASI Genes from 2100 BCE onwards which continued for another
2000 years. The Harappans must have taken their technologies and knowledge to wherever
they migrated—east, south and then to south-east Asia. Varanasi may be a Harappan
settlement, thus equally old where people from all regions, north-south-east-west
converged; hence, Indian civilization is a result of multiple ideas, influences and people (p.
53).

During the millenniums before the C.E. the south of India, which did not pass through the
Bronze Age because of the paucity of copper, invented Iron Technology. (ibid). The
archaeologists have excavated in Hyderabad Iron weapons dating back to 2400 BCE (ibid).

The Zoroastrians or Parsi-s seem to be the descendants of the Parsu community that
constituted one of the ten communities that were defeated by the Bharata-s. The

4
)o oast ia s, the efo e, follo ed usto s a d ituals of the people of the “e e ‘i e s
[sapta-sindhu] and seemed to have knowledge of the Saraswati and Sapta-Sindhu as well as
o igi al ho ela d o else the No th-Indians and the Iranians have been a part of the same
continuum until the Bronze Age (p. 54). The latter possibility explains commonalities in
rituals and customs, worship patterns as well as the rise and subsequent disappearance of
Jiroft civilization in eastern Iran. After the weather changes of 2000 BCE, the communities of
the Jiroft must have migrated to western and southern Iran to give birth to Faras / Persian
identity. Mittani, a people with Vedic links, were military elite who in 1380 BCE entered into
a treaty with the Hittites invoking the Vedic deities Indra, Mitra, Varun and Nasatya. Iron
technology was introduced thereafter, five centuries after its introduction in southern India.
Hittites soon mastered the iron technology and in association with Anatolia (now Turkey)
ousted Mittani in the thirteenth century BCE. B oadl speaki g, the sa e ge eti a d/o
cultural pool was sloshing back and forth between northern India and Iran since the Stone
Age. At the end of the Ice Age, one branch colonized central Asia from where a sub-branch
ig ated to Easte Eu ope p. .The Vedic-Mita i deit Mit a late appea s as ‘o a
Sun-god Mith as . ‘o a s ould ele ate a week-long “atu alia a d the Mith as ult
would cele ate “ol I i tus , U o ue ed “un o 17-25th December every year. Later
Christians, it is believed, adopted the same date [25 th of December] to celebrate Christmas.
However the Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7th. Puritans in the 17-18th
centuries banned the celebration of Christmas altogether. Mitra, an ancient god from
Haryana travelled to and came to be celebrated in Europe (p. 56).

The onset of the Iron Age [after 1900 BCE] reduced the importance of copper-producing /
suppl i g egio s a d ha els. Thus, C p us ose to epla e O a . Ke ala s spi es [ la k-
pepper] was transported to Gujarat and then via West Asia [Oman, Yemen] and Eastern
Africa [Eritrea-Ethiopia] to Egypt. Egyptians would sail down the Red Sea to reach Eritrea,
Yemen on trading expeditions wherefrom they would return with ivory, gold, several kinds
of wood, exotic animals, black–peppe a d f a ki e se - a valuable dried resin which gives
a pleasant fragrance when burnt.

The Sabeans, a powerful community, established an empire in the 8th century BCE, from
Yemen to Eritrea and some parts of Ethiopia. They introduced the cultivation of wheat and
barley as additions to the lo all p odu ed teff p. . The Sabeans are believed to have
introduced the Sa ea s ipt hi h late e ol ed i to Ge ez s ipt of the Aksu Empire and
survives today as the Ethiopic script used to write Amharic and Tigrigna languages of south-
east Africa.

Recent genetic studies reveal that 4000 or more years ago, an adventurous band of Indians
seems to have voyaged and turned up in Australia and contributed their DNA to the
a o igi es. The I dia st a dog , pet Di go o , see s to have reached Australia along
with that band of adventurers. Following the floods, the post Ice-age “u dala d peoples
ig atio s as ell as othe peoples ig atio s spread the ancestors of two distinct ethnic

5
groups Austronesians [Malays, Indonesians, Filipinos, Brunenians, Tomorese, Taiwanese
aborigines, Polynesians] and Austroasiatic [Vietnamese, Khymer, Mon in Thailand and
Myanmar] to various East and South–East Asian countries. Some of the latter [Austroasiatic]
groups must have migrated to the north-east India at a later date whose descendants are
toda s Munda-speaking people of north-east, east and south-central India (p. 60-61).
Today these people speak languages related to Vietnamese as well as Khymer. The Post Ice-
age deluge is part of the folklore of the peoples across the Indian-Ocean Rim. Laotian folk-
sto is diffe e t f o the Katha of Manu or Noah, so is the oral tradition of the Australian
aborigines (p. 61). The Aust oasiati o u ities like Khasi-s i Meghala a, “a thal -s in
Jharkhand, Khymer in Cambodia continue to be matrilineal for socio-cultural as well as
genetic reasons (p. 62).

By 1300 BCE use of Iron had expanded from south of India to the central and north of India
which gave thrust to a fresh phase of urbanization. Urban Varanasi survives from that era.
During the same period, the sub-continent came to be connected by two high-ways: uttara-
patha [east-west road] from Afghanistan to Bengal and dakshina-patha [southern road], a
triangular road from the gangetic plains [Allahabad-Varanasi] via Ujjain, ports of Gujarat to
Kishkindha in Karnataka and beyond (p. 64).

Alekxandar

Alexandar III of Macedon, after conquering Levant, Egypt and Persia in 331 BCE marched his
forces via Afghanistan towards India. The Persian Emperor Darius III had a contingent of
7000 Indian cavalry men to fight for the Empire. Alexandar defeated Porus [a king from the
Vedic Puru clan] in the plains of Panjab and decided to return home but most of his men
perished on way to home and he himself died in Babylon. After the murder of his son, his
Generals divided up the Empire among themselves! Seleucus Nikator took over the most of
Ale a da s Asia possessio s. “u se ue tl , with the establishment and the rise of the
Maurya Empire, Chandragupt defeated Seleucus and expanded his Empire from Afghanistan
to Bengal. “eleu us s daughte as gi e i arriage to a Maurya prince. Seleucus was
gifted 500 war-elepha ts ith ahouts’ which enabled Seleucus to win the Ipsus war in
301 BCE (p. 71).

Asoka

Cha d agupt s so Bi dusa took o e as the ki g of the huge Mau a E pi e i BCE

and ruled up to 273 BCE. After his death Asoka in connivance with the Greek mercenaries,
killed 99 of his half brothers and their loyalist officers in four years, sparing only his full
brother Tissa, to be the unrivalled Maurya king. He was nick- a ed as Ca dasoka , Asoka
the uel du i g that pe iod. He had converted to Buddhism two years prior to the invasion
[262 BCE] of Kalinga [Odisha] which might have been a rebellious province (p. 73). The
Buddhist text, Ashokavadana describes E pe o Asok s ge o ide of Jai s a d Ajivikas across
his Empire afte the Kali ga Wa . His full-brother Tissa [Vitashoka] was also mistakenly

6
killed which ended the carnage! Asoka died in 232 BCE when Satvahanas had already
established control over most of the southern India, Kalinga had seceded. Asoka has
the efo e ee a uel a d u popula usu pe hose ele atio to the status of the G eat is
a 19th century usage by James Princep, a colonial historian (p. 76).

Cha ak a i his arthashastra’ mentions maritime trade from Gujarat to Persian Gulf and
Africa through the Red Sea, doing well. It is well known that Bindusar, the son of
Cha d agupta as i tou h ith Ale a da s su esso s i the iddle-east. Asoka too had
links with the Greek rulers of West Asia. His edicts mention that he sent missionaries to
Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, Cyrene and Corinth. Asoka had close links with the Chola-s as well
as Pandya-s of the Tamil region (p.78).

Asoka s su esso Dasha atha ea hed out to the Aji ika-s and constructed the rock-cut
Nagarjuni and Baraba a es [ ea Ga a] fo the . Jaluka, o e of Asoka s so s a ed out a
sepa ate e pi e fo hi self i Kash i he e he pat o ized Kash i “hai is p. .
Teenager Samprati, a grand-son of Asoka, was crowned at Patliputra [Patna] but the family-
feuds forced him to run away to Ujjain.

