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Empires of the monsoon: A history of the Indian Ocean and its invaders
Until Vasco da Gama discovered the sea-route to the East in 1497-9 almost nothing was known in the West of the exotic cultures and wealth of the Indian Ocean and its peoples. It is this civilization and its destruction at the hands of the West that Richard Hall recreates in this book. Hall's history of the exploration and exploitation by Chinese and Arab travellers, and by the Portuguese, Dutch and British alike is one of brutality, betrayal and colonial ambition.
608 pages, Paperback
First published November 21, 1996
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October 12, 2014
إمبراطوريات الرياح الموسمية
حصلت على هذا الكتاب منذ سنوات بعيدة، ورغم حماستي له بقي مركوناً كل هذه الأعوام، ربما لحجمه المهيب، وربما لأنني رغبت في تأخيره لأيام أكون فيها متفرغاً أكثر، ولكنني تعلمت أنه لا يوجد أيام بيضاء، ولا يوجد أوقات أفضل، هي اللحظة الحاضرة إما أغتنمها أو تضيع، فلذا أحاول الآن اللحاق ونفض الغبار عن كتبي الأثيرة.
في سبعمئة صفحة، وعلى مدار ألف عام يركز ريتشارد هول على تاريخ المحيط الهندي، وتاريخ الموانئ التي كانت تستفيد من رياحه الموسمية في التجارة ما بين شرق المحيط حيث الهند والصين وكل تلك الجزر التي صارت الآن الفلبين وإندونيسيا وماليزيا، وغربه حيث موانئ جزيرة العرب وأفريقيا، ابتداءً من مسقط وعدن وكلوة وسفالة وممباسا، إنه تاريخ مهيب يحاول هول نقله لنا بكل تغيراته منذ أيام ماركو بولو وابن بطوطة، فوصول البرتغاليين وكل الفظائع التي جروها على المنطقة، ومن بعدهم الهولنديين والفرنسيين والإنجليز، يفرد فصول لمحاولات الأوربيين اكتشاف أفريقيا، وبحثهم عن مملكة الراهب يوحنا الأسطورية والذي كانوا يريدون التحالف معه للانقضاض على الإسلام من الشرق والغرب، كل هذا التاريخ شبه المجهول لي على الأقل، وربما للكثير من القراء العرب، يبسطه ريتشارد هول بجمال، يجعل من قراءة هذا الكتاب متعة فائقة، شيء يشبه حكاية خيالية صاغها كاتب عبقري.
حصلت على هذا الكتاب منذ سنوات بعيدة، ورغم حماستي له بقي مركوناً كل هذه الأعوام، ربما لحجمه المهيب، وربما لأنني رغبت في تأخيره لأيام أكون فيها متفرغاً أكثر، ولكنني تعلمت أنه لا يوجد أيام بيضاء، ولا يوجد أوقات أفضل، هي اللحظة الحاضرة إما أغتنمها أو تضيع، فلذا أحاول الآن اللحاق ونفض الغبار عن كتبي الأثيرة.
في سبعمئة صفحة، وعلى مدار ألف عام يركز ريتشارد هول على تاريخ المحيط الهندي، وتاريخ الموانئ التي كانت تستفيد من رياحه الموسمية في التجارة ما بين شرق المحيط حيث الهند والصين وكل تلك الجزر التي صارت الآن الفلبين وإندونيسيا وماليزيا، وغربه حيث موانئ جزيرة العرب وأفريقيا، ابتداءً من مسقط وعدن وكلوة وسفالة وممباسا، إنه تاريخ مهيب يحاول هول نقله لنا بكل تغيراته منذ أيام ماركو بولو وابن بطوطة، فوصول البرتغاليين وكل الفظائع التي جروها على المنطقة، ومن بعدهم الهولنديين والفرنسيين والإنجليز، يفرد فصول لمحاولات الأوربيين اكتشاف أفريقيا، وبحثهم عن مملكة الراهب يوحنا الأسطورية والذي كانوا يريدون التحالف معه للانقضاض على الإسلام من الشرق والغرب، كل هذا التاريخ شبه المجهول لي على الأقل، وربما للكثير من القراء العرب، يبسطه ريتشارد هول بجمال، يجعل من قراءة هذا الكتاب متعة فائقة، شيء يشبه حكاية خيالية صاغها كاتب عبقري.
September 13, 2018
This was a very ambitious book that was interesting but I think perhaps bit off more than it could chew. It's booked as a "History of the Indian Ocean" but it really is mostly a history of East Africa. The author lived in and covered East Africa for the Financial Times for over 20 years, and has written other books on the region, this was a book meant to contextualize East Africa within the wider Indian Ocean milieu, and this is a worthy thing to do and I think that, writ large, he succeeds in doing that.
Writing a history of East Africa is difficult because the natives of the region never developed a written language, nor was there a tradition of oral storytelling such as there was in West Africa, at least not one that has survived to the point of Arab or European contact so the historical record is entirely travelogues written by people from other civilizations and the author weaves together the stories of Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and the chronicler of Zheng He's voyages, so the history of the region pre Da Gama is given to us from the Italianate, Islamic and Chinese perspectives. This is interesting but since all these chronicles are themselves available to the reader, I can't say that the synopses of their East African sections, though usefully collected, are particularly illuminating.
Except for the fact that I knew nothing at all about this region and I learned quite a bit. In essence, the Islamic world captured a string of Islands down the East Coast of Africa and set up trading sultanates in each of them which exported the various products of the region to the Islamic and South Asian regions. Something I also did not know was that the East African slave trade, controlled by the Arab Sultanates pre-dated the West African slave trade to the Americas by 300 years and was on an equivalent scale. Relative to the populations as a whole, the scale might have been larger.
This is because the slave revolts that occurred in the Arab world were on a larger scale and occasionally succeeded. He tells the story of the "Revolt of the Zanj." Zanj being an Arab word for the region from which the slaves were brought, mostly what is today Eritrea, Somalia and Kenya. The Zanj were put to work in large numbers draining the swamps in southern Iraq and revolted several times with varying degrees of success. At one point, the Zanj successfully seized the whole of what is today Basrah and Nasyiria provinces in Iraq, slaughtered the local population and ruled it as an independent kingdom defeating army after army sent against them. They were eventually overcome but the Arab and Indian worlds continued to import slaves from the region for the next 300 years.
The historical record gets considerably denser once the Portuguese round the Cape of Good Hope and begin interacting directly with the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese, though intrepid navigators, Da Gama's voyage was three times the length of Columbus', do not cover themselves in glory. For one thing, they spend a huge amount of time and resources looking for a legendary Christian empire in the East with whom to ally against the Turks. It is striking how a group of people who can master experimental science well enough to advance navigation and shipbuilding in a few decades what will take relatively more culturally advanced societies hundreds of years to catch, do so in the pursuit of utterly fantastical aims.
