Asia before Europe: Economy and Civilisation of the Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to 1750 [Paperback]

K. N. Chaudhuri (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 1991

This book explores the dynamic interaction between economic life, society and civilisation in the regions around and beyond the Indian Ocean during the period from the rise of Islam to 1750. Within a distinctive theory of comparative history, Professor Chaudhuri analyses how the identity of different Asian civilisations was established. He examines the structural features of food habits, clothing, architectural styles and housing; the different modes of economic production; and the role of crop raising, pastoral nomadism, and industrial activities for the main regions of the Indian Ocean. In an original and perceptive conclusion, the author demonstrates how Indian Ocean societies were united or separated from one another by a conscious cultural and linguistic identity. However, there was a deeper structure of unities created by a common ecology, technology, technology of economic production, traditions of government, theory of political obligations and rights, and a shared historical experience. His theory enables the author to show that the real Indian Ocean was an area that extended historically from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to the sea which lies beyond Japan.

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'... utterly fascinating. It treats matters as diverse as the arrangement of caravanserai in Gujerat and the means by which the Chinese achieve the blue jelly of their preserved eggs; the primitive air-conditioning of tower houses in Yemen and the length of time a dromedary can go without water ... '. The Guardian

Product Details

• Paperback: 495 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (January 25, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521316812
• ISBN-13: 978-0521316811
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,435,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Asia Before Europe, July 24, 2001

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Robert J. Nuxoll "Bob Nuxoll" (Bayside, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Asia before Europe: Economy and Civilisation of the Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to 1750 (Paperback)

K.N. Chadhuri is an economic historian whose "Asia Before Europe: Economy and Civisation of the Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to 1750" is a 434 page detailed study of the Indian Ocean trading network during the millenium preceding its fall under European hegemony. It further develops the thesis he first presented in his 1985 book, "Trade and Civilisation in the Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to 1750." In that earlier work he presents the argument that "Asia" is a word of European origin with little real meaning other than tthat it refers to the non-European part of the vast Eurasian landmass and that the Indian Ocean basin is the real unifier and transmitter of cultural exchange and integration. In this work he refers to Fernand Braudel's work on the Mediterranean basin economy and Chaudhuri extends that methodology to the Indian Ocean. Just as Braudel insisted that the Mediterranean economy extended to, influenced, and even included subsidiary areas as far north as the Baltic and as far south as the saharan Sahel; Chaudhuri includes the economies of East Africa (inadequately treated), the East Indies, Malaya (Malacca), and the subcontinent, but he does not stop there. He insists that the "isthmus" of the Middle East, South China and even the Silk Road and North China are as related to the Indian Ocean as the Braudel's Baltic was to the Mediterranean. He then discusses in some detail the societies, clothing, agriculture, nomadism, industry, and urban areas; devoting a full chapter to each. He discusses the uniqueness of each area and the exchanges with copious use of primary sources. All this is done to prove that the Indian Ocean economy was dependent upon the tacit cooperation of Dar al-Islam and the Hindu and Buddhist states; and that commerce was the driving force that made the local economies prosperous, expansive and efficiently developing. He posits that the European incursion stifled this exchange and Europe's disruption, ignorance and violent arrogance made the basin prone to conquest. He concludes that European hegemony resulted in the area's relative poverty.