Satavahana-s, from Andhra Pradesh, with their capital at Pratishthana [Paithan-

Maharashtra] took over much of the southern territories of the Maurya Empire and took
control of the dakshina-path [southern trade route]. In their march further north and west,
the Satavahana-s fought Indo-Greeks and Sakas [Scythians] and defeated them which is
recorded in a Nashik inscription which tells us that the Satavahana king Gautamiputra
Satakarni pushed back the Sakas and the Indo-Greeks.

Kharavelu

Hathigumpha [elephant-cave] inscription records the rise of Kalinga military leader

Kharavelu, who under the leadership of the Chedi clan in 193 BCE, re-established the Kalinga
Empire and marched up north into Magadh to defeat the Indo-Greek king Demetrius who
had to retreat to Mathura. In 189 BCE, Kharavelu ransacked the weak Mauryan territory and
restored the stolen Jaina idols to Kalinga. The last Mauryam king, Bhrihadhrata was
subsequently deposed by his general Pushyamitra Sunga who established a new dynasty
that later came to control north and central India. Kharavelu recorded his victories in rock-
inscriptions at Udaigiri hill and Hathigumpha, near Bhubanashwar [as if to tell Asoka that
Kharavelu had sacked Patliputra and caused the end of the Mauryas] (p. 80). Archaeologists
ha e e e tl e a ated a fo tified it “hishupalga h ea Kali ga- aga i, Kha a elu s
apital. Kha a elu s i s iptio s suggest that he had defeated the “ata aha a-s, the Maurya-
s, the Indo-Greeks as well as the Pandya-s to become a Chakravarti- world conqueror. On
the economic front, the inscriptions describe the restoration of irrigation-canals and the
trade in silk between India, South-East Asia and China (p. 81).

7
Kaundinya

Satvahana ports, Kalinga ports, and several ports of the smaller kingdoms of the far south
sent mercantile ships to Egypt [west] as well as Vietnam [east]. The Mekong delta in
Vietnam had developed into a nucleus from where mercantile ships and boats would reach
China. The first Indianized kingdom in the Mekong delta of the south-east Asia saw the
establishment of the kingdom of Funan where the chief of pirates, princess Soma fell in love
with and married Kaundaniya, the captain of the Indian mercantile ship who defended his
ship successfully and valiantly. Their lineage [matrilineal] ruled Funan for several
generations. Their fight and love is recorded in inscriptions by the Chams of Vietnam as well
as the Khymers of Cambodia. Kaundaniya is a family name [sur-name] from Odisha-Andhra-
Tamil coastal belt.

Tapoi

Ancient mariners would set sail for Indonesia when the winds blow from the north. One can
still visualize the beauty of such event on kartika-purnima full-moon night of the kartika
o th when women and children place their paper-boats with oil-lamps in the water on a
beach near Konark-temple or elsewhere in Odisha. At Cuttack, a fai alled Bali Yatra’
jou e to Bali is held a uall he e the tale of Tapoi is pla ed a d su g. Tapoi, a
daughter of a merchant, was maltreated by her sisters-in-law in the absence of her
merchant father and brothers. Tapoi ran away to a forest and prayed to the goddess
Mangala [Durga]. Her father and brothers returned suddenly, and noticed her absence and
its cause, the folk-tale hints at long oceanic voyages as well as social tensions associated
with it.

Indian merchants exported cotton-textiles and black-pepper, and imported Chinese Silk,
Sumatran Camphor, cloves, nutmeg, other spices from Indonesia. The entire supply of
cloves came from tiny islands of Ternate and Tidore in Maluku group. Today the replica of
the Andhra-Odisha mask is in use in Sri Lanka and Bali; similarly shadow-puppetry of the
Andhra-Odisha can be seen in Indonesia. The Ramayana-Mahabharata has reached the
entire south-east Asian region. Supari and paan-chewing entered India from south-east
Asia--- Philippines and Vietnam.

Sri Lanka

The mariners from eastern India in the ancient past sailed close via Andhra and Tamil coasts
to Sri Lanka. An ancient sea-port of the 2300 BCE has been found at Golbai Sasan in present-
day Odisha. Some of the early mariners from these eastern regions settled in Sri Lanka and
came to be known as Vedda, genetic studies confirm it.

A o di g to the Pali epi mahavamsa , a Va ga [Be gal] p i ess i the th century BCE
as kid apped a po e ful lio to a a e i “ i La ka. He had a daughte a d a so
her. The son Sinhabahu killed his father in order to escape from the cave. Sinhabahu, then

8
established Sinhapura. His son Vijaya, a tyrant, was opposed by the Vedda who were led by
Kuveni, a lady. Vijaya changed to be a responsible ruler and married the princess of the
Tamil Pandya clan. Sri Lankan Sinhalese are, therefore, genetically proximate to the East
Indians. Echoing the lion-link, the Narasimha in Odisha and Andhra and Durga in Bengal
continue to be worshipped even today.

Emperor Asoka supported the kingdom of Anuradhapura to gain a prominent place in the
island. Mahavamsa records that in the 3rd century BCE Emperor Asoka sent his son Mahinda
to convert the ruler of Anuradhapura, Devanampiya Tissa to Buddhism (p. 89). In 177 BCE,
two Tamil adventurers captured the throne of Annuradhapura for 22 years. A decade later
kind and caring Ellara, another Tamil ruler ruled Anuradhapura for 44 years. He was
decapitated in a duel by young Dattagamani. Pandya-s of the northern Tamil country
invariably sided with the southern Sri Lankans whereas the Chola-s supported the
northerners.

Dattagamani united the island and ruled from Anuradhapura. Anuradhapura remained the
capital of the island for the next thousand odd years. In 477 CE Kassapa, the eldest son from
a junior concubine murdered, with the help of Migara, his father, the king of Anuradhapura,
Dhatusena, , to capture power. The crown prince escaped to southern India! Kassapa built
his capital at Sigiriya. Moggallana returned in 495 CE with an army of Indian mercenaries
and killed Kassapa and shifted the capital back to Anuradhapura. The abandoned Sigriya,
located on a hill-top, is home to splendid cave-paintings, and graffiti love-poems (p. 91).

An Egyptian-Greek merchant of the first century CE i his The Pe iplus of the E th aea
“ea des i es t o outes f o the Mediterranean to the Red Sea: one starts from
Alexandria in Egypt and the other from Israel and Lebanon (p. 93). The sailors after reaching
the mouth of the Persian Gulf would reach east of Gujarat. Periplus records that a stretch
beyond this point was very difficult to navigate; this might be a reference to Rann of Kutchh
(p. 94). Ahead of it there was fertile land of Baracca [Dwarka?] that yielded wheat, rice,
sesame, and cotton, the Periplus records. Beyond Saurashtra the ships would sail through
Narmada to the great port of Barygaza [Bharuch] which exported cotton textiles, iron and
Iron-products. Indian merchants imported Italian wine instead of the Arabian or Syrian
brew. I dia ki gs had fo eig fa es i thei ha e s p. . Periplus mentions Indian sea-
ports from Gujarat to southern India. The text records that the mariners could use monsoon
winds to sail between Socotra and southern India especially Muzeris {Macheripatanam}.
Muzeris became the first sanctuary of the Jewish refugees after the Romans destroyed their
second temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. Muzeris became a place of safety for the Christians
fleeing Persian Empire in 345 CE. A few centuries later, Muslim merchants settled in the
same area and built their shrines there (p. 96). Periplus enables one to gather that the
Romans knew about the geographical location of Kanya-Kumari as well as Sri Lanka. The
Roman-traders have reached the eastern coast up to Puducherry, archaeologists explore.
They were aware of the Gangetic delta in the east. Being constant buyers and borrowers of

9
goods from India the Roman kingdom had to pay in gold or silver every year to the Indian
merchants, which made Roman historians like Pliny (23-79 CE) very angry. Wealthy Roman
women used to consult Indian astrologers! A young Roman scholar, Demetrius came to India
to study Vedic Philosophy (Raoul McLaughlin, 2014).

Madagascar, located lose to Af i a, as ho e to the o ld s la gest i d, elepha t i d

that eighed half a to , the o ld s la gest p i ate, and the giant lemur roamed the island
before human-beings appeared on the island around 800 CE. A group of men and women
from south Borneo made first human settlement there. They spoke Malagasy and there was
a strong blend of Indic rituals and words in their cultural life and language. Gradually, the
huge flo a a d fau a disappea ed a d the settle s a e to e k o as Wa a the
feared sea-pirates. The name Waqwaq might be associated with the Waqa-canoes that they
used to make raids! Waqwaq used to raid the mainland to acquire slaves. They also
introduced banana, yam, breadfruit, and sugar-cane to the mainland-Africa (pp. 99-100).