And of course, when they do find what Columbus sought, India, instead of establishing trading relations in an effort to edge out the Turks and Venetians, they simply steal and/or destroy everything they can find. Two hundred years after the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols, the Portuguese enter the Indian Ocean as a kind of seaborne barbarian horde using the advantage of stable deck mounted cannon to become extremely effective and destructive pirates throughout the Indian Ocean. Their seizure of Goa is hotly debated simply because they prefer piracy and establishing a permanent base exposes them to expulsion from it.
The marauding and depredations of the Portuguese eventually compels the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan plateau in India to form an alliance with the Ottoman Turks who contract Venetian shipbuilders and gunsmiths to travel to Suez, and build them an oceangoing fleet with with to destroy the Portuguese. The Portuguese, come upon the Ottoman fleet anchored at Diu and, in a prequel to what Nelson would do to Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile, they destroy it entirely before it can raise anchor. Nonetheless, the resources of the Deccan Sultanates and the Ottoman Empire are large enough that they try again.
This campaign is even more interesting than the first because the Ottoman Turks actually succeed in sweeping up the Portuguese Empire in East Africa, all the way down to Mombasa where a truly astounding siege and counter siege begins. The Ottomans eject the Portuguese garrison before a relief force can arrive but then an army of cannibals sweeps down on them and they turn to defend the Arab residents of Mombasa from this new threat. Just then the Portuguese relief force arrives and temporarily forms an alliance with the cannibals and the two crush the Ottoman army between them saving the Portuguese Empire again.
But the Islamic world is not done with the Portuguese and the destruction of the Portuguese Empire in East Africa North of Mozambique falls to, the Sultan of Oman who destroyed the Portuguese garrison that had been guarding the strait of Hormuz and then sailed down the East Coast of Africa capturing all of the Portuguese forts down to Zanzibar. Once in command of the coast, the Sultanate of Oman used his connections in the Islamic world and South Asia to vastly expand the slave trade, raising exports from 30,000/yr to 100,000 yr, the same size almost exactly as the trade with the Americas. With the profits of the trade, he vastly expanded his navy, buying ships from Britain until he was the dominant naval power in African waters.
So important was the slave trade to Oman, that a subsequent sultan moved the capital of Oman form Muscat to Zanzibar where it remained until deep into the nineteenth century. British efforts to suppress the slave trade eventually bankrupted the Sultanate over which the British had established a protectorate. The terms of the protectorate were such that in the event of a succession dispute the territory would be governed by the English monarch as regent for a successor. Naturally, a polyagmous society with branches in Oman and Zanzibar lends itself to succession disputes and Britain eventually took title to Zanzibar.
The author spends relatively little time on the "Scramble for Africa" which occurred in the second half of the nineteenth century, though there is a very interesting section on the prehistory of the interior of the country which I think is largely a reference to his other work. Apparently, settled African kingdoms inland from the Arab sultanates were swept aside by barbarian invaders from the South in the preceding decades so by the time the Europeans decided to push inland there was little formal resistance to them and, what resistance there was was put down brutally in one sided battles of machine guns against muskets or spears.
European rule collapses as quickly as it began, within a single generation at least in East Africa. Western and Southern Africa having seen a much more intense European presence from the fifteenth century on.
All in all, I learned quite a lot. The Portugese Empire was really just a piratical house of cards and it was not destroyed by the Dutch and the English, but rather by an alliance of the Islamic Empires of the Near East and India. Still, the book was underwhelming. It is, in essence, a work of journalism not scholarship. It is a fine tale of folly and adventure, but it is not very illuminating about the forces at work or really about the lives of the Africans themselves though the sections on the interior are well done. The book largely serves as an advertisement for the works for Ibn Battuta and Zheng He, as well as a lure for more academic histories of Africa.
Writing a history of East Africa is difficult because the natives of the region never developed a written language, nor was there a tradition of oral storytelling such as there was in West Africa, at least not one that has survived to the point of Arab or European contact so the historical record is entirely travelogues written by people from other civilizations and the author weaves together the stories of Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and the chronicler of Zheng He's voyages, so the history of the region pre Da Gama is given to us from the Italianate, Islamic and Chinese perspectives. This is interesting but since all these chronicles are themselves available to the reader, I can't say that the synopses of their East African sections, though usefully collected, are particularly illuminating.
Except for the fact that I knew nothing at all about this region and I learned quite a bit. In essence, the Islamic world captured a string of Islands down the East Coast of Africa and set up trading sultanates in each of them which exported the various products of the region to the Islamic and South Asian regions. Something I also did not know was that the East African slave trade, controlled by the Arab Sultanates pre-dated the West African slave trade to the Americas by 300 years and was on an equivalent scale. Relative to the populations as a whole, the scale might have been larger.
This is because the slave revolts that occurred in the Arab world were on a larger scale and occasionally succeeded. He tells the story of the "Revolt of the Zanj." Zanj being an Arab word for the region from which the slaves were brought, mostly what is today Eritrea, Somalia and Kenya. The Zanj were put to work in large numbers draining the swamps in southern Iraq and revolted several times with varying degrees of success. At one point, the Zanj successfully seized the whole of what is today Basrah and Nasyiria provinces in Iraq, slaughtered the local population and ruled it as an independent kingdom defeating army after army sent against them. They were eventually overcome but the Arab and Indian worlds continued to import slaves from the region for the next 300 years.
The historical record gets considerably denser once the Portuguese round the Cape of Good Hope and begin interacting directly with the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese, though intrepid navigators, Da Gama's voyage was three times the length of Columbus', do not cover themselves in glory. For one thing, they spend a huge amount of time and resources looking for a legendary Christian empire in the East with whom to ally against the Turks. It is striking how a group of people who can master experimental science well enough to advance navigation and shipbuilding in a few decades what will take relatively more culturally advanced societies hundreds of years to catch, do so in the pursuit of utterly fantastical aims.
And of course, when they do find what Columbus sought, India, instead of establishing trading relations in an effort to edge out the Turks and Venetians, they simply steal and/or destroy everything they can find. Two hundred years after the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols, the Portuguese enter the Indian Ocean as a kind of seaborne barbarian horde using the advantage of stable deck mounted cannon to become extremely effective and destructive pirates throughout the Indian Ocean. Their seizure of Goa is hotly debated simply because they prefer piracy and establishing a permanent base exposes them to expulsion from it.
