What’s in a World?

Abstract

The Indian Ocean World is a popular topic of cross-disciplinary academic research. However, the framework of this very large and diverse macro-region as a “world” is rarely questioned or defined. This article attempts to offer a working definition of the “Indian Ocean world” that would make it useful as a research framework for historical disciplines, particularly those focused on material culture. It then turns to the western Indian Ocean between the eighth and fifteenth centuries, especially as visible through the lens of archaeological evidence, to question whether the macro-region fits this definition. It concludes that there are substantial differences in how different regions engaged with, and were influenced by, other parts of the oceanic littoral and by maritime connections. A significant part of these differences can be linked to environmental conditions, specifically to how local topography and climate facilitated or obstructed connections to the maritime littoral and to other (economic, political, cultural) networks, and how it shaped receptivity to maritime imports and influences. While each region was unique, environmental conditions allow the definition of two broad spheres of transoceanic influence: a relatively closely integrated shared world, and an associated sphere whose connections to the littoral world were more tenuous.