198 International Journalof Maritime History

the trade increasingly became a westward flow of raw materials and an

eastbound movement of manufactured goods. A pattern of migration across
the Ocean of cheap indentured labour and subordinate business communities
was established. Bondarevsky explores another a facet of incorporation. The
Persian Gulf became the scene first of Anglo-French competition and ended
as a "British Lake," under the influence of shipping interests and transport
companies. This was followed by the disruption of ties within west Asia and
direct linkages with Britain and Western Europe. The paper co-authored by
Broeze, McPherson and Reeves examines another consequence of the
evolution of the new order: the development of ports and port facilities to
accommodate the massive increase of tonnage and the capital ships of the
steam era. The old open roadstead ports of the Indian Ocean were of
decreasing importance and many required massive capital works, including
dredging and the construction of breakwaters, berthing facilities and storage
depots. The authors make a case study of Madras, a notoriously dangerous
port open to the elements, which was made safe to handle increasing trade by
bold and imaginative engineering works.
From this brief resume of the individual papers, it should be clear that
this is a collection of merit and value for the study of the Indian Ocean.
Nonetheless, while some of the papers have overlapping and continuing
themes, others stand in isolation as individual contributions and the volume
hangs together only loosely as being concerned with the Indian Ocean. As
stated at the outset, the focus is primarily on the south Asian area, other
regions being seen largely in their relationship to the sub-continent. The
Arabian coast, Persian Gulf (except for one paper), Burma, Southern Thailand,
Malayan and Sumatra appear only hazily. But this is perhaps necessary to a
study of a geographic area as diverse as the Indian Ocean. The observer must
locate himself somewhere and the Indian subcontinent is as good a place as
any to watch the goings and comings in the Ocean.

S. Arasaratnam University of New England

Ashin Das Gupta and M.N. Pearson (Eds.). India and the Indian Ocean, 1500·
1800. Calcutta: Oxford University Press, 1987. xi + 363 pp., tables, notes,
bibliography, index, map. RS. 240. ISBN 19-541932-3.

Several excellent studies already exist on the regional economic history of the
countries surrounding the Indian Ocean. However, not since the regretted
departure of A. Toussaint have analytic studies on the history of this ocean
been undertaken. Therefore the group study contributed to by S. Arasaratnam,
G. Bouchon, Arun Das Gupta, D. Lombard, PJ. Marshall, D. D. Newitt, Om
Prakash, AJ. Qaisar, G. Soza and I. Bruce Watson under the direction of
Ashin Das Gupta and M. N. Pearson, is of great interest. The purpose of this
book is to explain the development of both the commercial and maritime
relations between India and its neighbours around the Indian Ocean rim.

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 Book Reviews 199

Three main themes are treated successively: chronology, trade, and the
influence of Europeans (especially the English) on the maritime commerce of
India.
The study, first and foremost, aims at explaining the importance of the
maritime relations between India and its neighbours. Trading was based
largely on cotton goods, of which India was a large producer, spices, precious
metals (imported from America by the Pacific, Atlantic or Mediterranean sea-
routes), and raw materials. But the traffic was not only commercial; there
were also religious and cultural exchanges. For example, all the contributors,
but especially A.J. Qaisar, lay emphasis on the important role played by the
pilgrimage routes using ports on the way to Mecca.
When the Europeans got involved they did not fundamentally disrupt
commerce. The Portuguese, for instance, as G.Bouchon and D. Lombard
show, did not have sufficient manpower or warships to control the traffic. The
Dutch, on the other hand, had the required military power and capital but
squandered many of these advantages in their continuing hostilities against the
Portuguese. They also had limited goals, being interested mostly in controlling
the spice trade. The English aimed at trying to create partnerships with the
local merchants rather than controlling markets, but had less financial backing
than the Dutch. What European intervention wrought were the creation of a
newroute, via the Cape, and the trading of huge quantities of precious metals.
Both contributed positively to the development of the Indian economy, as
demand spurred a substantial increase in trade.
It goes without saying, however, that this generalization requires
qualification.When the Portuguese entered the region, their hostilities with the
Arabs disrupted commercial traffic on the Red Sea. Commerce was also dis-
rupted due to the presence of European warships, a new phenomenon in the
region. Commercial vessels were unarmed, and the Mogol had laid more
emphasis on territorial gains than on the development of his navy. Neverthe-
less, the changes brought about by European influence were restricted to only
a few regions. They did not contribute to any great change in the existing
structures and organisation of sea-going trade. In theory, the local merchants
and the Europeans were in competition; in fact, they worked together. So
when a particular trading post started to decline, as was the case with Surate
in seventeenth century, this was due not to the influence of Europeans but
rather to local political and economic changes. The decline of Surate was
caused by the fact that the Mogol Emperor lost his position of authority in the
region and the Mahrattes tribes plundered the town.
In the eighteenth century trading in the region came more and more to
be dominated by Europeans, particularly the English. They continued to work
hand in hand with the local merchants whose role was essential since they
were the best qualified to deal with the different currencies, custom regula-
tions, and social and commercial practices. However, little by little the
Europeans took control of the traffic. P J. Marshall and 1. B. Watson examine
the cause of this development and come to two important conclusions: the
Indian merchants wanted their fleets to come under the protection of a

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200 International Journal of Maritime History

European flag for defense against pirates; and vessels built in English-owned
shipyards were faster than those built in elsewhere. Such vessels were also
thought to navigate better, though this was perhaps due to the better
knowledge of navigation techniques by English officers. They were less
inclined to be shipwrecked (something which still occurs quite frequently in
that region) and the English officers knew best how to take advantage of the
Monsoon winds and thus minimize lost time on voyages. Thus, the English
played an important role in local commercial activity to the end of the
nineteenth century. Later, they tended to invest in other forms of profitable
(but less risky) commercial activities, such as income tax collection. Many of
the fortunes earned by employees of the East India Company were repatriated
to the home country and invested in business activities having nothing to do
with Asian trade.
It is to be regretted that this study only deals with the French connection
in a very minor way. The publishers had planned a chapter on this question
but were prevented from including it due to the premature death of the author,
Dr. Indrani Ray. However, my own investigations indicate that France was the
last nation to set foot in India: their commercial activity was of very little
importance until the beginning of the seventeenth century. Local ships began
to fly the French flag from 1725, and during the 1740-1750 the French were
rivals to the British, at least in arms shipments from the Bengali region. The
French organized their trading along the same lines as the other European
nations--they worked hand in hand with the local merchants. However, the
French started to decrease financial support for maritime commercial activities
before the English. The policy of Dupleix encouraged the employees of the
Compagnie Francaise des Indes (French Indian Company) to get involved from
an early stage in the collection of taxes and land rents on the mainland. Later,
numerous defeats led as well to a decline in French seapower.
However, the shortage of information on the French involvement in no
way alters a judgement on the quality of the book. It is an original, clear,
precise, and detailed study on a rarely-studied question undertaken by some
of the best contemporary specialists. Each chapter is followed by a detailed
bibliography which lends an even greater authority to the book.

Philippe Haudrere U niversite de Paris

Colin Martin and Geoffrey Parker. The Spanish Armada. London: Hamish
Hamilton, 1988. vii + 296 pp., pictures, drawings, maps, tables, notes, index.
£15.00. ISBN 0241-12125-6.

The purpose of the authors is to chronicle with new documents and evidence,
instead of following the pseudo-patriotic jingoism and speculative theorising
that has dominated many previous studies, every stage in the process of the
1588 attempt to invade England. While the calendared documents have come
to be regarded by most historians as the primary sources for their work, Martin

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