The marauding and depredations of the Portuguese eventually compels the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan plateau in India to form an alliance with the Ottoman Turks who contract Venetian shipbuilders and gunsmiths to travel to Suez, and build them an oceangoing fleet with with to destroy the Portuguese. The Portuguese, come upon the Ottoman fleet anchored at Diu and, in a prequel to what Nelson would do to Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile, they destroy it entirely before it can raise anchor. Nonetheless, the resources of the Deccan Sultanates and the Ottoman Empire are large enough that they try again.
This campaign is even more interesting than the first because the Ottoman Turks actually succeed in sweeping up the Portuguese Empire in East Africa, all the way down to Mombasa where a truly astounding siege and counter siege begins. The Ottomans eject the Portuguese garrison before a relief force can arrive but then an army of cannibals sweeps down on them and they turn to defend the Arab residents of Mombasa from this new threat. Just then the Portuguese relief force arrives and temporarily forms an alliance with the cannibals and the two crush the Ottoman army between them saving the Portuguese Empire again.
But the Islamic world is not done with the Portuguese and the destruction of the Portuguese Empire in East Africa North of Mozambique falls to, the Sultan of Oman who destroyed the Portuguese garrison that had been guarding the strait of Hormuz and then sailed down the East Coast of Africa capturing all of the Portuguese forts down to Zanzibar. Once in command of the coast, the Sultanate of Oman used his connections in the Islamic world and South Asia to vastly expand the slave trade, raising exports from 30,000/yr to 100,000 yr, the same size almost exactly as the trade with the Americas. With the profits of the trade, he vastly expanded his navy, buying ships from Britain until he was the dominant naval power in African waters.
So important was the slave trade to Oman, that a subsequent sultan moved the capital of Oman form Muscat to Zanzibar where it remained until deep into the nineteenth century. British efforts to suppress the slave trade eventually bankrupted the Sultanate over which the British had established a protectorate. The terms of the protectorate were such that in the event of a succession dispute the territory would be governed by the English monarch as regent for a successor. Naturally, a polyagmous society with branches in Oman and Zanzibar lends itself to succession disputes and Britain eventually took title to Zanzibar.
The author spends relatively little time on the "Scramble for Africa" which occurred in the second half of the nineteenth century, though there is a very interesting section on the prehistory of the interior of the country which I think is largely a reference to his other work. Apparently, settled African kingdoms inland from the Arab sultanates were swept aside by barbarian invaders from the South in the preceding decades so by the time the Europeans decided to push inland there was little formal resistance to them and, what resistance there was was put down brutally in one sided battles of machine guns against muskets or spears.
European rule collapses as quickly as it began, within a single generation at least in East Africa. Western and Southern Africa having seen a much more intense European presence from the fifteenth century on.
All in all, I learned quite a lot. The Portugese Empire was really just a piratical house of cards and it was not destroyed by the Dutch and the English, but rather by an alliance of the Islamic Empires of the Near East and India. Still, the book was underwhelming. It is, in essence, a work of journalism not scholarship. It is a fine tale of folly and adventure, but it is not very illuminating about the forces at work or really about the lives of the Africans themselves though the sections on the interior are well done. The book largely serves as an advertisement for the works for Ibn Battuta and Zheng He, as well as a lure for more academic histories of Africa.
November 2, 2012
Absolutely brilliant read. The amount of detail and research done to compile this book is outstanding.
August 20, 2021
China, in the history of thousands of years, there has never had a Haikou in the Indian Ocean. Mangshi, located in Yunnan, China, although it is called China's nearest city from the Indian Ocean, but it also reaches 600 kilometers away from the Indian Ocean, and the middle is also blocked.
Before the Millennium, from the Arabian Peninsula arrived in China, it is long and dangerous. It is necessary to travel from India to Sumamera to Sumatra, through the Malacca Strait, and finally enter the Chinese sea from the north. The whole tour takes a year and a half, On the way, not only face the storm of the sea, but also to deal with the harassment of pirates, it can be described as a life.
However, the brother is not in the rivers and lakes, and the rivers and lakes have a legend. In the Waves of the Indian Ocean, there has never lack the rumors of China. These rumors often tell the huge wealth in China. Therefore, although the journey is hard, the huge wealth in the rumors, the powerful courage to give the businessman and sailor, let them be in the waves, arrive at China's coast in the waves of the monsoon.
British historical writers Richard Hall In the "Monsoon Empire", the Western traveler's record is overview, and the legend of Ancient China is in the hearts of Westerners in Westerners. Richard Hall was born in 1925, in Australia, once served in the Royal Navy in the UK, in Oxford University, and lived in Africa for 13 years, he served on the "Daily Mail" "Zambia Times" Observe the "Financial Times" and other media, and created the "African Analysis of the Financial and Political Communique".
The "Monsoon Empire" is nearly 500,000 words, is a history of history, showing the history of the Hindu National AD 10th century to the 20th century. Richard Hall In writing a "Monsoon Empire", I have answered a lot of information, including some lonely, such as the memoirs of the Buli Ibre, Shahriar, only in a mosque in Istanbul. .
In the first part of the book, the Indian Ocean has a history of hundreds of years before invading invasion. China plays an important role, and is recorded in the memoirs of the traveler, including the Persian Director Buli Ibre, Shahria Venetian Mac, Polo and Moroccan scholar Iburn, Baotai, etc. In their narrative, China is a synonym of fate, wealth and strong.
First, the country of fate
In the "Monsoon Empire", Richard Hall said the manuscript of the Persian Hull, which mentioned a Jews called Isched • Yada.
Ishag born with Oman's poor family, after he arrived in China from India, living in China for 30 years, returning to his hometown in 19912. At this time, he has become a rich businessman, not only has its own cargo ship, but also full of silk, porcelain, musk and precious gemstones.
In order to escape tariffs, Ishag, with a black porcelain vase with golden lid, bribed the local official Ahmed, Hilake. Ishag told Ahmed, which is for his "cooking fish" in China. Ahmed opened the bottle cap and saw a goldfish that was surrounded by musk. The goldfish eyes were made with ruby, and the vase estimates worth more than 50,000 yuan.
Moroccan scholar Iben Bai Titai travel to China, I met a Muslim doctor in Fuzhou, which was successful in China, and he told Iben White Thai, he had 50 white slaves and the same number of female slaves. The doctor gave Iben • Baotai 2 white slaves and 2 female slaves, there are many other gifts.
Perhaps, these rumors of the brunette, Iburn, Baotai, bring comforts for those in poverty, let them think that as long as they board the coast of China, fate will undergo a fundamental reversal. About China, people think that there is nothing wrong. Therefore, in the "Monsoon Empire", Richard Hall wrote, those travelers who can safely arrive in China, usually don't want to go back. In the past two centuries before the written written, the Perssenger and Arab people living in China have been able to launch a sea to launch a sea.
