Rediscovering the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean Bullion for Goods: European and Indian Merchants in the Indian Ocean Trade 1500-1800 by Om Prakash; Manohar, Delhi, 2004;
TIRTHANKAR ROY This volume republishes 21 essays by Om Prakash, eminent historian of early modern trade in the Indian Ocean, and one of the key architects of this field of scholarship. The essays were written between 1964 and 2002, over a long and productive engagement with the field. Quite a few of these first appeared in edited books, and are not easily accessible to students. Whereas the earlier essays are rather more specialised, some of the recently written ones display a grand vision of the Asian commercial world that is synoptic and yet complex and richly detailed. Some of the specialised essays, such as