Genetic and linguistic data reveal that the Bantu people originated some 5000 years ago in
toda s Nige ia a d Ca e oo . “o e ea s ago so e of the ig ated south to the
equatorial central Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo; in the east to the East
Africa Rift Valley and thence to the present-day Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
The growth of iron-technology enabled the Bantu to successfully expand in these areas (p.
102).

The Gupta Period

During the 4th and 5th centuries CE, I dia s p ospe it att a ted e ha ts, pilg i s a d
scholars from several parts of the world, especially China to visit India. Chandragupta 1
established his power- ase i toda s Biha -Uttar Pradesh in the first half of the 4th century
CE. His son Samudragupta (336-370 CE) expanded the empire to northern plains, central
India and the eastern India-–Odisha, Andhra-- and reached up to Kanchi, the deep south
where he defeated Pallava ruler Vishnugopa. Patliput a as the Gupta s apital he ef o
they ruled the entire northern region allowing the southern kings to pay them tributes.
“a ud agupta s so , Cha d agupta-II, also known as Vikramaditya, (375-413 CE), also
expanded the empire. The famous Delhi Iron-pillar records that Vikramaditya defeated
Nahlikas [Bactrians] and brought ports of Gujarat, the regions of Kashmir and Gilgit-
Baltista , Hu za alle u de the ule of the Guptas. Vik a adit a s su esso s
Kumaragupta and Skandagupta successfully fended off the central Asian incursions. There
was extraordinary socio-cultural, economic boom in all areas of scholarship, trade and
pilgrimage. The Chinese scholar FaXian (Fa Hien) visited India during the 5 th century and
returned to China by sea. He has left a detailed description of I dia s p ospe it a d
peaceful co-existence of the residents during that period. In 410 CE Fa Xian boarded a boat
at Patliputra and the Ganga took him to the port at Chandraketugarh [Kolkata], thence to
the po t Ta alipti [toda s Ta luk]. Afte a t o-year long study and translation here, a
merchant ship took him to Sri Lanka within fourteen days from where they touched the

10
Chinese coast after an uncomfortable and fearful voyage of eighty odd days (p. 107). Fa
Xia s a ou t is the fi st of its t pe o sea outes i the I dia -Ocean between Bengal and
Sri Lanka and between Sri Lanka and China via south-east Asia.

Pallavas

Tamil Nadu-Kerala was ruled by three clans- chola in the Kaveri Delta; Pandya in southern
Tamil Nadu [Madurai] and the Chera along the Kerala coast. Pallava kingdom already existed
during the period of Samudragupta of the Gupta dynasty. The Pallava ruled from
Kanchipuram. The Pallava-s are said to have close links with the kingdoms of south-east
Asia. The multi-headed Cobra has been the symbol of Khymer kings in Cambodia, Kadaram
ki gs i Mala sia, a d the ha e ee alled se pe t people p. .The Palla a ule
Simha-Vishnu defeated the Chola-s, Pandya-s and the Kalabhra-s. Thereafter the Pallava
ruler moved up north to fight the Chalukya-s of Karnataka-Maharashtra. Simha-Vish u s
younger brother Bhima married a princess from a distant-land and became a ruler there.
Five generations later, the last ruler died without an heir and the Pallava-s brought a twelve
year old, descendant of Bhima, Nandi Varman II to rule from Kanchipuram. Pallava-s with
their capital at Kanchipuram, at one time in history, ruled over southern Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh and parts of Sri Lanka and they built rock-cut caves and Shore temples at their
famous sea-port, Mahabalipuram. Mahabalipuram (p.109). Most of the Pallava-era port-city
lies under the sea due to tsunamis. Of the seven Shore-temples only one exists today.

By the 8th century CE, Sri Vijaya kingdom extended from Sumatra to Malay Peninsula, that
included Java, Bali and Madura. It grew into Majapahit empire to control a large part of
Indonesia too. The Angkor empire in Cambodia and the Chams in Vietnam fought bitter
wars, so did Javans and Sri Vijaya (p. 110). The Pallava script, an offshoot of Brahmi, spread
to Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar. Laos and Java. Even Tagalog, the Filipino language was
written in a Brahmi-based alphabet till the end of the eighteenth century (p. 110). The port-
city of Quanzhou in China was the major destination of Indian merchandise during the fifth
century CE. Stone-carvings and idols of Vishnu and Shiva, identical to south Indian idols have
been excavated at Quanzhou. Some communities there [in China] worship the Indian-origin
Chinese goddess Guanyin (p. 111).

Arabia

Arabs differed culturally from the Yemenis. Yemen witnessed deep-rooted rivalry among
Sabeans, Hadhramis, and the Himyar. In the 2nd century CE Jewish refugees arrived in large
numbers in Yemen and Ethiopia. During the 12th century CE Arabs from the Riyadh region
immigrated in large numbers to Yemen and Oman. In one instance, the Saudi-led forces
defeated and almost decimated the Houthi Shiites in Yemen (p. 112 . I toda s O a the
Nizari clans claim central Arabian origin whereas the Yamani clans claim Yemeni origin. The
Yemen got sandwiched between the Christian-proselytising Byzantine [Roman] empire to
the west and the Sassanian [Persian] Empire in the east.

11
During the 4th century CE two European slaves captured by the Ethiopians from a merchant
ship ose to positio s of p o i e e i the ido ed Quee s e es ho asked o e of the
FFrumentius to educate her infant son, the would- e ule . The t o fo e sla es used
their positio to sp ead Ch istia it esulti g i the ou g ki g s, E aza es s o e sio to
Christianity. Thus Ethiopia became a Christian country creating space for Roman influence.
The I dia s of that e a used to efe to Ethiopia s as da k G eeks - Krishna Yavana. The 6th
century CE Ethiopian king, Ella Asbeha attacked Yemen to overthrow the Himyar king. The
region witnessed a cruel civil-war for which brought a Jewish war-lord Yusuf to the throne
who subsequently destroyed all the fortifications around the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb,
killing more than 13000 people. Ella Asbeha attacked Yemen again, killed Yusuf and installed
a Christian king on the throne. The Persians attacked and killed the king and installed Sayf as
the king who was stabbed to death leaving Yemen to direct Persian rule bringing Persians
and Romans [Byzantines] face-to-face with each other to fight wars in the west-Asia for the
control of Red-Sea trade-route to India(p. 113).

Islam

In 627 CE, Prophet Muhammad defended Medina and in three years thereafter, carved out
a kingdom in Arabian Peninsula. Soon thereafter, Yemeni and Omani kings were convinced
by his envoys to accept Islam which was immediately accepted by the Omanis followed by
Yemenis. Omani and Yemeni soldiers were the first to expand the Arabian–empire. Persians
and Byzantines fell in 637-638 CE followed by Syria, Palestine and Egypt. Thus a decade after
the P ophet s passing; the Arabs came to control a vast empire. The power-struggles among
the elite culminated in the Battle of Ka ala i CE he e the P ophet s g a dso Husai
i Ali a d his follo e s e e assa ed U a ad Caliph Yazid s a . This attle a d
massacre created the widely known Shia-Sunni sectarian divide. It is believed that some
soldiers from the Mohyal community of Panjab fought for Hussain and got killed eventually.
A majority of Persians at that time followed Zoroastrian faith. Most of them had to convert
to Islam. Some of them fled to India and survive today as the tiny Parsi community in
Gujarat a d Maha asht a. The Qissa-i-Sa ja ’ of the 16th century records their flight from
Pe sia a d thei settle e t i I dia. The Pa si o u it i CE sought efuge i
Guja at. The ag eed to follo the lo al la guage a d usto s. “a ja de eloped as the
Zoroastrian settlement with a Sun-temple which was destroyed by the Turks in 1464 CE.

In 700 CE, the Umayyids decided to rule Oman directly. The Omani brothers Sulaiman and
Said fled to eastern Africa, to the land of Zunj as the Arabs called it. Remaining Omanis
withdrew to the mountains around Nizwa and developed Ibadhi Islam which they follow to
this day. In 750 CE, Abu-al-Abbas brought to end the Umayyad dynasty in a bloody quarrel.
Another wave of refugees fled to eastern-Africa.