Second, the country of wealth
Paris and London are contemporary fashion cities that represent the direction of popular cultural development. However, in a thousand years ago, Western countries are ignorant, Western Europe is only in the edge of the world civilization. Dan Gamma arrived in Calcat, India, visiting a local official, his gifts were: washbasin, coral necklace, hat, dark red headscarf and altar honey. Such a cold gather, has been laughed at the locals, some people say that Gamma's follow: "The gift from Mecca is also decent."
China's silk and porcelain are the luxury of that era. Perhaps, in that era, people feel like silk and porcelain, like the modern people in the modern people, such as LV, Chanel, Hermes and other brands. In Westerners record, many royal rods are used to participate in the ceremonial costume, which is silk.
At that time, the Red Sea was called "China's Sea", the cargo ship full of teeth, spices and gold, from there, travel to China to exchange luxury goods. Bunzge once heard about China's news, a ruler in China, when receiving a Arab businessman, there were 500 female slaves around him, those female slaves wearing a variety of jewels. .
In the interaction with other countries, China does not seem to care about the economy, and more interested in the identity. Chinese rulers always believe that all countries should recognize China's superior position and have to return to her. Therefore, other countries give the gift of the Chinese emperor, as a tribute, China's return is much better than Gong Li.
Iben White Thae once recorded that the Sulthak Muhammad Ibrah Turku, India, and self-proclaimed "the owner of the world". He once sent 15 virgins to China. As a result, 15 gnals returned to Delhi. Brought back a lot of gifts, including 100 slaves, a lot of silk and velvet cloth, decorated with jewelry clothing, and a wide range of weapons.
Sudan may feel very unhuster, don't want to lose to China, prepare a lot of gifts, including 100 white slaves, 100 Indian dancers, 100 horses, 15 宦 宦, gold and silver candlesticks, damask robe, countless treasures, and Appointment Iben • Baotai is a ambassador, let him visit China to visit China. As a result, it was attacked by Hindu, and all the belongings were taken away.
Third, the strong country
China's strong is very early by the Westerners. As early as the Saan Dynasty, when he was conquered by the Arabs, the last generation of the Saan Dynasty was sent to China to seek assistance. Mark Polo travels to the East, and is also a permanent connection in the East and West to coexue the Islamic countries. However, Chinese rulers prefer to compete in the Central Plains, and do not like to conquer the four seas. Even if Zheng He is under the West Ocean, there is no intention of aggression.
In 1405, Zheng He started from Longjiang, and he began to save the Western Ocean. In the Zheng He's fleet, "treasure ship" weighed more than 500 tons, with 12 ship sails, equipped with "rocket" filled with gunpowder, carrying a large diameter short gun with a stone. In every voyage of Zheng He, the number of big ships he led has from 40 to 100, and each big ship is also equipped with several replenishment boats. In most cases of 7 times, there are more than 300 people and 300 vessels in the Zheng He's fleet.
In contrast, in 1497, Zheng He's first flight has passed nearly nearly a century, and Gamma opened the sailing to India in Lisbon, and there were only four ships, and the crew was more than 180. The flagship "St. Cainertes" in the fleet is less than 300 tons, and another "Saint Rafael" is small, and the remaining two are ordinary light sailboats.
Zheng He Xiaoxiang, so far, there is no conclusion, there is no conclusion, there is a search for the Emperor to say, Xuanyang Weide said, Richard Hall believes in the "Monsoon Empire", it is to produce China's workplace production The remaining products seek the market. But regardless of the purpose of Zheng He's Western Ocean, at least it is clear that the Zheng He's fleet is an invincible in the Indian Ocean at the time.
The King of Ceylon refused to hand over Buddha Buddha tooth to the Chinese emperor. In 1409, Zheng He was directly attacked into the Civic Shancheng City, the capital of Silan, captured the King of Squoro, and brought him back to China to do the hostage. In addition, there is also a sect from the shore of Mogadisa in Somalia, teaching its barbaric Sudan. However, these force attacks are not intrusive, because Zheng He has never established any permanent resident deposits in the Indian Ocean area.
Liu Cixin wrote a short science fiction "Western", assuming that Zheng He has not stopped before arriving in Africa, but bypassing the good look, discovering the American continent, today's world pattern has also changed, China The colonist of the Americas. In fact, the assumption of Da Liu is wrong, because the Zheng He's fleet does not aggressive, even if you see the original state of the Americas, it may only be awarded that Tian En, not to build a colonial. However, there is no hypothesis that China is far from the Indian Ocean, suddenly ending after Zheng He's death, the tide of the Indian Ocean, leaving a legend of the Oriental. Richard Hall is in the "Monsoon Empire":
From a historical point of view, Zheng He's 7 voyage seems to be a phenomenon that is almost inefficient. The 15th century Indian Ocean is a tremendous wealth trade stage (there is no other region in the world to compare with the output of goods and raw materials). The Chinese suddenly broke into this stage, but they also stopped this action, almost did not leave a trace.
Of course, Richard Hall is in ancient China in the "Monsoon Empire", mainly with the record of travelers, these records from traveler's personal experience, some from the road to talk, may not be objective. However, China's important influence on the history of the Indian Ocean is undoubted. Today, the strategic idea of the sea Silk Road in the 21st century has once sailed sail, China is the development of the Indian Ocean region, which must also make new contributions, interpretation of new historical legend.
