1st Edition

The Indian Ocean in World History

By Milo Kearney Copyright 2004
    198 Pages
    by Routledge

    200 Pages
    by Routledge

    Throughout history, dominance of the Indian Ocean has been a critical factor in defining a nation's supremacy and power. It is well known that it played a major part in the success of the Portugese nation at the start of the sixteenth century. In this concise survey, Milo Kearney shows how the trading and imperial expansion offered by the Indian Ocean were exploited by many leading powers from the third millennium BC to the very recent past.
    The nations included range from the ancient Egyptians of the new Kingdom to the Han Chinese and, later, from the Moghul to the British Empire. Milo Kearney goes on to show what a critical territory the Indian Ocean was during the Cold War because of its rich supply for oil.
    The history of the Indian Ocean provides a snapshot of many of the key issues in world history, such as colonialism, trade and spread of cultures and religions. It is important reading for all students of world history.

    List of maps, Acknowledgments, 1 Introduction, 2 The earliest leadership in Indian Ocean trade, 3 Early northern Mediterranean and Chinese influence, 4 The Arab golden age, 5 The Chinese and northern Mediterranean resurgence, 6 The first assertion of North Atlantic influence, 7 The British Raj period, 8 The Cold War period, 9 The latest turn of the wheel, Index

    Biography

    Milo Kearney is Professor of History at the University of Texas at Brownsville. His books include Boom and Bust: The Historical Cycles of Matamoros and Brownsville (1991), Border Cuates: A History of the U.S.–Mexican Twin Cities (1995), and Medieval Culture and the Mexican–American Borderlands (2001).