the context
From a very young age, with the onset of cognition, there are some things whose presence in our lives and in the world around us we take absolutely for granted. These things seem like they have always been there. So deeply are they woven into the fabric of the culture one is born into that to question whether they really belong in it seems entirely unnecessary. Indeed, the question does not even appear in our minds. Snacks like samosa or jalebi, vegetables like chili or potato, the musical instrument, harmonium, etc., fall into this category of things. They are as authentically 'Indian' as the ground beneath our feet. Or, are they?
At least some of you will certainly find it a bit disorienting that each of these items is exotic, i.e., they were brought to India from elsewhere in the world and then grew roots so deep that they became naturalized in the cultural landscape of India. Chilies, potatoes, and tomatoes came from the Americas with the Portuguese in the 16th century; jalebi is, originally, a Middle Eastern confection, as is the samosa; and, the harmonium is an European instrument, brought to India by Christian missionaries, even though, as with jalebis and samosas, it was modified over the course of its life in the subcontinent.
This week, we will look into the long history of flows of various objects, flora and fauna--from mega fauna, like elephants, to microbes; from garden plants to narcotics--for which the Indian subcontinent has been a source, or transit, or recipient. Our engagements will serve as a reminder that never in the long arc of history has India been a purely self-sufficient cultural and geographical entity. Rather, it has been a preeminent node in such movements ever since the rise of urban centers in the ancient world And that while contemporary globalization has certainly entailed a paradigmatic shift in how things and beings move across space over time, global connections, fueled by trade and commerce are as old as human civilization itself.
In order to cover both a broad span of history as well as wide range of things in flow, there will be two related approaches to our theme for the week. The first will be more lecture-oriented and will focus on two networks trade and commerce in the ancient world, in which India featured prominently: the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean Trade Network. The second approach will require you to work with your colleagues in small groups. Each group will be assigned a historically traded object/ plant/ animal in whose biography India plays a prominent role. You will to do some research on your topic and present your findings before the class.
Click to explore UNESCO's Silk Roads Programme
Delve into the expansive world of the Indian Ocean Trade Network by browsing this fabulously curated website
preparing
for the week
As you engage with the assigned material for this week, let your imagination fly. Imagine yourself as a traveler joining the a Silk Road caravan from India, crossing mountains and high altitude deserts, as you head west towards Turkey. Or, think of yourself as a ship-hand setting sail on the deep blue waters of the Arabian sea from a port on the Malabar coast with a cargo of pepper, headed towards the Arabian peninsula. Maybe you are a wealthy Mughal noble-woman, whose vessel carrying spices, textiles, and jewellery from India has been captured by Portuguese pirates in the high seas. Or you could be French botanist, carrying specimens of European garden plants as diplomatic gifts for Tipu Sultan in Mysore. Or, you could be a Parsi businessman from Bombay taking a shipment of opium to Hong Kong. The possibilities are endless and the travels rife with uncertainty and adventure. But before you set out on your travels, make sure you do your readings.
READINGS:
You have one reading on the Silk Road and one viewing on the Indian Ocean Trade Network (IOTN) assigned for this week. These provide a historical overview of the two ancient trade networks in which India was an important node in different aspects. While going through the reading, pay particular attention to the letter from 1,700 hundred years ago, in which a Silk Road trader located in China writes home in the Sogdian province, which lies a little north and west of Kashmir, about the unstable political situation in China interfering with trade along the Silk Road. You might find it oddly resonant with our times. The video, on the other hand, opens up the less familiar world of oceanic trade and movement. Apart from the historical detailing of IOTN, it will invite you to dwell upon an idea of economy, culture, and society that is framed in relation to the sea/water and not the land, which is the the usual space of reference when we engage with these concepts. It requires a cognitive shift not to think in territorial terms as a default.
VIEWINGS:
This week, we will resume our travels with Michael Wood and the Story of India he weaves. Specifically, we will see the third of the six episodes in the documentary series, titled Spice Routes and Silk Roads. Again, as with the previous episode that we have seen, while watching the documentary, we will remain attentive to how Wood tells the story. And, again, while remaining critical, we will also enjoy the spectacular journey that Wood takes us on--from the Kerala coast and overseas trade with Rome to the high altitude plains of Turkmenistan and India's place in the Silk Road trade.
key concepts:
To sharpen our understanding of the historical processes under scrutiny this week, we will need to be clear about three key concepts: (i) biota; (ii) material culture; and (iii) trade.
key concept #1:
biota
If you have been wondering what the term 'biota' in this week's theme means, well, here it is: the term was coined by biologists in the early 20th century to refer to the totality of animal and plant life in a given geographical area or in different places in a given time period. Biotas along with abiotic materials necessary to sustain them together make up the biosphere.
