Taking the Sea Seriously

In the hills of south India where I live there is a profusion of plants from temperate climates brought over by British (and European) expatriates, in order to recreate a familiar ambience of remembered colours and scents. But what has intrigued me the most is the prevalence of many trees, ferns and flowering plants which are indigenous to South Africa, and specifically to the Cape region. This has led me to speculate whether we should not also study the history of gardens as one more facet of cross-cultural contacts across the seas that have developed over the centuries, creating an interface between distant regions. It is perhaps this seemingly limitless scope for studying the many strands of ‘community networks’ which motivates historians continually to explore how maritime contacts have forged economic and cultural links along the coastal regions bordering the Indian Ocean.

The editors of the book under review note that ‘this volume seeks to shift the focus to maritime connections of the Indian Ocean and emphasizes the contribution of those communities whose members sailed its waters or traded to its shores. The contributors address this project from a variety of disciplines and perspectives, but each one hopes to do so within the context of an Indian Ocean world that takes the sea seriously’ (p. 9).