The Western Indian Ocean in the first Millennium CE: local and long-distance

The Indian Ocean is a space usually understood through the lens of the long-distance: trade, diplomacy and the monsoon winds, which have enabled mobility and connection for millennia. There are practical and historiographical reasons for this emphasis, but it has also drawn attention away from the local contexts that underpinned connection with places further away. At its most extreme, a focus on the long-distance links has tried to make these substantially causative of local changes. This paper explores a different way of understanding the Western Indian Ocean in the first millennium, re-centring the local as a means of understanding the long-distance and in so doing, bringing to the fore centuries that are often overlooked in traditional accounts.

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_{(Image credit: The monolithic temple complex of Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu).  Jean-Pierre Dalbera.)}