The Winds of Change: Buddhism and the Maritime Links of Early South Asia.

• Author: Ptak, Roderich

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...