The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History

I have only studied the history required in my school days, but largely shunned any study of 'discretionary history' throughout my life because their dry nature makes reading them similar to trying to run through a vat of molasses. 'Ocean of Churn' is one book that I can't wait to pick up every day and continue my reading. I also find myself drawing mental timelines and laying the histories of various regions side by side. Still on the first read, I am certain I will read it again and actually start writing down notes. Very engaging, updated with latest facts and genetic linkages, and I am glad a friend recommended the book to me.

History unlike any other field of study is heavily reliant on interpretation as and only mildly with evidence. It is not due to lack of evidence or facts, but primarily due to two key factors. Firstly, due to the narrative nature of the subject, historians tend to piece together a “story” rather than the “history” which is almost always myopic or even worse, driven by personal agendas of the so-called historians. Secondly, this very act of narration leads to a celebration of the larger than life historical characters. Doing this culminates in suppression, manipulation, distortion, and fictionalization of facts to accommodate the narration of the historians. History in turn becomes a propaganda and ceases to be a meaningful exercise in understanding and documenting our past as human being. Audrey Truschke’s recent work on Aurangzeb is a most recent example of the above mentioned distortion of facts combined with extremely prejudiced view point. Sanjeev Sanyal instead treats history as a complex adaptive system where small events becomes a catalyst for grand changes similar to the “butterfly effect”. He treats the events around the Indian ocean from a systems perspective where events are not isolated, but associated. Where even though larger than life figures do emerge, these characters themselves have transformed constantly adapting to the changing environment around them. The author brings out not just overlooked facts like instances of Indian soldiers popping up throughout the history around the world, the matrilineal heritage and how it impacted the kingdoms, events where Hindu population from Bali fighting to the last man, woman or child against the Dutch, the ancient naval powers like Kalinga to name few. Finally in this brilliant work, he tacitly cautions us against linearizing the scientific interpretations with an example of how genetic evidence can very well describe complete falsehood misaligned with current events. I would highly recommend to read this book as it not only provides food for thought, but also seeds and germinates the methodology on how history should be studied in future.

The book's title refers to an event in the Hindu Creation story when the Cosmic Ocean was turbulently swirling, and from out of that churn appeared all sorts of exotic things, some dangerous, some valuable. It makes an apt metaphor for this story of the Indian ocean and its surrounding lands where the movements of peoples back and forth created riches, wars, and opportunities. The book covers a lot of ground, and it can be hard keeping up with all the migrations, kingdoms, dynasties and wars, since the book covers from 75,000 years ago to modern times but it never gets so academic as to numb you. As the author notes, many books on Indian history tend to concentrate on the North, and the coastal and southern regions had an entirely different history. Ultimately, I view it as an interesting and entertaining primer on the region that will lead me into further reading.

It is amazing how few and far between are any publications on the Indian Ocean. We have thousands of books on Atlantic, thousands on Pacific. But good luck to you trying to find one on the Indian Ocean. So this one is a little jewel. And is certainly benefits considerably from the author native background and inner knowledge of the subcontinent's culture and history.

The Ocean of Churn is very well researched, compelling, enlightening work and is a must read. Many surprising facts that we encounter in the book are either forgotten, unheard, ignored or deliberately suppressed. History shapes the future as they say. We see it being played out in a different shape and form now of the past. Kudos to the author by keeping the attention of the reader with lucid narrative.

I am half way through the book, and what an absolute gem of a book this is. So many facts and stories packed in every single page of the book. I am in awe of Mr.Sanyal!

I enjoyed reading the book. I felt that i was talking to the author. The style is simple and reflects genuineness of the author as well as the labour that has gone into the task of data collection.The information gathered appears to have been analysed dispassionately.It is notable that no great leader has been shown in bad light and only some new f

very readable history of all asia. wish my high school history was taught like this

I was amazed at what I learned from this book. So much research and time went into this story about the Indian Ocean and its people. So many events, civilizations, kingdoms that nobody ever mentions in historical books. The writing style is great. Things are revealed in a very interesting way. He actually goes to the places he writes about and mentions what is there now, for those of us tourists/journeyers/travellers who may visit. Can't wait to read more of Sanjeev Sanyal's books.

Loved the book . Well researched and written in a very interesting manner . The history of the Indian Ocean is the history of the whole of South East Asia .

Es un buen complemento para comprender la historia de la India.

