Unravel the treasures embedded in the Indian Ocean and the rich history to how it got there.
The beaches surrounding the Indian Ocean often wash up pieces of broken pottery smoothened by the ocean waves that are lying under the sea bed. The pottery dates back to the livelihood of the Chinese Ming dynasty, the Middle Eastern Abbasid caliphate and are not less than a hundred years old. One would ask how and why it got there.
Indian ports had fine ceramics lined for elite merchants to eat off those plates and they formed a trade network powered by monsoon winds over a thousand years back. The rhythm of the ocean winds brought rains, trade and prosperity to the countries.
The Indian Ocean is the world’s oldest long-distance treading arena that was the cradle of globalization in the years to come by. Focusing on the human movement of the sea gave the ecological viewpoint of the ocean a backdrop.
Since the 7th century, the Indian Ocean has had the mobility and spread across Islam. By the 14th century, the mercantile networks were passed in the hands of Muslim traders. The wake of scholars, clerks, pilgrims, together surged the economic and spiritual framework in India.
While some treasures are sold by dealers of antiquities, others give crucial evidence of marine archaeological research. The shipwreck project discovered a concrete translation of slave trade link to histories of Indian Ocean slavery and indenture.