The Ocean of Churn : How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History  (English, Hardcover, Sanjeev Sanyal)

Much of human history has played itself out along the rim of the Indian Ocean. In a firstof- its-kind attempt, bestselling author Sanjeev Sanyal tells the history of this significant region, which stretches across East Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent to South East Asia and Australia. He narrates a fascinating tale about the earliest human migrations out of Africa and the great cities of Angkor and Vijayanagar; medieval Arab empires and Chinese treasure fleets; the rivalries of European colonial powers and a new dawn. In his inimitable style, he draws upon existing and new evidence to challenge well-established claims about famous historical characters and the flow of history. Adventurers, merchants, explorers, monks, swashbuckling pirates, revolutionaries and warrior princesses populate this colourful and multifaceted narrative. The Ocean of Churn takes the reader on an amazing journey through medieval geopolitics and eyewitness accounts of long-lost cities to the latest genetic discoveries about human origins, bringing alive a region that has defined civilization from the very beginning.

Sanjeev Sanyal is an internationally acclaimed economist, urban theorist and a bestselling author. He writes on a wide array of topics ranging from economics to history, and in 2014, he was given the inaugural International Indian Achievers Award for contributions to literature. He has been a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, London; visiting scholar at Oxford University; adjunct fellow at Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore; and a senior fellow of the World Wide Fund for Nature.