———————————————————
中国，在数千年的历史中，从来没有印度洋的出海口。位于中国云南边陲的芒市，尽管被称为中国距离印度洋最近的城市，但是距印度洋的直线距离也达到600公里，中间还阻隔着重重群山。
在千年之前，从阿拉伯半岛经印度洋到达中国的旅程，漫长而危险，需要从印度向东航行至苏门答腊岛，穿过马六甲海峡，最后向北进入中国海，整趟航行需要一年半，而且在旅途中，不仅要面对大海的风暴，还要应对海盗的骚扰，可谓九死一生。
然而，哥不在江湖，江湖却有哥的传说。在印度洋的波涛中，从来没有缺少过关于中国的传闻。这些传闻，往往讲述了中国巨大的财富。所以，尽管旅途艰辛，但传闻中的巨大财富，却以无可抵挡的诱惑，给予商人和水手冲风破浪的强大勇气，让他们在惊涛骇浪中，借助着季风的力量，抵达中国的海岸。
英国历史作家理查德•霍尔在《季风帝国》中，对西方旅行家关于中国的记录进行了概述，再现了古代中国在西方人心中的传奇。理查德•霍尔出生于1925年，在澳大利亚长大，曾在英国皇家海军服役，在牛津大学求学，并在非洲生活过13年，曾任职于《每日邮报》《赞比亚时报》《观察家报》《金融时报》等媒体，并创建了金融和政治公报《非洲分析》。
《季风帝国》全书近50万字，是一部史诗级的历史著作，展示了印度洋地区公元10世纪到20世纪约一千余年的历史。理查德•霍尔在写作《季风帝国》时，查阅了大量资料，其中不乏一些孤本，比如布祖格•伊本•沙赫里亚尔的回忆录，仅仅在伊斯坦布尔的一座清真寺中幸存一份。
在全书第一部分，讲述了印度洋被西方入侵前数百年的历史，中国在其中扮演了重要角色，并被记录在旅行家的回忆录中，包括波斯船长布祖格•伊本•沙赫里亚尔、威尼斯人马可•波罗和摩洛哥学者伊本•白图泰等，在他们的叙述中，中国是命运、财富与强盛的代名词。
一、命运之国
《季风帝国》中，理查德•霍尔讲到波斯船长布祖格的手稿，里面提到了一个叫做伊斯哈格•本•亚胡达的犹太人。
伊斯哈格出生与阿曼的一个贫困家庭，他从印度到达中国后，在中国生活了30年，公元912年回到家乡。而这时，他已经成为了一个富有的商人，不仅拥有自己的货船，而且船上满载着丝绸、瓷器、麝香和珍贵宝石。
伊斯哈格为了逃避关税，用一个带金色盖子的黑色瓷花瓶，贿赂了地方官员艾哈迈德•本•希拉勒。伊斯哈格告诉艾哈迈德，这是为他在中国“烹饪的鱼“。艾哈迈德打开瓶盖，看到里面装着一条被麝香环绕的金鱼，金鱼的眼睛用红宝石做成，花瓶里的东西估计价值超过5万金第纳尔。
摩洛哥学者伊本•白图泰旅行到中国，在福州遇到了一位穆斯林医生，这个医生在中国获得了成功，他告诉伊本•白图泰，他有50个白人奴隶和相同数量的女奴。医生送给了伊本•白图泰2个白人奴隶和2个女奴，还有很多其它礼物。
或许，正是布祖格、伊本•白图泰的这些传闻，为那些贫困中的商人和水手带去了慰藉，让他们认为，只要登上中国的海岸，命运就会发生根本性逆转。关于中国，人们认为没有什么是不可能的。所以，在《季风帝国》中，理查德•霍尔写道，那些能够安全抵达中国的旅行者，通常都不愿回去。在布祖格写书之前的两个世纪，寄居在中国的波斯人和阿拉伯人，已经多到能够对广州发起一次海上的劫掠。
二、财富之国
巴黎和伦敦，是当代的时尚城市，代表着流行文化发展的方向。但在一千年前，西方国家贫穷愚昧，西欧仅仅处于世界文明的外部边缘。达•伽马在第一次到达印度的卡利卡特，拜访当地官员时，他递上的礼物有：洗脸盆、珊瑚项链、帽子、深红色头巾和数坛蜂蜜。如此寒酸的礼物，受到了当地人的嘲笑，有人对达•伽马的随从说：“从麦加来的最贫穷的商人奉上的礼物也比你们体面。”
中国的丝绸和瓷器，则是那个时代的奢侈品。也许，在那个时代的欧洲，人们对丝绸和瓷器的感觉，就像现代某些国人对于LV、香奈儿、爱马仕等品牌那般狂热。在西方人的记录中，很多王室贵族们用于参加仪式的盛装，便是丝绸。
那时，红海曾被称为“中国的海”，满载象牙、香料和黄金的货船从那里起航，前往中国交换奢侈品。布祖格曾经在朋友那里听到过有关中国的消息，中国的一个统治者，在接待一个阿拉伯商人时，身边有500名肤色各异的女奴，那些女奴穿着各种丝绸，佩戴着各种珠宝。
在与其它国家的交往中，中国似乎并不在乎经济上的获利，更在意身份上的优越感。中国的统治者总是认为，其它所有国家都应该承认中国的优越地位，并且要归顺于她。所以，其它国家给中国皇帝的礼物，被视为贡礼，中国的回礼则要比贡礼丰厚许多。
伊本•白图泰曾经记录，印度德里的苏丹穆罕默德•伊本•图格鲁克十分慷慨，自称“世界的主人”，他曾派15位使者去往中国，结果，15位使者返回德里时，带回了大量的礼物，包括100个奴隶、大量的丝绸与天鹅绒布料、饰以珠宝的服装，以及各种各样的武器。
苏丹可能感觉很没面子，不想输给中国，准备了很多回礼，包括100名白人奴隶、100个印度舞女、100匹马、15个宦官、金银大烛台、锦缎长袍，以及无数其它宝物，并任命伊本•白图泰为大使，让他代表自己去拜访中国。结果，中途被印度教徒袭击，抢走了所有的财物。
三、强盛之国
中国的强盛很早便被西方人所知闻，早在萨珊王朝被阿拉伯人征服时，萨珊王朝的末代君王，便派遣密使到中国寻求援助。马克•波罗前往东方的旅行，也是为了在东西方建立起永久的联系，以共同对付伊斯兰国家。然而，中国的统治者们更喜欢逐鹿中原，并不喜欢征服四海。即使郑和下西洋，也没有一点侵略的意图。
1405年，郑和从龙江关出发，开始了自己到西洋的首次航行。在郑和的船队中，“宝船”重达500多吨，拥有12张船帆，配备有装满火药的“火箭”，携带有发射石头的大口径短枪。在郑和的每一次远航中，他所率领的大船数量都从40艘到100艘不等，每艘大船还配备有几艘补给船。在7次远航的大多数情况下，郑和的船队中，有3万余人和300艘各式船只。
与此相对的是，在1497年，郑和首航已过去了将近一个世纪，达•伽马在里斯本开启了去往印度的航行，所携带船只仅有4艘，船员180余名。船队中的旗舰“圣加百列”号，载重不到300吨，另外一艘“圣拉斐尔”号还要小一些，其余两艘则是普通的轻快帆船。
郑和下西洋的起因，至今众说纷纭，尚无定论，有寻建文帝说、宣扬威德说、军事目的说，理查德•霍尔在《季风帝国》中认为，是为了给中国大工场生产的剩余产品寻求市场。但不管郑和下西洋的目的何在，至少可以明确的一点是，郑和的船队在当时的印度洋上，是无敌般的一种存在。
锡兰国王拒绝将佛陀佛牙舍利交给中国皇帝，郑和在1409年，直接攻入锡兰首都山城康提，俘获了僧伽罗国王，并把他带回中国做了人质。另外，还有一次派人在索马里的摩加迪沙上岸，去教训它的野蛮苏丹。但是，这些武力攻击却绝非侵略性质的，因为，郑和从未在印度洋地区建立任何的永久性的驻防要塞。
刘慈欣曾写过一篇短篇科幻小说《西洋》，假设郑和在抵达非洲之后，并未停止前行，而是绕过了好望角，发现了美洲大陆，当今的世界格局也因此改变，中国人成了美洲的殖民者。其实，大刘的假设是错误的，因为郑和的船队并没有侵略性，即使见到原始状态的美洲土著，可能也只是宣赐天恩，而不会建立殖民地。不过，历史没有假设，中国对于印度洋的远航，在郑和逝世之后骤然结束，在印度洋的潮起潮落间，留下一段东方的传奇。理查德•霍尔在《季风帝国》中感慨：
从历史的角度看，郑和的7次远航似乎令人费解，几乎是不理智的现象。15世纪的印度洋是巨大财富的贸易舞台（世界上没有其他地区在商品和原料的输出量上可与之相提并论）。中国人突然大规模地、强有力地闯入这个舞台，但是他们也突然终止这个行动，几乎没留下一丝痕迹。
当然，理查德•霍尔在《季风帝国》中对古代中国的描述，主要借助当时旅行家们的记录，这些记录有些来自旅行家的亲身经历，有些来自道听途说，未必客观真实。但是，中国对印度洋历史的重要影响力，却是确凿无疑的。如今，21世纪海上丝绸之路的战略构想又一次扬帆起航，中国为印度洋地区的发展，也必然做出新的贡献，演绎出新的历史传奇。
Before the Millennium, from the Arabian Peninsula arrived in China, it is long and dangerous. It is necessary to travel from India to Sumamera to Sumatra, through the Malacca Strait, and finally enter the Chinese sea from the north. The whole tour takes a year and a half, On the way, not only face the storm of the sea, but also to deal with the harassment of pirates, it can be described as a life.
However, the brother is not in the rivers and lakes, and the rivers and lakes have a legend. In the Waves of the Indian Ocean, there has never lack the rumors of China. These rumors often tell the huge wealth in China. Therefore, although the journey is hard, the huge wealth in the rumors, the powerful courage to give the businessman and sailor, let them be in the waves, arrive at China's coast in the waves of the monsoon.
British historical writers Richard Hall In the "Monsoon Empire", the Western traveler's record is overview, and the legend of Ancient China is in the hearts of Westerners in Westerners. Richard Hall was born in 1925, in Australia, once served in the Royal Navy in the UK, in Oxford University, and lived in Africa for 13 years, he served on the "Daily Mail" "Zambia Times" Observe the "Financial Times" and other media, and created the "African Analysis of the Financial and Political Communique".
The "Monsoon Empire" is nearly 500,000 words, is a history of history, showing the history of the Hindu National AD 10th century to the 20th century. Richard Hall In writing a "Monsoon Empire", I have answered a lot of information, including some lonely, such as the memoirs of the Buli Ibre, Shahriar, only in a mosque in Istanbul. .
In the first part of the book, the Indian Ocean has a history of hundreds of years before invading invasion. China plays an important role, and is recorded in the memoirs of the traveler, including the Persian Director Buli Ibre, Shahria Venetian Mac, Polo and Moroccan scholar Iburn, Baotai, etc. In their narrative, China is a synonym of fate, wealth and strong.
First, the country of fate
In the "Monsoon Empire", Richard Hall said the manuscript of the Persian Hull, which mentioned a Jews called Isched • Yada.
Ishag born with Oman's poor family, after he arrived in China from India, living in China for 30 years, returning to his hometown in 19912. At this time, he has become a rich businessman, not only has its own cargo ship, but also full of silk, porcelain, musk and precious gemstones.
In order to escape tariffs, Ishag, with a black porcelain vase with golden lid, bribed the local official Ahmed, Hilake. Ishag told Ahmed, which is for his "cooking fish" in China. Ahmed opened the bottle cap and saw a goldfish that was surrounded by musk. The goldfish eyes were made with ruby, and the vase estimates worth more than 50,000 yuan.
Moroccan scholar Iben Bai Titai travel to China, I met a Muslim doctor in Fuzhou, which was successful in China, and he told Iben White Thai, he had 50 white slaves and the same number of female slaves. The doctor gave Iben • Baotai 2 white slaves and 2 female slaves, there are many other gifts.
Perhaps, these rumors of the brunette, Iburn, Baotai, bring comforts for those in poverty, let them think that as long as they board the coast of China, fate will undergo a fundamental reversal. About China, people think that there is nothing wrong. Therefore, in the "Monsoon Empire", Richard Hall wrote, those travelers who can safely arrive in China, usually don't want to go back. In the past two centuries before the written written, the Perssenger and Arab people living in China have been able to launch a sea to launch a sea.
Second, the country of wealth
Paris and London are contemporary fashion cities that represent the direction of popular cultural development. However, in a thousand years ago, Western countries are ignorant, Western Europe is only in the edge of the world civilization. Dan Gamma arrived in Calcat, India, visiting a local official, his gifts were: washbasin, coral necklace, hat, dark red headscarf and altar honey. Such a cold gather, has been laughed at the locals, some people say that Gamma's follow: "The gift from Mecca is also decent."
China's silk and porcelain are the luxury of that era. Perhaps, in that era, people feel like silk and porcelain, like the modern people in the modern people, such as LV, Chanel, Hermes and other brands. In Westerners record, many royal rods are used to participate in the ceremonial costume, which is silk.
At that time, the Red Sea was called "China's Sea", the cargo ship full of teeth, spices and gold, from there, travel to China to exchange luxury goods. Bunzge once heard about China's news, a ruler in China, when receiving a Arab businessman, there were 500 female slaves around him, those female slaves wearing a variety of jewels. .
In the interaction with other countries, China does not seem to care about the economy, and more interested in the identity. Chinese rulers always believe that all countries should recognize China's superior position and have to return to her. Therefore, other countries give the gift of the Chinese emperor, as a tribute, China's return is much better than Gong Li.
Iben White Thae once recorded that the Sulthak Muhammad Ibrah Turku, India, and self-proclaimed "the owner of the world". He once sent 15 virgins to China. As a result, 15 gnals returned to Delhi. Brought back a lot of gifts, including 100 slaves, a lot of silk and velvet cloth, decorated with jewelry clothing, and a wide range of weapons.
Sudan may feel very unhuster, don't want to lose to China, prepare a lot of gifts, including 100 white slaves, 100 Indian dancers, 100 horses, 15 宦 宦, gold and silver candlesticks, damask robe, countless treasures, and Appointment Iben • Baotai is a ambassador, let him visit China to visit China. As a result, it was attacked by Hindu, and all the belongings were taken away.
Third, the strong country
China's strong is very early by the Westerners. As early as the Saan Dynasty, when he was conquered by the Arabs, the last generation of the Saan Dynasty was sent to China to seek assistance. Mark Polo travels to the East, and is also a permanent connection in the East and West to coexue the Islamic countries. However, Chinese rulers prefer to compete in the Central Plains, and do not like to conquer the four seas. Even if Zheng He is under the West Ocean, there is no intention of aggression.
In 1405, Zheng He started from Longjiang, and he began to save the Western Ocean. In the Zheng He's fleet, "treasure ship" weighed more than 500 tons, with 12 ship sails, equipped with "rocket" filled with gunpowder, carrying a large diameter short gun with a stone. In every voyage of Zheng He, the number of big ships he led has from 40 to 100, and each big ship is also equipped with several replenishment boats. In most cases of 7 times, there are more than 300 people and 300 vessels in the Zheng He's fleet.
In contrast, in 1497, Zheng He's first flight has passed nearly nearly a century, and Gamma opened the sailing to India in Lisbon, and there were only four ships, and the crew was more than 180. The flagship "St. Cainertes" in the fleet is less than 300 tons, and another "Saint Rafael" is small, and the remaining two are ordinary light sailboats.
Zheng He Xiaoxiang, so far, there is no conclusion, there is no conclusion, there is a search for the Emperor to say, Xuanyang Weide said, Richard Hall believes in the "Monsoon Empire", it is to produce China's workplace production The remaining products seek the market. But regardless of the purpose of Zheng He's Western Ocean, at least it is clear that the Zheng He's fleet is an invincible in the Indian Ocean at the time.
The King of Ceylon refused to hand over Buddha Buddha tooth to the Chinese emperor. In 1409, Zheng He was directly attacked into the Civic Shancheng City, the capital of Silan, captured the King of Squoro, and brought him back to China to do the hostage. In addition, there is also a sect from the shore of Mogadisa in Somalia, teaching its barbaric Sudan. However, these force attacks are not intrusive, because Zheng He has never established any permanent resident deposits in the Indian Ocean area.
Liu Cixin wrote a short science fiction "Western", assuming that Zheng He has not stopped before arriving in Africa, but bypassing the good look, discovering the American continent, today's world pattern has also changed, China The colonist of the Americas. In fact, the assumption of Da Liu is wrong, because the Zheng He's fleet does not aggressive, even if you see the original state of the Americas, it may only be awarded that Tian En, not to build a colonial. However, there is no hypothesis that China is far from the Indian Ocean, suddenly ending after Zheng He's death, the tide of the Indian Ocean, leaving a legend of the Oriental. Richard Hall is in the "Monsoon Empire":
From a historical point of view, Zheng He's 7 voyage seems to be a phenomenon that is almost inefficient. The 15th century Indian Ocean is a tremendous wealth trade stage (there is no other region in the world to compare with the output of goods and raw materials). The Chinese suddenly broke into this stage, but they also stopped this action, almost did not leave a trace.
