In his regular job, Singapore-based economist Sanjeev Sanyal brainstorms over finding economic solutions to complex problems, uses theories to build and plan cities and tries to create avenues that generate wealth. Outside the workspace, he is a keen history buff, travels across the world and has authored three books based on India’s geography and history. His latest book, The Ocean Of Churn ( Penguin Randomhouse, Rs.378 ) takes a look at history of the Indian Ocean rim, encompassing Oman, The Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore.
Sanyal explains, “When we study history, the Indian Ocean region is often relegated to a few pages, picking up only when the Europeans arrive in the 1500s. I wanted to write a book that will not offer a Western-centric view of the region and will focus on people and their interactions that have shaped the region. The Indian Ocean region saw more than just trade in the centuries before the Europeans."
He adds, “I also discovered that though national histories of the countries in the region are very capital centric, especially in India. If you are a school kid in India, you would know about the Mauryas, the sultanate and the Mughals, but would be unaware of the kingdom of Assam, the Chola empire that stretched all the way till Indonesia, the kings of Kalinga. I have made an attempt to look at India and the region from the perspective of the Indian Ocean. I have lived in cities such as Kolkata and Singapore that make up the Indian Ocean rim and wanted to learn more about the region from a perspective that is different from the Eurocentric versions.”
Talking about the research involved in the book, Sanyal points out, “I started reading basic material available on the topic. The internet, with a treasure trove of papers and translations was a great help. Online platforms too allow one to build up a collection of relevant books quickly and I have a huge library. I made it a point to visit the locations I write about and went to the coast of Oman, Zanzibar, Indonesia, Bali, Cambodia, the Kerala coastline, Kalinga etc. It is important to visit these places to understand the geography, learn more about the folk tales and take into account the local memory of historical accounts. It is not arm chair writing. It is these trips that convinced me that most of the talk of Emperor Ashok’s greatness was propaganda. I have written about it in the book extensively. I discovered an inscription by a later Kalinga king on a hillock in Odisha boasting that he had defeated the descendants of Ashoka. I have tried to fit the chapters into the framework of ‘complex, adaptive systems’ - basically multiple events and interactions that bring about historical change.”
Sanyal believes that history has a distinct philosophy. “I do not subscribe to both the popular historical theories nor am I sold to the great man theory or the Marxist theory of history as a grand socio-economic project where individuals did not matter. I feel that history is a combination of both these elements. In the course of my research, I have discovered that minor incidents or characters can bring about massive change. For instance, for many years the Chinese navy, controlled by a group of eunuchs was the most powerful in the Indian Ocean. However, after the death of an emperor, the mandarins in Beijing started to make things tough for the navy. When the Europeans arrived, they were not challenged. It is often the minor characters that change the course of history.”
