The Winds of Change: Buddhism and the Maritime Links of Early
South Asia, by Ray, Himanshu P.
Reviewed by Roderich Ptak
The Journal of the American Oriental Society
Vol.116 No.3
July-Sep 1996
pp.585-586
COPYRIGHT 1996 American Oriental Society
Himanshu P. Ray has published widely in scholarly journals and is
especially well known for her studies on early maritime trade in
South Asia and the Indian ocean. The present monograph is a fresh
and critical survey of this subject, taking a bird's-eye view. It
pulls together archaeological and written evidence from a large
number of sources and tries to establish a general picture of South
Asia's maritime links in the period from c. 300 or 200 B.C. to c.
400 to 500 A.D. This includes commercial, cultural, and religious
contacts. The geographical area covered by Ray's book is the
northern half of the Indian Ocean, from the Persian Gulf and the Red
Sea at the one end to the Indonesian archipelago and continental
southeast Asia at the other end. Both long-distance connections and
coastal links are considered. The description of the latter chiefly
concerns the Indian coasts. Some remarks on China and the South
China Sea are included as well, but East Africa is of no relevance.
The book contains an introduction and five major chapters. These
focus on the following subjects: the evolution of early trading
networks and the organization of maritime trade in the Indian Ocean;
South Asia's relations with the Near East and the Mediterranean
world; South Asia's links across the Bay of Bengal to continental
and insular southeast Asia; the role which Buddhism played in the
evolution of trading networks and cultural contacts; the nautical
and sailing technology of early Indian Ocean shipping. There is also
a brief conclusion, an excellent bibliography, and an index.
Ray's book discusses a number of interesting points that previous
studies on Asia's maritime links often presented in a different
light. Here only some points will be listed. First, according to
Ray, the growth of trade along transoceanic and overland routes in
the post-Mauryan period came as a result of events taking place in
the Ganges valley from about 500 B.C. onwards; this means that
external factors were of minor importance. Second, sea trade was not
only in expensive luxury items but also in subsistence goods,
including agricultural and other products. Third, the role of
Graeco-Roman shipping in the Indian Ocean was not as crucial as some
scholars have thought; other networks such as the South Asian and
Arab networks also contributed to the distribution of trade
commodities and cultural elements. Fourth, expansion of trade in the
early historical period can be linked to certain shifts and changes
in the dominant ideology; the emergence and spread of Buddhism at a
time of growing urban centres in India was a key factor in the
growth of maritime contacts along the Indian littoral and to
Southeast Asia.
The last point is of particular concern because it touches the
question of Southeast Asia's so-called "Indianization." There are
different opinions on how, why, and when Indian influence began to
spread and on the mechanics and frequency of early links across the
Bay of Bengal. By and large, Ray seems to be in favor of de
Casparis' ideas on this subject. This means that the notion of an
"initial" Indianization should be replaced by a concept of
long-lasting transoceanic relations between the various parts of
each of the two regions involved - South and Southeast Asia - and
between the two macro-regions themselves. At the Southeast Asian end
this does, of course, presuppose a concept of "statehood" somewhat
different from the one found in early Chinese descriptions of this
region.
Clearly, a survey of a complex subject such as Asia's early maritime
links cannot take account of all details, nor can it solve all
riddles. In fact, in many cases it is impossible to move beyond a
level of general assumptions and a set of simple models.
Archaeological data may abound but they are rarely helpful in
determining the size of commodity flows, profits, incomes, and other
quantitative variables crucial to the economic historian. Vague
indicators may tell us something about the concurrent existence of
early networks and the conditions and circumstances under which they
emerged, but the relative importance of these networks and the
agents who operated them is usually difficult to assess for lack of
quantitative evidence. Similar constraints restrict the analysis of
sociological and other data. There can be no doubt that Ray is
perfectly aware of this dilemma. Therefore, the mosaic she offers to
the reader is a mixture of carefully selected facts and cautiously
formulated hypotheses with, in the case of the latter, frequently
more than one option. It is this thoughtfulness on the part of the
author and the skillful way in which a myriad of facets are woven
together, that make the present volume a state-of-the-art study.
I may not be very polite, then, to criticize individual points in a
comprehensive work such as this one, but some minor things caught my
attention, of which two or three should be mentioned. Referring to
the accounts of Marco Polo, Zhao Rugua, and other medieval writers
in the context of early maritime trade may be useful if one is to
comment on certain long-term developments, but if no evidence is
available from the early period itself, it is often risky to infer
from a later source that a particular situation was characteristic
also of the preceding centuries. Some primary sources and their
respective English translations were only quoted through secondary
works; the reader is left to find the original references himself.
Much is said on maritime links, especially on trade, but only one
chapter is exclusively reserved for the role of Buddhism; although
this chapter is excellently written, it seems to me that this is not
enough to justify fully the present title of the book; in fact, when
I first read the title, I had expected more on Buddhism and less on
trade. Relations between Madagascar and Southeast Asia are only
briefly touched upon. The same applies to the problem of the Kunlun
traders and other phenomena amply documented in the various
translations of Chinese sources that were not systematically used at
all. Some commodities and their distribution are not mentioned or do
not appear in the index. In all, however, I found this book an
interesting and very valuable contribution to a field of study that
attracts a growing number a scholars both in Asia and the West.
RODERICH PTAK UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH