The archaeology of knowledge traditions of the Indian Ocean world / edited by Himanshu Prabha Ray.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ray, Himanshu Prabha, editor.

Rosengarten International Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Archaeology and history--Indian Ocean Region.

Archaeology and history.

Indian Ocean Region--Antiquities.

Indian Ocean Region.

Indian Ocean Region--Intellectual life.

Indian Ocean Region--Civilization.

Antiquities.

Civilization.

Intellectual life.

Physical Description:

xvi, 270 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Edition:

South Asia edition.

Distribution:

New Delhi, India : Manohar Publishers & Distributors.

Place of Publication:

London; New York : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2021.

Summary:

This book examines knowledge traditions that held together the fluid and overlapping maritime worlds of the Indian Ocean in the premodern period, as evident in the material and archaeological record. It breaks new ground by shifting the focus from studying cross-pollination of ideas from textual sources to identifying this exchange of ideas in archaeological and historical documentation. The themes covered in the book include conceptualization of the seas and maritime landscapes in Sanskrit, Arabic and Chinese narratives; materiality of knowledge production as indicated in the archaeological record of communities where writing on stone first appears; and anchoring the coasts, not only through an understanding of littoral shrines and ritual landscapes, but also by an analysis of religious imagery on coins, more so at the time of the introduction of new religions such as Islam in the Indian Ocean around the eighth century. This volume will be of great interest to researchers and scholars of archaeology, anthropology, museum and heritage studies, Indian Ocean studies, maritime studies, South and Southeast Asian studies, religious studies and cultural studies.

This book examines knowledge traditions that held together the fluid and overlapping maritime worlds of the Indian Ocean in the premodern period, as evident in the material and archaeological record, The themes covered include conceptualization of the seas and maritime landscapes in Sanskrit, Arabic and Chinese narratives.

Contents:

1. Introduction / Himanshu Prabha Ray

Part I. Conceptualising the Seas : Introduction

2. Seven Seas and an Ocean of Wisdom : An Indian Episteme for the Indian Ocean / Srinivas G. Reddy

3. Gendered Spatialisation of the Ocean in the Kathāsaritsāgara / Tara Sheemar Malhan

4. Conceptualising the Far West: Early Chinese Notions of Da Qin and the Indian Ocean Trade / Matthew A. Cobb

5. Al-Muqaddasī's tenth-century maritime landscapes of the Arabian Red Sea / Dionisius A. Agius

Part 2. The Materiality of Knowledge Production : Introduction / Himanshu Prabha Ray

6. Making Megaliths and Constituting Collectives : Politics, Places, and Historicity in Prehistoric South India / Andrew M. Bauer and Peter G. Johansen

7. Bullion, Baubles and Bowls : Reconstructing networks of exchange in the Indian Ocean / Uthara Suvrathan

8. Material cultures of writing in the Indian Ocean world : A palm-leaf letter at the Mamluk court / Elizabeth Lambourn

Part 3. Anchoring the Coasts : Introduction / Himanshu Prabha Ray

9. Practices of Faith : The Coastal Shrines of South Arabia / Salila Kulshreshtha

10. Entangled Traditions: The Royal Barges of Angkor / Veronica Walker Vadillo

11. Musical Nomenclature for the Sanskrit term kangsa in Southeast Asia / Arsenio Nicolas

12. Connected Words : Coins and Maritime Worlds of the Indian Ocean / Shailendra Bhandare.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten International Fund.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9780367775339

0367775336

OCLC:

1515035073