Meanwhile, the trade between India and West Asia continued uninterrupted through the
Indian Ocean. The Cheraman Mosque in Kerala is the second oldest existing Mosque built

12
during that period. Local temple-architecture had been employed to build the original-
mosque, which has been completely altered in 1984 CE renovation plan (p. 117).

Between 786-809 CE under the rule of Harun-al-Rashid, the Abbasid Caliphate enjoyed
peace and prosperity. The Capital was shifted from Damascus to Baghdad. And trade with
India through the sea-route flourished. Kerala men, especially the martial Nairs, and the
Bunt men of the Karnataka coast were transitory visitors to their home and family. This
developed matrilineal social arrangements among them. The descendants of the Arab men
ho a ied Ke ala o e a e to e k o as Moppila Musli s ho o stitute t e t -
five percent of the Malayalum-speaking population today. The fa ous Ara ia Nights’
contains tales about merchants and voyages aplenty.

Arabs conquered Iberian Peninsula [Spain] in 711 CE and Umayyads had conquered
Baluchistan in 705 CE. Sindh was under by Raja Dahir, an able and popular ruler. In 711 CE
General Muhammad bin-Qasim and his army invaded Sindh, took over the port city Deval,
and followed by the capital city. All men were massacred and women and children were
taken as sla es. The ho if i g e e ts of the attle a e e o ded i Chachnama a d
Ferishta . The Quee a d othe o e o itted jauhar . “oo the eafte , Muha ad-
bin-Qasim was executed under orders from the Caliph. The Arabs could not expand further,
Gurjara-Pratihara empire in the north and Chalukyas in the East fended off the Arabs.
Afghanistan continued to be ruled by the Hindu kings till the end of the tenth century CE (p.
120). Central Asians at that time were either Buddhists, or Hindus, or Zoroastrians. They
were sandwiched between the Chinese Tang Dynasty and the Abbasid Caliphate with their
base in Persia. The Tang were defeated by the Arabs in 751 CE at the Battle of Talas
converting Central Asia into an Islamic zone.

Thus Arabs, Parsis and Jews came to settle in India whereas Roma (Gypsies) migrated from
north-western India to West-Asia, thence to Europe. Ottoman records mention Roma as
blacksmiths, craftsmen, musicians and dancers and other service providers. The Pallava-s of
Kanchi and the Pala-s of Bengal had long-standing trae-relations with south-east Asia. In the
8th century the king of Java-Indonesia raided Khymer and Champa in southern Vietnam. The
Java king Sanjaya ruled over the Khymer-s. The king of Sumatra-Malaya, Sri Vijaya raided
Khymer and thus the Java prince, Jayavarman –II came to the Khymer throne. Jayavarman II
founded the Angkor Empire. Jayavarman II was a devotee of Shiva and married to a Khymer
princess. Jayavarman II consolidated the Cambodian Empire, established his new capital at
Indrapura and founded many new settlements. The te ito ies a ou d To le “ap lake e e
acquired and people settled there to turn the state into rich rice-cultivation and hydraulics.
Ja a a a II died i CE a d his uee s ephe I d a a an I came to the throne.
Indravarman I facilitated building of canals and lakes for rice-cultivation in Cambodia. His
son Yashovarman ruled much of Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. He established
Yashodharapura the first City in Angkor and erected several huge temples including Preah
Vihear, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on the Thai-Cambodian border.

13
A civil-war at the beginning of the 11th century brought Suryavarman I to the throne who
brought peace to the nation and built [sky-palace] Phimaen Akas having stepped pyramid
with Golden Top, at Angkor (P. 126). Suryavarman II occupied the throne in 1113 CE and
built the largest religious building, the Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1177
CE the Cham-s made a surprising naval attack upon Cambodia, killed the king, and ransacked
the city. Jayavarman VII occupied the throne, defeated Cham-s, re-built the Capital, and
uilt A gko Tho ith fi e sto e ause a s to the o al-city. Matrilineal system worked
throughout [from Jayavarman onwards] to enable royalty to occupy the throne.Angkor was
the largest urban agglomeration in the world during 11th-12th centuries (p. 129). A Chinese
diplomat, Zhou Daguan spent eleven months at Angkor in 1296 CE. He describes the
splendor of the grand gateways of Angkor Thom as well as that of the royal-processions in
magnificent niceties. He wrote that the rich lived in houses whereas the poor lived in
thatches; women controlled commerce at the market-place [a reality across India, especially
north east India and the entire south east Asia even today] (p. 130).

Chola-s of Tamil Nadu

Chola-s had been greatly subdued by the rival Tamil kings. During the 9th century CE Chola
General Aditya was duly rewarded by the Pallava-s for helping them crush a mutiny by the
Pandya-s. Assuming more power, the Chola General defeated and killed the Pallava king
Aparajita in 873 CE and married a Pallava princes to control the entire region. The Chola-s
defeated combined armies of the Pandya-Sri Lanka kings. The Rashtrakuta-s, who had
replaced the Chalukya-s in the Deccan Plateau, pushed back the Cholas and conquered the
Pallava capital Kanchi. Rajaraja Chola assumed throne in 985 CE; he defeated Pandya-s, Sri
Lankans as well as the Kerala rulers. His armies occupied Anuradhapura, the Sri Lankan
capital and built Brihadeswara Shiva temple at Thanjavur as thanksgiving for his victories.
His son Rajendra Chola assumed throne in 1014 CE who came up north up to Ganga and
a ied ate f o Ga ga i golde pit he s to his e apital it , Ga gaiko da
Cholapu a —the city of the Chola who brought the Ganga . Rajendra Chola made a naval raid on
the Sri Vijaya kingdom of Sumatra and Malaya because that was one of the major trade
routes to China then. The other route passed through Sumatra and Java which was usually
controlled by the Javans (p. 132).

In late tenth century, Sri Vijaya entered into a diplomatic agreement with the Chinese Song
Empire, defeated Javanese king to take control of both the trade routes. Chola-s sent an
e issa to Chi a i CE. The A gko ki g gifted his a - ha iot to the Chola ki g to
seek his support against Sri Vijaya-China. Chola-s sacked Sri Vijaya kingdom in 1025 CE. The
final battle was fought at Kadaram, present-day Kedah province in Malaysia. Javanese
rebuilt their country under the leadership of prince Airlangga (p. 134). The Chalukya-s
retrieved their Empire from the Rashtrakuta-s and then they waged war against the Chola-s.
The Chola-s came under attack in Sri Lanka too and they [the Chola-s] finally gave up Sri
Lanka completely and king Vijayabahu assumed throne in Sri Lanka. Vijayabahu then helped

14
their old-time friend Pandya-s to recover their kingdom. Sri Lanka was later ruled by
Parakramabahu who died heirless. And a complete outsider, Nissanka Malla- an Odia Prince
captured the throne. The Chola-s sent Magha, Prince of Kalinga (another Odia prince) with
24000 soldiers to capture Sri Lankan throne. He established a separate kingdom in the north
of Sri Lanka and invited Tamils in large numbers to settle there. Thus two rival kingdoms,
Tamil in the north and Sinhalese in the south of Sri Lanka, were carved out by two Odia
adventurers in the later half of the eleventh century! In 1247 CE a Malay prince,
Chandrabhanu, with Chola-support invaded southern Sri Lanka and was defeated. Following
his defeat, he managed to reach the northern kingdom and became king there after
Magha s death, p o a l with Chola consent (p. 137). Chandrabhanu invaded the southern
ki gdo agai ut the Pa d a s a e to the latte s suppo t. Cha d a ha u as killed a d
the northern kingdom came under direct Pandya rule.

Guilds, Temples and Trade

During Vedic period, simple altars were erected to perform religious rituals. At a later date,
ho e e , the e ha ts, t ade s, ea e s fo ed thei i depe de t Guilds ith Te ple
as the major center of entering into one. Hence, huge, magnificent temple-structures
became an important center of socio-economic activity, a key to trade, industry and
infrastructure. It also became the major center of preservation and teaching/training of all
kinds of Art-forms [dance, music, drama, painting, sculpture etc.]. The temples had a close
relationship with the small merchants and artisan-communities. The rich temple became a
center of socio-economic welfare. The guilds enabled traders to continue their trade
u i te upted the f e ue t ule - ha ges . T o of the famous merchant-Guilds that
survived up to the 13th e tu a e: The Fi e Hu d ed of Ka ataka a d Ma ig a a of
Ta il Nadu. The banaju-dhar a’ ode go e ed these o ga izatio s he e the e e s
caste had no consideration, his economic interest mattered. The temple lent money to small
traders and merchants at an interest rate of 12.50 to 15 % per annum (p. 136).