Just Brilliant

The ocean of churn ; The plethora of knowledge An erudite of history is constantly grappled with the questions about ; How do we judge an individual from history- do we judge them by their intentions or by the consequences of their actions? Do we judge them only by the standard of their times or by some absolute yard stick? Why are historians tend to be dismissive of the “Great Men Theory “ And finally . does really TIME devours the greatest of men and the mightiest of the empires? The Book ‘Ocean Of Churn’ by Sanjeev Sanyal is indispensable for all those readers who are seeking answers to the above questions. When the historians talk about history they limit their studies mainly to wars, social ,political happening of the land during a particular time frame, dynasties ruled , the rulers/ kings came and gone and their subsequent contribution in the field of economy , art , architecture , literature and patronage of other religion. But , the author set his plot on the vast role the Indian Ocean played in shaping the history of East Africa, Middle East, Indian subcontinent , south east Asia and Australia from the time immemorial. The geo political alliances, rivalries among African tribes, Middle East Arabs, Persian and Turks insidious conquests , rise and fall of Dutch in south east Asia , fall of the Ottoman Empire , fall of Constantinople and European sailors sailing towards cape of good hope to find new sea route to India marks a sublime reading. From the dawn of civilisation starting with Harappan, the Indian were trading with half of the world when sea routes , oceanic currents were unknown to mankind. The constant migration of human as early as 400 BC for trade and economic survival gave rise to canal being built to connect Red Sea to the Nile, the modern day Suez Canal. The famous Greek historian Herodotus in his book , ‘The Histories’, gives a glimpse of how Indian soldiers looked, the attire they wore , arms and amunitions they used , horses and chariots ..... Though his account is only grabbed mix of fact and fiction, the gold mines, cinnamon stick , abundant supply of precious stones and diamonds attracted early sailers from Persia , Turkey , Madagascar, Eritrea ...... Drawing of similarities on flora and fauna of Indian Ganges and the upper reaches of river Nile , it deceived Alexander the Great , he miscalculated ,sailing down Indus he thought he can reach Mediterranean. It is worth noting the author debunks the aryan invasion theory too. Untangling of mysteries behind rich Hindu culture that has been followed in south Asian counties is intriguing. The Southern kingdoms of Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas and pallavas heavily influenced the south Asian countries. The socio cultural and political exchanges with kingdom of Sri vijaya , Champa, Majapahit, Angkor, Vietnam and islands of Java, Sumatra, Bali could be felt even to this day. Many temples and monuments in these areas have become UNESCO world heritage sites. Other distinguishing feature is the practice of matrilineal lineage. Hence the Naga princess of Cambodian royalty( Malay) after the matrimonial alliances never let the kings to get back to their original kingdom. The year 731 AD marks the historical significance , after the death of Parameshwara Verma the Pallava, the dynasty was on the brick of collapse , the delegation of Brahmin scholars set on a voyage to present day Cambodia to bring back the rightful hair to the Pallava throne , 12 year prince Nandi Varma II. The chola empire was the most powerful in the south East Asian subcontinent , the great and the most powerful Rajendra Chola made a naval attack on vijaya kingdom of Sumatra in 1025 and stretched his empire up to Kedah( Malaysia) The historical account of Prince of Orissa establishing the Sinhalese kingdom is like a icing on cake. Globalisation existed much before the Muslims and EIC set foot on Indian soil. Arab, Persian, Roman, Greek and Jewish merchants traded extensively with the costa lines of Indian oceans. The Yemeni merchants ( the Arabs) and the Jewish community were given a red carpet welcome in the ports of Calicut , the rulers granted lands to built their places of worship. This happens to be the first account of globalisation. As significant population of Kerala was transitory and female population was more rooted, the matrilineal society sprung up. Indian Ocean was also a witness to many wars and depredations. Constant naval war prevailed among Greeks, Persians , Turks , Arabs later Chinese to be added to the list . Though the Turks were the Indian nemesis later part of 14th century saw the Portuguese joining the bandwagon . It is fascinating to know how less known king Marthanda Varma of Travancore handled with agility and defeated Dutch who wanted to establish a supremacy over pepper growing lands. What was once a bustling city of wealth, gems, scholars ‘the Vijayanagara kingdom’ turned into a post apocalyptic ghost town devoid of any life. Indian subcontinent and south east Asia could not shield itself from the wrath of colonial rule. Fratricidal conflict was an added fuel to the growing power of the British imperial. East India company was all about corporate greed, the Indian cotton textiles served as a reason for establishment of east India company . How did modern day corruption enter Indian system and then got institutionalised ? The then governor of Madras Elihu Yale amassed huge wealth by poking holes in the balance sheets, this audacious plundering of wealth went scot free. There are very few books that makes you read again again till you assimilate everything that’s been written , Ocean of Churn is one of the book reader likes to cherish . Insightful analysis of the events , personal visitation to archeological sites , trips to historical sites around the world by the author adds credibility ... Singapore city raising from slums to skyrocketing city, Bombay being renamed as Mumbai, some of the South African countries Zimbabwe, Ethiopia , Uganda , Eritrea finally becoming free from the clutches of French and British rules made feel we are bidding adieu to the Indian Ocean that churned and reshaped the great civilisations , dynasties/ empires of human history .