When no single power held hegemony: Thomas Bowrey’s account of Bay of Bengal (1669-1679)

Deliana, Nia and Ozay, Mehmet (2026) When no single power held hegemony: Thomas Bowrey’s account of Bay of Bengal (1669-1679). Medieval and Early Modern Orients, NA (NA). pp. 1-3.

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Abstract

In the bustling maritime world of the seventeenth century Bay of Bengal, commerce thrived as a form of economic cosmopolitanism, a phenomenon where the boundaries of race and religion seemed to dissolve, where Hindu ‘gentiles’, ‘Muslim ‘moors’, Coromandel’s Chuleas (Chuliah), Hadhrami Arabs from Southern Arabia, Bugis from Sulawesi, Buddhist Siamers and diverse Europeans collaborated and competed with a fluidity that transcended sectarian loyalty. These were the unique economic, social and political interactions, decentralised, yet multipolar, that Thomas Bowrey meticulously documented during his nineteen years in the East. His account reveals a world where no single power held hegemony, and where merchant networks functioned as autonomous poles of influence within a complex system of non-Western polities and burgeoning European interest.

Item Type:	Article (Electronic Media)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	East India Company, Mughal, Travel Literature, Trade, Early Modern Mughal
Subjects:	J Political Science > JZ International relations
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC)
Depositing User:	ASSOC.PROF MEHMET ÖZAY
Date Deposited:	06 Mar 2026 15:05
Last Modified:	06 Mar 2026 15:05
Queue Number:	2026-03-Q2449
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/127794

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