A Je ish e ha t s lette that su i es at a eposito i Fustat, Old Cai o epo ts that the
merchant, Mahruz wrote to his cousin who had survived a pirate-raid and found refuge at
Bharuch, a Gujarati port and advised him [his cousin] to get in touch with and seek
monetary help from his Indian contact Tinbu (p. 138).

During the 8th and 9th centuries, Muslims, especially the dissident Ibadhi, Shia and Kharajite
Muslims, fled Arab and Persian settlements and migrated to east Africa and established sea-
ports like Zanzibar, Mombasa, Mogadishu, Kilwa etc. on the east-coast. Swahili is an
outcome of Arabic and Bantu language (p. 139). These Arab-Persian settlers began the
u h hated sla e-t ade i gi g e a d o e f o the hi te la ds fo
transportation and subsequent sale in Arabia-Abbasid Empire. These slaves revolted in 869
CE [Zunj Revolt] and took over southern Iraq for fifteen years. Slavery lived on in West Asia
till 1962 CE. Saudi-Arabia was the last country to abolish the villainous trade. Archaeologists
have excavated an 11th-12th century site of the Mapungubwe kingdom at Limpopo valley in

15
Zimbabwe where beads from India and Egypt, gold-ornaments, and burial-goods have been
uncovered. A larger kingdom, with stone-structures, Persian bowls, Chinese dishes, Arab
coins minted at Indian-O ea po t Kil a, has ee e a ated at dzi a dzi e –
Zimbabwe which was ruled by the local Shona clan.

After the 12th century, the Islamic zone monitored socio-economic processes between the
central Asia and the Swahili coast in Africa, whereas the Indic zone monitored it between
eastern Afghanistan and northern Vietnam. The Chinese zone extended from Gobi desert to
the Pacific-Ocean (p. 141). Soon thereafter, the Turkic invaders from Central Asia invaded
Afghanistan and pushed out Shahi rulers of Kabul. Mahmud of Ghazni led the invasions on
seventeen occasions between 1000-1025 CE and destroyed and looted all the rich temples
of north-western India. Fifty thousand pilgrims to the Somnath temple were massacred and
gold and jewels worth twenty million dirhams were carried away (p. 141). In 1191 CE
Prithviraj, the ruler of Delhi defeated and sent back Mahmud Ghori, who returned a year
later and defeated and killed Prithviraj, This made the beginning of Delhi Sultanate and
opened up India to eight-centuries long period of war, strife, loot, rape, beheading and all
imaginable/unimaginable kinds of torture, insecurity, killing and conversion. Over the next
two centuries, the Turks would lay waste ancient cities, temples, and universities in one of
the bloodiest episodes in human history (P. 142). The Turk invader, Bkhtiyar Khilji arrived in
Ghazni from Central Asia in 1195 CE and moved into India to found an estate in Mirzapur-
Uttar Pradesh. Around 1200 CE, Khilji attacked and destroyed the famous Nalanda and
Vikramshila Universities killing all the scholars and monks there. Their Libraries were
torched. He attacked the wealthy kingdom of Bengal and defeated the old king Lakshman
Sen of Bengal. Bakhtiyar then crossed Teesta and his soldiers raped, looted and destroyed
Darjeeling and Sikkim. He led his army into Tibet and while retreating from there, his
soldiers perished because of hunger and fatigue. One of his Generals assassinated him. In
1235 C.E., the Delhi Sultanate destroyed the temple city of Ujjain- Madhya Pradesh.
Although the Turks conquered the Gangetic plains easily but the Odia king Narasimha Deva
1--- the patron of Puri--- defeated and drove-out their army quite effectively. Narasimha
Deva 1 had trade-links with distant Indian-Ocean kingdoms. One can view a wall-panel
where a foreign ambassador is presenting a Giraffe to the Odia king (p. 145).

In 1220 C.E., the Mongol invader Chengiz Khan destroyed the Turkic home-land in Central
Asia, o ue ed I a a d sa ked Baghdad i C.E. Che giz Kha s p oge uled the
region for another century. Later day Mongols converted to Islam; although they
maintained their religious identity –Buddhist or Shamianist— for a century (p. 144). Chengiz
Khan had invaded and captured Yangying [modern Beijing] in 1215 C.E.

The plunder and loot of temples devastated Indian lending and trade but it recovered soon.
Two travelers, Marco Polo from Venice and half a century after him, Ibn Battuta from
Morocco have left great details of travels from their native countries to India-China and

16
 a k, hi h testifies to I dia e ha ts e o e a d the e pa se of the trade-relations
among the countries of the Indian-Ocean rim (p. 151).

In the last quarter of the thirteenth century, Java under their king Kertanagara extended
control over Bali and Madura because the Sri Vijaya Empire of Sumatra had steadily
declined. Kertanagara was murdered in 1292 CE. His son-in –law Kertarajasa came to the
throne after defeating the usurper-murderer of his father-in-law. He established his capital
at Majapahit. Ka ta ajasa s eldest daughte o upied the th o e afte his death. He so ,
Rajasanagara assumed the throne in 1350 CE whose Prime Minister, Gaja Mada guided the
Empire in gaining control over much of the present-day Indonesia.

The Chinese Ming-dynasty Emreror, Yongle sent a series of fleets to south-east Asia and
India. Between 1405 and 1435, the Chinese fleet made seven voyages, with 27000 sailors in
each fleet, to Sumatra, India, Sri Lanka, Oman, and the eastern coast of Africa. A young
Mongol eunuch, Zheng He was in-charge of the treasure fleet that had nine masts, and was
400 feet long [p. 153]. Ma Huan, the chronicler accompanied the treasure fleet. Zheng He in
his future fleets sailed widely: from Bengal to the Swahili coast of Africa, thence to the port
of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. The Chinese supported and protected Melaka
king and allowed Majapahit to decline. Melaka converted to Islam. Islamisation of the south-
east Asia ega . Afte Yo gle s death, Chi a ithd e i to isolatio a d e e ged out of it i
the second half of the 20th century. Melaka organized raids and revolts in Majapahit [Java],
forced populace to convert to Islam in order to gain control over the spice-port. Those who
did not convert, ran away to Bali island in the beginning of the sixteenth century.

Angkor was under pressure from the Thai who were being used by the Chinese to weaken
Angkor. Thai were originally from Yunnan / Guangxi. By 1350 CE they established Ayuttha
(Ayodhya) near the present-day Bangkok as their capital-city. The Thai, under instructions
from the Ming dynasty and instigation from Zheng He, sacked Angkor in 1431 CE. It must be
noted that the Thai art and culture is of Khmer origin (p. 157).

Despite a few descriptions about India by a handful of Europeans, Arabs successfully

eclipsed from Europe knowledge about India. On top of that an Englishman, Mandeville who
returned to his country after thirty-four years in 1354 CE claimed to have visited India, China
etc.. He wrote laughable tales about giants, women and geese and claimed that some Peter
John ruled India who was keen to extend support to Europe to fight Muslims! The falsehood
became an instant hit across Europe!

Europe was in search of a different trade route to India. In 1487 CE the Portuguese
Bartholomew Diaz succeeded in reaching the southern tip of Africa. The Portuguese king
then sent secret agents in the guise of Moroccon tradesmen to explore Indian Ocean, Red
Sea, weather, etc. en-route. Finally, In 1497 Vasco-da- Gama set sail for India. Columbus had
returned four years earlier from his voyage to America. Vasco-da-Gama reached Calicut
[Kozhikode] on May 14, 1498. The Samudrin [King] of Calicut received him in his royal

17
chamber. The Samudrin agreed to trade in pepper and other spices in exchange for gold and
silver. Vasco-da-Gama and his fleet returned home to a rapturous welcome. The king
prepared a larger fleet under the command of Pedro Alvares Cabral to invade Calicut. In
1500 CE the Portuguese reached Calicut and demanded that the Samudrin expel all Arabs
and trade exclusively with Portugal. They bombarded the city, forced the Samudrin to flee.
Thus the Indian Ocean came under the European control. Within decades thereafter, the
Portuguese sacked or occupied important western Indian-Ocean ports- Muscat, Mombasa,
Socotra, Hormuz, Malacca, etc. Vasco-da-Gama returned to Calicut a second time to display
the barbarity that was unheard of in this part of the word; he bombarded the city, seized all
the ships at the port, murdered their crew members, brutally murdered and mutilated a
negotiator sent by the king, hanged his [the egotiato s] t o so s. Po tuguese u de the
command of Afonso de Albuquerque attacked Goa in 1510 CE. Barbarity was displayed
again: the city was burnt, people were massacred for four days, and corpses were bundled
into shrines and burnt. Portuguese built fortifications to protect their interest in maritime
trade. A sample of their forts is located in the island of Diu today (p. 165).

The commander Alfonso de Albuquerque attacked Malacca and captured it in 1511 CE.
Francisco Serrao was made captain of a ship and sent out to scout the Spice Islands further
east. Their ship was blown into a reef and Serrao and his team were marooned on a small
uninhabited island. They hid themselves in the undergrowth and as soon as pirates reached
the e, he a d his tea took a a pi ates oat a d ea hed the Isla d of Hitu. The Hitus
were at war with a nearby island. Serrao supported the Hitus and won. The Sultan of
Ternate invited Serrao to help him in defeating Tidore. The two islands [Ternate & Tidore]
were the only source of cloves then.

The first Portuguese landing on the marshy Mumbai Island happened in 1509 CE where they
butchered men and animals to control the area. A physician Garcia da Orta was one of the
earliest European residents there. O ta as a e Ch istia hose Je ish pedig ee had
been forced to embrace Catholicism in the Inquisition-ridden Spain wherefrom they ran to
safet to Po tugal ut the I uisitio follo ed! O ta a a a to safet i Mu ai he e
he uietl studied edi i al p ope ties of lo al he s used lo al do to s hi h as
published in Goa in u de the title Colloquies on the Simples and Drugs of India
{p.169]. Goa as elati el safe fo the e Ch istia s ut the a i al of “t. F a is Xa ie i
1542 invited the Inquisition to Goa which resulted in death of Goan Hindus and destruction
of Hi du sh i es o a assi e s ale. O ta s siste as u ed as a i pe ti e t Je ess i
1569 CE; Syrian Christians were butchered, their books in Syriac were burnt. O ta s e ai s
were dug out of his grave and burned and the ashes thrown into the Mandovi River (p. 170).

When the Portuguese arrived in India, most of the north and the central India was under the
Turkic, Afghan and Persian kings. The southern India was under the rule of the famous
Vijyanagara Empire. Vijayanagara, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River was the largest
city in the world. Cochin and Calicut in Kerala were its vassals. The city had been established

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in 1336 CE by two brothers Hukka and Bukka. Several eye-witness accounts [Abdul Razzaq,
Domingo Paes, Fernao Nuniz] are available that describe the grandeur of the city during the
15-16th centuries (p. 171). Women in the kingdom would be wrestlers, astrologers,
soothsayers, accountants, musicians, dancers, and singers. Krishnadeva Raya, the most
accomplished king of the Empire was a fitness fanatic and a vigorous military leader (p. 172).
Vijayanagara, Portuguese as well as Muslim rulers had African slaves, called Siddi-s, in their
armies. Genetic studies have demonstrated that present-day Siddi-s of Karnataka-
Hyderabad-Gujarat is derived from the Bantu peoples of Africa. A few decades after
K ish ade a ‘a a s death the Muslim rulers joined hands defeated the Vijayanagara at
Talikota attle, a d dest o ed the g eat E pi e i CE. The o ld s la gest it at that
time was savagely pillaged for six months.

Ullal, near Mangalore was ruled by the warrior queen Abbakka who defeated Portuguese in
1555 CE but lost in 1581 CE. Her daughter and grand-daughter kept up the resistance for
another four decades using light coastal vessels to strike at the larger European ships. The
three warrior queens have been ignored by the male-chaunist Indian historian but the oral
history and folk tales of the region remember them with reverence. Some Western
chroniclers [Pietro Della Valle] have described their valour and exploits but the Indian
history is yet to acknowledge their mite (p. 175).

The Dutch and the English brought to an end the Iberian maritime supremacy [of Spain and
Portugal] towards the last decade of the sixteenth century C.E. James Lancaster
commandeered three ships in 1591 CE to Malacca, plundered Portuguese ships and
returned after suffering heavy loss of lives as well as the merchandise. The English Queen
Eliza eth i CE g a ted the E glish e ha ts pe issio to fou d The Co pa of
Me ha ts of Lo do k o to us as the East India Company. Skirmishes, attacks and
killings continued till the Dutch and the English signed the treaty of Banda in 1667 CE
whereby the Dutch got Palau Run Island in the East Indies and the English got Manhatten in
north America. The East India Company [EIC] initially confined its activities to south-east
Asia where they found that Indian cotton textiles was in great demand. There was huge
market for the Indian textile in Europe too. Thus EIC decided to permanent establishment in
India to trade in textiles, and to a lesser degree in spices. The English built warehouses in
Machalipatnam [Andhra coast], Hugli [Bengal], Surat [Gujarat]. Sir Thomas Roe led an
embassy to the court of Mughal Emperor Jahangir.

As their business grew, they built fortified settlements beginning with Fort St. George at
Chennai which was later strengthened and beautified towards the end of the 18 th century
CE. In 1639 CE the king, Srirangadeva Raya permitted Francis Day of the East India Company
to build a trading station on a tiny strip of land at Madrasapatnam. The Company built Fort
St. George on this strip and the local Chieftain [Nayak] named it after his father as
Chennapatanam. Hence the names Madras and Chennai.

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Their next major settlement was Mumbai which was partly acquired as dowry from the
Portuguese when King Charles II married Catherine of Braganza. Bombay/ Mumbai, then,
comprised a group of small islands which the king in 1668 CE leased at ten pounds per
annum to the EIC (p. 181-82).

The third major EIC settlement was built in Bengal when in 1690, Job Charnok of the EIC
bought the rights of three villages from the local landlords, Majumdars for Rs 1300. This is
how present day Kolkata, formerly Calcutta was founded. Each of these settlements
attracted a sizeable population of Indian merchants, sailors, clerks, labourers and artisans
and service providers (p. 183). Meanwhile the French East India Company consolidated its
settlement in Pondicherry [Puducherry now] and continued to retain it up to 1950 CE.

The employees of the English East India Company were prone to corruption and most of
them preferred to invest in their private businesses resulting in losses to the EIC. At one
time the then Governor of Madras was removed on account of corruption and with that ill-
gotten money, he funded the founding of a leading University in North America! The
Portuguese were pushed out of the Indian-Ocean by the Mughals as well as the Marathas
and thus they were reduced to trading in African slaves and kidnapping Indian children (p.
188). However, the Portuguese took control of Colombo and much of coast-line. The ruler of
Kandy in alliance with the Dutch evicted the Portuguese from Sri Lanka. The VOC (Dutch)
attempted to expand their trade-base to Kerala but the Nair ruler of Travancore Marthanda
Verma defeated them in the battle of Colachel in 1741 CE. Joseph Francois Depleix, the
French Governor of Pondicherry managed to control French Indian territory for over a
de ade ut the st ateg of the East I dia Co pa s ‘o e t Cli e t ea he ousl defeated
the Bengal Nawab, Siraj-ul-Daulah in the Bettle of Plassey in 1757 CE. The EIC win marked
the beginning of British rule and plunder in India. The Marathas were the biggest threat to
the EIC till 1818 CE. Tipu Sultan was another ruler the British had to fight and defeat. Tipu
had expanded his territory by hanging more than fifteen thousand Koorg men in Karnataka.
Tipu s ou t histo ia , Mi Hussei Kirmani records that Tipu ordered destruction of
hundreds of Hindu and Christian shrines in coastal Kerala. Tipu detested the matrilineal
customs of the region (p. 195). The British in alliance with the Marathas and the Nizam of
Hyderabad conquered half of Tipu s ki gdo in 1791 CE. Tipu sought military support from
Napolean and the Ottoman Sultan of Istanbul; the British defeated and killed Tipu in 1799
CE. They (the British) restored the Mysuru to its original ruler, the Wodeyar dynasty from
ho Tipu s fathe H de Ali, its ilita o a de , had usu ped the ki gdo . Tipu s
personal effects were shipped to England (p. 196).