Especially in the epoch of the anthropocene, biotas have become dynamic in character. They are subject to change, owing to both anthropogenic, i.e., humanly caused, as well as non-anthropogenic factors. For example, take the bougainvillea plant. It would not be an exaggeration to state that it is hard to imagine a garden today in India without one. Indeed, the bougainvillea bush in bloom is one of the most common floral sightings across the country today. The plant in question, however is native not to India, but to South America. It was brought to the subcontinent by the British in 1860. The British have long left, but the bougainvillea is everywhere.
This is just one of many, many examples that one could provide to illustrate the dynamism of biotas in the anthropocene. And this is what is meant by 'flows of biota'--the movement of plant and animals that are native to one part of the world to another part, where over time they become naturalized. In certain cases, such flows disrupt the ecological balance of the host environment and have grave consequences for native species--take for example the case of Burmese pythons in southeastern United States. In others, exotic species become naturalized and diversify the biota.
key concept #2:
Material culture
Simply put, ‘material culture’ is the totality of relationships that develop between physical objects—things—and human beings, as well as between human beings through things, in a given society during a given time period. Looking at society through the lens of material culture complicates the relation people (subjects) have with things (objects). Typically, we believe tend to believe that human beings--subjects--control the world of things--objects. We produce the world of objects. We manipulate things. We assign values to them. We can even destroy them, if we want.
Inverting this common-sense understanding and relationship, a material culture perspective allows us to consider seriously the power things exert over us. It opens up for enquiry how objects motivate human behaviors and actions, including trade and travel. It brings into relief the different kinds of things human beings share their everyday lives and spaces with; the properties of the raw materials with which things are made. It invites us to look at how different kinds of things end up in the possession of different kinds of people in a society; at the social , economic, and cultural factors that determine these relations of possession; at how do objects define and reflect social power? In other words, a material culture approach to the world around us reveals a lot about social organization and cultural practices of a given society.
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Considering that we are dealing with historical flows of goods this week, bringing a material culture approach to the objects of our enquiry will keep us alert to various dimensions of the relationship between human beings and things as noted above.
key concept #3:
trade
'Trade' is one of those concepts, which, like quite a few others in the course, is deceptively simple in its appearance, but deeply complex in its real workings. Here, we will expand on the idea at its most basic conceptual level.
To begin with the obvious, trade is intimately connected to material culture, to the world of things, of goods. As an act of exchange and as a process of exchanging, of things changing hands, trade is born out of both necessity and desire--its two great engines, as it were. What is deemed to necessary and desirable in a society is, however, not static. They keep changing over time.
Historically, trade as a significant social practice emerged with the rise of urban centers in the ancient world. Goods began to move across large distances. Along with goods, of course, moved people, animals, ideas and practices. As as societies grew more complex, routes along which goods traveled stabilized, conventions of exchange were formalized, currencies of exchange emerged, nodes and networks spanning long distances developed. In short, the social system that we call the ‘economy’ began to congeal. This week's theme, to begin with, will drop us precisely as that point in history when trade, especially long distance trade is an emergent phenomenon the world.
SOME TAKEAWAYS
Throughout the history of human civilization, goods—both finished products and raw materials—as well as non-human life forms—everything from germs, animals, and plants—have moved from their places of origin to different parts of the world.
Historically, such movements of goods and biota have been along trade and migration routes, both ancient ones and those relatively closer to our own times.
The Indian subcontinent, across its vast geography and throughout its history, has been a source, a receiver, and a transit point for such movements of goods and biota.
Many things that we consider to be quintessentially ‘Indian’ today have their origin elsewhere.
Knowledge of this underlines two learning objectives from this week: (i) since the dawn of civilization, India and the Indian subcontinent have been connected to far-flung parts of the world through trade, commerce, and migrations; (ii) this history of interconnections makes our country a wonderfully mixed-up and culturally diverse place, something that is reflected in a range of things—from our food habits to our gardens.
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This week, we have primarily looked at goods and biota that have come from outside the Indian subcontinent and become naturalized here over the course of history. Can you think of some goods and biota that have gone out of the Indian subcontinent and made a home elsewhere in the world, both in our own times and in the historical past?
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