Mainstream
Mainstream, VOL LIX No 1, New Delhi, December 19, 2020
Exploring the Indian Ocean as a rich archive of history – above and below the water line | Isabel Hofmeyr and Charne Lavery
Saturday 19 December 2020
June 7, 2020 - Updated December 6, 2020
On many beaches around the Indian Ocean, keen observers may spot bits of broken pottery. Washed smooth by the ocean, these shards are in all likelihood hundreds of years old, from centres of ceramic production like the Middle Eastern Abbasid caliphate and the Chinese Ming dynasty.
Originally destined for Indian Ocean port cities, this pottery would have been purchased by merchant elites accustomed to eating off fine plates. These traders formed part of vast commercial networks that crisscrossed the Indian Ocean arena and beyond, from East Africa to Indonesia, the Middle East and China.
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On many beaches around the Indian Ocean, keen observers may spot bits of broken pottery. Washed smooth by the ocean, these shards are in all likelihood