The war for the control of spice-trade forced the French to secretly smuggle clove and
nutmeg seedlings from east-Asia to grow the costly spice in Zanzibar, Madagascar, and the
Ca i ea . I dia otto s, espe iall hi tz as smuggled to France and England, thus
attempts to destroy Indian textiles had begun. Cheap textiles made on an industrial scale by
British mills devastated the old artisan-made textile industry (p. 199).

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The Indian farmers in British-controlled areas were forced to grow opium and indigo which
was bought at very low-prices by the British traders; opium was smuggled out to China
where it was in great demand after the eighteenth century. When Napolean took control of
Holland, the British gradually [1799-1811] took control of the Dutch-controlled positions in
the south-east Asia by employing Indian troops. Singapore was declared a free-port in 1819
which attracted Chinese and Malays to the place. Finally, the Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1824
gave the British complete control over Singapore and Malay Peninsula. The British took
control of the entire Sri Lanka in 1815.

Chinese authorities allowed Europeans to restrict their trade to Canton. The opium-trade
gave smugglers and the East India Company an upper-hand in reducing the price of opium,
increasing the scale and spread of opium addiction among local populace and thereby
reversing the flow of silver which now drained China of silver and filled the coffers of the
British traders! In May 1839, the Chinese government destroyed 20,000 chests of opium in
Humen which triggered the first opium-war in which the British-Indian soldiers defeated the
Manchu emperor who had to accept a humiliating defeat at the Treaty of Nanjing.

The Indian Dogra Commander Zorawar Singh led his troops to Tibet but was defeated and
killed; the Chinese-Tibetan soldiers drove the Indian troops out to Ladakh and with the
Treaty of Chushul, the two warring factions halted their operations. This border region,
Chushul continues to be disputed area between China and India even today. The British with
the active support of the French and the Americans sent a huge force, mostly Indians, in
1860 CE to attack Peking. The Qing Emperor fled his capital; the palace was put on fire. The
Indian forces returned in 1900 to suppress the Boxer Revolt (p. 205). East India Company
lost control of the Indian Empire in 1858 when the crown came in to rule India! Prior to that,
three tycoons, David Sassoon, Jamsetjee and Premchand, all migrants, had already made it
big in Mumbai, then Bombay (p. 209-10).

In the mid-seventeenth century, the Omanis evicted Portuguese but soon the Persian
invader, Nadir Shah occupied Oman. Nadir Shah raided Delhi in 1739 and took away the
famous Peacock throne from the Mughals. In 1747, Omanis massacred Persian nobility
under a strategic move by Ahmad ibn Said and entered into a strategic- alliance with the
British. Sultan Siad ruled Oman between 1804 and 1856 and brought all round prosperity to
the state. He built naval bases at Muscat, Sur, Mutrah and Shinas ports and extended their
maritime empire up to Gwadar [now in Pakistan] and Zanzibar [now in Tanzania]. African
slaves were shipped from Zanzibar, so were cloves. In 1830, the Omani court moved to
Zanzibar to tighten its grip which lasted up to 1964. The British introduced anti-slavery laws
in 1833 primarily to subdue its rivals but went on shipping indentured labour from India to
Africa [Mauritius, Sechelles, Fiji, Zanzibar, South Africa] and the Caribbean [West Indies].

The emergence of Steam Ships and Fishing Fleets and the opening up of the Suez Canal
connecting the Red Sea to Mediterranean, instead of the Nile in Egypt, in 1869 reduced the
importance of the Indian Ocean. Aden re-emerged as a major hub. This new sea-route

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enabled young British women to travel to India and other colonies in search of husbands
and luxuries. A British agent at Buxar paid Rs. 5 and Rs. 8 respectively for a new male and
female recruit. During 1870-79, Calcutta shipped 142793 workers, Madras 19104, and
Pondicherry 20269 workers (p. 215).

During the eighteenth century, Indian money-lenders from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat spread
across south-east Asia and Africa. The Gujarati businessmen were discriminated against in
South Africa when MK Gandhi came in to oppose anti-Indian laws. In 1894, the Natal Indian
Congress was established with Gandhi as its Secretary.

South Africa was a Dutch colony till the British took it over in 1814 during Napoleonic wars.
The Dutch settlers came to be known as Afrikaners or Boers who moved into the interior
Soth Africa to preserve White domination over the Blacks! Zulus moved into much of
Southern Africa. As a result, the local black-communities ran away to the present-day
“ azila d a d Lesotho du i g that pe iod of Mfe a e The s atte i g . Xhosa [Nelso
Ma dela s o u it ] e e ushed et ee the )ulus a d the White-settlers.

India was the only source of diamonds till the eighteenth century when the metal was
discovered in Brazil too. Subsequently, gold deposits were discovered in South Africa in
1867, and in 1871 alone South Africa exported 269000 carats of diamonds. De Beers
Consolidated Mines Limited was incorporated in 1888 under Cecil Rhodes who became the
Prime Minister of Cape Colony and suppressed the Boers which led to the Anglo-Boer 1899-
1902 war. The English employed Indian Sepoys as well as the African Indians under the
leadership of MK Gandhi in the War against the Boers. Under the leadership of MK Gandhi
the Natal Indian Ambulance Corps was founded which provided medical support to the
British forces. Oxford University in Great Britian and several universities in the United States
of America provide Cecil Rhodes scholarship to deserving candidates irrespective of skin-
colour or religious affiliation. During the eighteenth century, especially after the opening up
of the new Suez Canal, the need of the coastalregions alone was reduced; Europeans moved
into the interiors of Africa to rob it of its forest and animal wealth. English took the southern
Africa, French took over large swathes of north and west Africa , Germany took away
territories that are now known as Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Namibia, Togo and
Cameroon. Tiny Belgium occupied what is now DR Congo. National boundaries in Africa
were drawn arbitrarily by the grabbers! Ethiopia was the last country in Africa to lose its
coastal territory [Eritrea] in 1885 to the Italians and the entire country to them in 1930 but
regained it after the 2nd WW. Thus Ethiopia is the only African country to have saved herself
from occupation by the Arabs as well as the Europeans (p. 223).

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Indian Ocean was under European control.
Bali was the only region with her own kings. In 1906, and 1908 the Dutch sent in forces with
ode a s to o t ol Bali egio . The Ki gs, all o alt eso ted to Paputa itual
sui ide the I dia e ui ale t of jauha i a ope field i f o t of the Bali Museu i
Denpasar and in Klu gku g. The i ilizi g issio of the Eu opea s as amply clear to all

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people across the globe. The victory of Japan in 1905 in Russo-Japanese war was a good sign
of the prowess of Asia. Much of action during the First World War [WW1], 1914-1917
happened in the trenches in Europe, but the Indian Ocean rim and the Mediterranean too
witnessed a number of important events. German ships placed at Tsingtao (Qingdao), a
German controlled enclave and other East Asian were not defensable, so these were asked
to reach Atlantic by rounding South America. The captain of Emden, Karl von Muller moved
into Indian Ocean instead and destroyed British ports and ships at Calcutta and Madras
before moving via Sri Lanka to Penang in Malacca Straits and then to Coco islands, south of
Sumatra where he was defeated and captured by Australian soldiers on-board HMASSydney.
Indian soldiers were the backbone of the British Empire. MK Gandhi supported the
recruitment of 1.3 million Indian soldiers for the war. 74000 of them perished in war in the
trenches of Europe and at Gallipoli. Germans tried to instigate Muslims, Turkish Sultan
Caliph as ell as t i als i southe I a to e olt agai st the B itish page -31). British
agent T E Lawrence [Lawrence of Arabia] went to Iraq to instigate Arabs against Turks. The
British army under Major General Townshend were surrounded and put under siege by the
Turks at Kut which ended after five months in April 1916, with the surrender of the British
commander and his soldiers: 3000 British, 6000 Indian troops who were force-marched to
Turkey as prisoners of war. Haider Pasha of Turkey declared himself the Ghazi (Holy
warrior). In April 1917, the USA declared war on Germany.

The revolutionaries under the leadership of Rash Behari Bose and Sachindra Nath Sanyal
planned to overthrow the Colonial regime in what they code-named as Ghadar uprising
which was to be executed by the army cantonments beginning with Mian Mir in NWFP and
Punjab, on February 21, 1915. The plan was revealed by one Kirpal Singh to the colonial
authorities. Police raids, arrests and army transfers brought the momentum to an end. Bose
sailed to Japan, Sanyal saw him off at the Calcutta docks in May 1915. Sanyal stayed back to
organize revolutionaries afresh. By 1916, most of the Indian revolutionaries were captured
and hanged, or sent to the cellular Jail complex at Andaman. Andaman is derived from
Mala p o u iatio of Ha u a page . “ i Au o i do s ou ge othe Ba i d a
Ghosh who spent a decade from 1909 onwards in these cells for his revolutionary activities
has left vivid descriptions of life inside these cells.

