Review
African novelist and scholar Chinua Achebe famously said that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter. Most of the books related to the history of Asia and Africa have suffered from this bias since time immemorial. Sanjeev Sanyal attempts to correct this imbalance with his book Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean shaped human history . At the core of the book is the Complex Adaptive System argument that a lot of history is a series of events that happened as a result of Independent Agents interacting with each other with unintended consequences. Like Land of seven rivers , Ocean of Churn too covers a large period. Keeping the Indian Ocean rim as the centre of the narrative, the author takes us through numerous geopolitical upheavals that changed the course of history as we know it today. The research is meticulous, and the author s strategy of visiting almost all the places he writes about pays rich dividends. The book reads sometimes like a travelogue, and the reader feels as if he is witnessing historic events in diverse locations. The choice to tell history through the lens of Indian Ocean rim proves inspired as we learn how commerce, and not a spirit of adventure, or religious fervour was behind most of the conquests through the history. Where the book succeeds most splendidly, is in dispelling many myths about the British influenced history that is commonly read and taught in India even today. So while discussing the history of the Mauryas, we get an eye-opening primer about King Ashoka- the not so great. In a later chapter, the author casts a similarly critical eye on the legend making around the ruler of Mysore- Tipu Sultan. On both occasion, Sanjeev remains carefully neutral in his tone, and sticks to the facts as they are available. It is a refreshing change from the selective storytelling we are used to. The book is equally brutal in exposing the myth of European invaders claim of civilizational superiority. Unlike the brave adventurer portrayed in most of the history, we get to see the barbarian side of most of the early invaders from Europe. It is also instructive to know how officers of the British East India Company indulged into corruption to the point of ruining their employers. The author also introduces little known heroes of Indian history like King Martand Varma who inflicted a defeat that was largely responsible for ending Dutch rule from Indian shores. Throughout all this, the tone of the book remains dispassionate and cool, with an ever open eye to explore (and exploit) humour implicit in many situations. Overall a much nuanced and well researched take on a topic that is in dire need of similar writing. Must read for all readers of history who value facts over predetermined narrative. --By mayur on 19 August 2016

After reading "Six glorious epochs of hindu history" by Veer Savarkar, the stereotype created by left historians of us hindu always been at the losing end SHATTERED a bit as we have won many wars in the midst of perpetual invasion from middle east and west civilisations. Our being still alive today is the proof of the many wars we have won as hindus. --By A Customer on 10 August 2016

A very interesting account of how India's history would be viewed from a Coastal perspective and not just how Delhi views it. A must read. --By Saurav on 19 August 2016

About the Author
Sanjeev Sanyal is an internationally acclaimed economist, urban theorist and a bestselling author. He writes on a wide array of topics ranging from economics to history and in 2014, he was given the inaugural International Indian Achievers Award for contributions to literature. He has been a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, London; visiting scholar at Oxford University; adjunct fellow at Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore and a senior fellow of the World Wide Fund for Nature.
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The strategic thinker K.M. Panikkar once ruefully pointed out that the Indian ignorance of geographical realities is even more damaging than our lack of interest in history. He was perhaps the first Indian strategist to push for an oceanic view of our national interest.

“The peninsular character of the country and the essential dependence of its trade on maritime traffic give the sea a preponderant influence on its destiny.... The economic life of India will be completely at the mercy of the power which controls the seas,” Panikkar wrote in a 1945 essay on the impact of sea power on Indian history.

Sanjeev Sanyal has written a fascinating book on the Indian Ocean at a time when Indian strategists are rediscovering our maritime identity and economic reforms have relinked India to the global economy. He writes: “History looks different when witnessed from the coastlines rather than from an inland point of view.” I remembered an old quip as I was reading this book—that the mountains are conservative while the seas are liberal.

Curiously, Sanyal does not mention Panikkar while writing on a theme that the diplomat held dear to his heart, and sometimes wanders into issues that have only a tenuous link to the ocean, but these are minor quibbles about a book that successfully charts out a complex story on how disparate factors such as the monsoon winds, geography, human migration, technology, religion and military conquest have tied the Indian Ocean coastlines in a common destiny. Sanyal deftly marshals evidence from genetic studies, archaeological discoveries, historical documents and popular tales to weave his intricate story.

India sits at the centre of the Indian Ocean world—a natural pivot. There is now enough evidence of a rich trading culture in peninsular India through most of recorded history, with ancient India developing a taste for Italian wine while medieval India learnt to chew betel leaves imported from South-East Asia. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder complained that the rising trade deficit with India in the first century was draining precious metals from the treasury.

The Ocean Of Churn—How The Indian Ocean Shaped Human History: Penguin Random House, 297 pages, Rs599.
The Ocean Of Churn—How The Indian Ocean Shaped Human History: Penguin Random House, 297 pages, Rs599.
The end of the 10th century saw trade booming between the kingdoms of southern India, the Arab world and China. Sanyal shows that when Chola rule was at its peak, oceanic trade was not just about individual merchants but was based on a sophisticated network of guilds that were financed by temple banks.

Cultural exchange complemented commercial exchange. The influence of Indic civilization on South-East Asia at this time is very well known, even as the first Indian contact with Islam and Christianity emerged through trade rather than political conquest, largely peaceful but with important exceptions, such as the religious terror during the Goa Inquisition. The roving Indian soldier also makes an occasional appearance, from the mercenaries who fought for Alexander to the bravehearts of the Indian National Army.

Sanyal argues that the Indian Ocean rim in the 12th century should be seen as zones of civilizational influence—the Islamic zone, the Indic zone and the Chinese zone. This stable political equilibrium would be shattered twice in the coming centuries. The first dislocation came when the Mongols burst out of the Central Asian grasslands to deliver body blows to each of these three civilizations. The second dislocation took place when the Europeans came from distant seas in search of spices.

One of the abiding mysteries of our history is why India abandoned the sea for the shore. Sanyal raises this important question but leaves it unanswered. He does, however, speculate about whether it was the result of a loss of civilizational confidence after attacks by the Mongols and Turks, and whether the destruction of temples undermined both knowledge as well as finance. There is a parallel question in my mind. Did the autarky that India embraced after independence also have its roots in a Gangetic rather than peninsular sensibility?

China made a similar mistake. Its decision to isolate itself from the world, not long after its ships under Admiral Zheng He had reached India, was also the beginning of its economic decline. The withdrawal of India and China should have left the Indian Ocean open for Arab dominance—but the Europeans came from around the Cape of Good Hope to break the Muslim stranglehold on European trade with Asia. The age of colonialism had dawned.

Indian historical narratives are dominated by the mountains—and the northern parts of the country that these mountains protect. It is from the narrow passes that many successive waves of invaders came to conquer, especially the Mongols. Less attention is paid to the seas from where the Europeans arrived. The Ocean Of Churn tries to correct this limited view of our history.

Sanyal also draws overdue attention to the kingdoms of peninsular India that are largely ignored in our history books, including the Vijayanagar empire, whose magnificent capital was built on the banks of the Tungabhadra.

The Indian Ocean needs to reclaim its place in our national imagination—as a theatre of strategic interests, commercial prosperity and cultural exchange. I can think of no better contemporary introduction to our maritime heritage than this book.