Instead of rewarding India for contributing to the British war-effort, the colonialists
introduced the draconian Rowlatt Act in 1919 that gave sweeping powers to arrest and
detain activists! This was followed by the massacre of unarmed men, women and children at
Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in April, 1919. It was another example of cold-blooded
massacre like the one the Dutch perpetrated several decades earlier in Bali. The British
e hi ited thei sa age et lai ed to e i ilized !

I o de to edu e people s a ge , the B itish f eed the li i g e olutio a ies f o the

Andaman prison cells who agreed to cooperate with MK Gandhi. MK Gandhi launched non-
violent, non-cooperation movement which picked up momentum quickly and widely. But

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Gandhi withdrew the call after the Chauri-Chaura violence where the agitationists killed a
few police men. The withdrawal of the non-cooperation movement did not go well with the
revolutionaries. The sa it as Ga dhi s h po is espe iall he a fe eeks p io to this
incident the Irish had brought freedom to their country under the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The
revolutionaries founded Hindustan Republical Army in 1924. Sachin Sanyal came in contact
with Subhash Chandra Bose, [Neta ji, the leader]. Neta ji later formed an international group
of revolutionaries to overthrow the British.

When the second World War [WW2] broke out in 1939, the British recruited another 2.5
million Indians to participate in the allied war effort. MK Gandhi decided against
participating in the war. He launched non-violent, Quit-India Movement. All the Congress
leadership was arrested and MA became a dearest of the colonial masters. Subhash Bose
[Neta ji] came to know the Japanese had captured Singapore where the erstwhile
revolutionary Rash Bihari Bose, who had escaped to Japan after the collapse of the Ghadar
uprising, was organizing surrendered Indian soldiers into Indian National Army [INA]. Neta ji
escaped to Singapore where the senior Bose made him the commander of INA. Neta ji
delivered a rousing speech at the handover ceremony at Cathey Cinema, now a shopping
mall (page 243). INA enrolled a significant number out of the 40000 surrendered soldiers of
the Indian origin. S R Nathan, a future President of Singapore, witnessed the event as a boy.
Japanese captured Andaman and Nicobar islands and made Neta ji its de-jure Chief. INA
joined Japanese to invade India beginning with Burma. The ferocious battle happened at
Kohima and Imphal resulting in Japanese fall in 1944. A year earlier food stuff from Bengal
was diverted to feed the British forces leading to severe and infamous Bengal Famine that
killed millions of people in otherwise food-surplus Bengal. Winston Churchill ignored the
plight e a ki g that Be galis eed like a its a d that I dia s e e a eastl people
ith a eastl eligio page -45). Japan surrendered on August 15, 1944 to the
Commander of Allied Forces in South-east and East Asia, the last Viceroy to India. August 15
was significant to him so he grated freedom to India on the same date in 1947.

After the Japanese surrender Neta ji flew from Singapore to Taiwan. Rest is a mystery.

Following into the foot-steps of INA, the Royal Indian Navy in Mumbai revolted on February
18-23, 1946 which was subsequently followed by the sailors at Calcutta and Karachi. The
B itish I dia sepo s efused to shoot at the sailo s. The I dia Natio al Congress as well
as the Muslim League asked the sailors to surrender. Lacking political leadership, the sailors
surrendered. Soon thereafter, the signals unit of the army in Jabalpur also rebelled. Indian
soldiers constituted the backbone of the British Empire; these revolts were thus ominous.

The Japanese has e su ed defeat of the Dut h i the East I dies. Afte Japa s su e de ,
Sukarno of Indonesia proclaimed independence but the Dutch were quick to attack and
bring another spell of turmoil in the regio hi h esulted i a othe paputa a d fi all
under US pressure, the Dutch recognized Sukarno as the Chief of the region. Sukarno had
the dream to re-esta lish the a ie t Majapahit E pi e page 249().

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India gained independence on August 15, 1947 and soon the British had to wind up from
other colonies of the Indian Ocean. Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt nationalized the Suez
Canal Company in 1956, the British, French and Israel invaded Egypt to take control of the
Canal. They won the battle by had to withdraw under pressure from the USA and the then
Soviet Union. Colonial system came to an end within the next fifteen odd years with the
exception of South Africa where a white minority rule over Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe,
continued for some more years. Australia had become a white-majority state where the
indigenous communities had been brutally reduced to minorities (page 250). The French
attempted to retain Vietnam in south-east Asia but by 1954 the Vietnamese inflicted a
crushing defeat to the French in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and Ho Chi Minh took control of
the north Vietnam; the south of the country came under the control of the US-backed
French regime which was finally sent off in 1975 after violent sacrifices. Indian Ocean rim
witnessed violence for many more years after the departure of the colonial masters. In
Cambodia two million people were killed by Khymer Rouge Regime; Pakistan army killed
three million Bengalis and pushed ten million into India resulting in the creation of
Bangladesh in 1971. In the Western Indian Ocean, Ethiopia and Eritrea fought till 1991. After
1962 , the military junta in Myanmar expelled thousands of Indians, so did Idi Amin of
Uga da i to I dia s. Afte Ho Chi Mi h s fo es defeated the th e out the olo ial
forces from the southern Vietnam, Indian businesses there were badly affected. There are
two Hindu temples in the middle of Ho Chi Minh City (page 252).

After the exit of the colonial masters, the Persian Gulf states became economically strong
rapidly. Oil was discovered in Iran in 1908. Bahrain was producing oil by 1932, followed by
Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait by 1938. The oil-exports made the region economically strong. In
1963, the British colonies of Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo (Sabah) agreed to enter
i to a fede atio ith the Mala Pe i sula states. I do esia s “uka o looked at this pla
with suspicion as an attempt to thwart his dream of re-building the Majapahit Empire.
Meanwhile, the Malay politician, Dr. Mahatir Mohamad, originally of Indian origin (a Nandi
Varman in reverse), accused the firebrand socialist Singapore-leader Lee Kuan Yew for
supporting race-riots in Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew assumed Prime Ministership of the tiny,
slum-ridden Singapore Island in August 1965. Lee Kuan Yew decided to ask multinational
companies to set up manufacturing hub in Singapore by offering them peace, low taxes and
ease of doing business. Ship-building, garments manufacturing and oil-refining brought
prosperity to Singapore and the city-state began to import workers. In the 1980s the
industry diversified to manufacture electronic gadgets and pharmaceuticals.Lee Kuan Yew
passed away in 2015 leaving behind the most advanced city in the world.

In 1990-91 the former Soviet-U io ollapsed sudde l ; I dia shifted f o Neh u s so ialist
model to liberal economy; Nelson Mandela was released from prison after twenty eight
years; he became the President of South Africa in 1994 and stepped down in 1999, just after
o e te . Nelso Ma dela s dete i atio e a led hi to i g a i g Whites E glish
and Boers), tribe/community-sick/confined blacks to see reason. Lee Kuan Yew of

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Singapore and Nelson Mandela of South Africa are shining examples of individual who
created history (page 237). India gained independence in 1947, it became a Republic with a
itte o stitutio i , Bo a Mu ai e e ged as the ou t s o e ial
capital; Nariman Point in Mumbai is the most expensive real estate in the world today; the
populations rose significantly in all the metros [Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai] and
elsewhere.

One has to bear in mind that a linear account of history is always misleading (page 260).
History flows but it flows neither from nor to Utopia (ibid). Old cultural-ideas, customs and
rituals guide us even today despite the flow of time; monsoon winds may not guide ships or
sea-fare but these winds bring smiles to millions of farmers across the Indian-Ocean rim.
Matrilineal customs continue to guide communities and families at several places. Several
female leaders rose to the highest seat of power in several countries in the region: Mrs.
Indira Gandhi, Sirimavo Bhandaranaike, Sheikh Hasina, Magawati Sukarnoputri, Corazon
Aquino, Benazir Bhutto, Aung San Suu Kyi. One can notice complete absence of female
leaders in Africa.

The lesson HISTORY teaches is as follows: Time devours the greatest of men and the
mightiest of Empires (Page 262).

Raj Nath Bhat, BHU Varanasi-2 25-01-2018

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