Of course, Richard Hall is in ancient China in the "Monsoon Empire", mainly with the record of travelers, these records from traveler's personal experience, some from the road to talk, may not be objective. However, China's important influence on the history of the Indian Ocean is undoubted. Today, the strategic idea of the sea Silk Road in the 21st century has once sailed sail, China is the development of the Indian Ocean region, which must also make new contributions, interpretation of new historical legend.
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中国，在数千年的历史中，从来没有印度洋的出海口。位于中国云南边陲的芒市，尽管被称为中国距离印度洋最近的城市，但是距印度洋的直线距离也达到600公里，中间还阻隔着重重群山。
在千年之前，从阿拉伯半岛经印度洋到达中国的旅程，漫长而危险，需要从印度向东航行至苏门答腊岛，穿过马六甲海峡，最后向北进入中国海，整趟航行需要一年半，而且在旅途中，不仅要面对大海的风暴，还要应对海盗的骚扰，可谓九死一生。
然而，哥不在江湖，江湖却有哥的传说。在印度洋的波涛中，从来没有缺少过关于中国的传闻。这些传闻，往往讲述了中国巨大的财富。所以，尽管旅途艰辛，但传闻中的巨大财富，却以无可抵挡的诱惑，给予商人和水手冲风破浪的强大勇气，让他们在惊涛骇浪中，借助着季风的力量，抵达中国的海岸。
英国历史作家理查德•霍尔在《季风帝国》中，对西方旅行家关于中国的记录进行了概述，再现了古代中国在西方人心中的传奇。理查德•霍尔出生于1925年，在澳大利亚长大，曾在英国皇家海军服役，在牛津大学求学，并在非洲生活过13年，曾任职于《每日邮报》《赞比亚时报》《观察家报》《金融时报》等媒体，并创建了金融和政治公报《非洲分析》。
《季风帝国》全书近50万字，是一部史诗级的历史著作，展示了印度洋地区公元10世纪到20世纪约一千余年的历史。理查德•霍尔在写作《季风帝国》时，查阅了大量资料，其中不乏一些孤本，比如布祖格•伊本•沙赫里亚尔的回忆录，仅仅在伊斯坦布尔的一座清真寺中幸存一份。
在全书第一部分，讲述了印度洋被西方入侵前数百年的历史，中国在其中扮演了重要角色，并被记录在旅行家的回忆录中，包括波斯船长布祖格•伊本•沙赫里亚尔、威尼斯人马可•波罗和摩洛哥学者伊本•白图泰等，在他们的叙述中，中国是命运、财富与强盛的代名词。
一、命运之国
《季风帝国》中，理查德•霍尔讲到波斯船长布祖格的手稿，里面提到了一个叫做伊斯哈格•本•亚胡达的犹太人。
伊斯哈格出生与阿曼的一个贫困家庭，他从印度到达中国后，在中国生活了30年，公元912年回到家乡。而这时，他已经成为了一个富有的商人，不仅拥有自己的货船，而且船上满载着丝绸、瓷器、麝香和珍贵宝石。
伊斯哈格为了逃避关税，用一个带金色盖子的黑色瓷花瓶，贿赂了地方官员艾哈迈德•本•希拉勒。伊斯哈格告诉艾哈迈德，这是为他在中国“烹饪的鱼“。艾哈迈德打开瓶盖，看到里面装着一条被麝香环绕的金鱼，金鱼的眼睛用红宝石做成，花瓶里的东西估计价值超过5万金第纳尔。
摩洛哥学者伊本•白图泰旅行到中国，在福州遇到了一位穆斯林医生，这个医生在中国获得了成功，他告诉伊本•白图泰，他有50个白人奴隶和相同数量的女奴。医生送给了伊本•白图泰2个白人奴隶和2个女奴，还有很多其它礼物。
或许，正是布祖格、伊本•白图泰的这些传闻，为那些贫困中的商人和水手带去了慰藉，让他们认为，只要登上中国的海岸，命运就会发生根本性逆转。关于中国，人们认为没有什么是不可能的。所以，在《季风帝国》中，理查德•霍尔写道，那些能够安全抵达中国的旅行者，通常都不愿回去。在布祖格写书之前的两个世纪，寄居在中国的波斯人和阿拉伯人，已经多到能够对广州发起一次海上的劫掠。
二、财富之国
巴黎和伦敦，是当代的时尚城市，代表着流行文化发展的方向。但在一千年前，西方国家贫穷愚昧，西欧仅仅处于世界文明的外部边缘。达•伽马在第一次到达印度的卡利卡特，拜访当地官员时，他递上的礼物有：洗脸盆、珊瑚项链、帽子、深红色头巾和数坛蜂蜜。如此寒酸的礼物，受到了当地人的嘲笑，有人对达•伽马的随从说：“从麦加来的最贫穷的商人奉上的礼物也比你们体面。”
中国的丝绸和瓷器，则是那个时代的奢侈品。也许，在那个时代的欧洲，人们对丝绸和瓷器的感觉，就像现代某些国人对于LV、香奈儿、爱马仕等品牌那般狂热。在西方人的记录中，很多王室贵族们用于参加仪式的盛装，便是丝绸。
那时，红海曾被称为“中国的海”，满载象牙、香料和黄金的货船从那里起航，前往中国交换奢侈品。布祖格曾经在朋友那里听到过有关中国的消息，中国的一个统治者，在接待一个阿拉伯商人时，身边有500名肤色各异的女奴，那些女奴穿着各种丝绸，佩戴着各种珠宝。
在与其它国家的交往中，中国似乎并不在乎经济上的获利，更在意身份上的优越感。中国的统治者总是认为，其它所有国家都应该承认中国的优越地位，并且要归顺于她。所以，其它国家给中国皇帝的礼物，被视为贡礼，中国的回礼则要比贡礼丰厚许多。
伊本•白图泰曾经记录，印度德里的苏丹穆罕默德•伊本•图格鲁克十分慷慨，自称“世界的主人”，他曾派15位使者去往中国，结果，15位使者返回德里时，带回了大量的礼物，包括100个奴隶、大量的丝绸与天鹅绒布料、饰以珠宝的服装，以及各种各样的武器。
苏丹可能感觉很没面子，不想输给中国，准备了很多回礼，包括100名白人奴隶、100个印度舞女、100匹马、15个宦官、金银大烛台、锦缎长袍，以及无数其它宝物，并任命伊本•白图泰为大使，让他代表自己去拜访中国。结果，中途被印度教徒袭击，抢走了所有的财物。
三、强盛之国
中国的强盛很早便被西方人所知闻，早在萨珊王朝被阿拉伯人征服时，萨珊王朝的末代君王，便派遣密使到中国寻求援助。马克•波罗前往东方的旅行，也是为了在东西方建立起永久的联系，以共同对付伊斯兰国家。然而，中国的统治者们更喜欢逐鹿中原，并不喜欢征服四海。即使郑和下西洋，也没有一点侵略的意图。
1405年，郑和从龙江关出发，开始了自己到西洋的首次航行。在郑和的船队中，“宝船”重达500多吨，拥有12张船帆，配备有装满火药的“火箭”，携带有发射石头的大口径短枪。在郑和的每一次远航中，他所率领的大船数量都从40艘到100艘不等，每艘大船还配备有几艘补给船。在7次远航的大多数情况下，郑和的船队中，有3万余人和300艘各式船只。
与此相对的是，在1497年，郑和首航已过去了将近一个世纪，达•伽马在里斯本开启了去往印度的航行，所携带船只仅有4艘，船员180余名。船队中的旗舰“圣加百列”号，载重不到300吨，另外一艘“圣拉斐尔”号还要小一些，其余两艘则是普通的轻快帆船。
郑和下西洋的起因，至今众说纷纭，尚无定论，有寻建文帝说、宣扬威德说、军事目的说，理查德•霍尔在《季风帝国》中认为，是为了给中国大工场生产的剩余产品寻求市场。但不管郑和下西洋的目的何在，至少可以明确的一点是，郑和的船队在当时的印度洋上，是无敌般的一种存在。
锡兰国王拒绝将佛陀佛牙舍利交给中国皇帝，郑和在1409年，直接攻入锡兰首都山城康提，俘获了僧伽罗国王，并把他带回中国做了人质。另外，还有一次派人在索马里的摩加迪沙上岸，去教训它的野蛮苏丹。但是，这些武力攻击却绝非侵略性质的，因为，郑和从未在印度洋地区建立任何的永久性的驻防要塞。
刘慈欣曾写过一篇短篇科幻小说《西洋》，假设郑和在抵达非洲之后，并未停止前行，而是绕过了好望角，发现了美洲大陆，当今的世界格局也因此改变，中国人成了美洲的殖民者。其实，大刘的假设是错误的，因为郑和的船队并没有侵略性，即使见到原始状态的美洲土著，可能也只是宣赐天恩，而不会建立殖民地。不过，历史没有假设，中国对于印度洋的远航，在郑和逝世之后骤然结束，在印度洋的潮起潮落间，留下一段东方的传奇。理查德•霍尔在《季风帝国》中感慨：
从历史的角度看，郑和的7次远航似乎令人费解，几乎是不理智的现象。15世纪的印度洋是巨大财富的贸易舞台（世界上没有其他地区在商品和原料的输出量上可与之相提并论）。中国人突然大规模地、强有力地闯入这个舞台，但是他们也突然终止这个行动，几乎没留下一丝痕迹。
当然，理查德•霍尔在《季风帝国》中对古代中国的描述，主要借助当时旅行家们的记录，这些记录有些来自旅行家的亲身经历，有些来自道听途说，未必客观真实。但是，中国对印度洋历史的重要影响力，却是确凿无疑的。如今，21世纪海上丝绸之路的战略构想又一次扬帆起航，中国为印度洋地区的发展，也必然做出新的贡献，演绎出新的历史传奇。
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 7, 2018
This is a not deep but it is thorough. I feel like the importance of the ancient and early modern traffic among India, East Africa and Oman is an often overlooked topic in world history. This book covers most of the important events from first century CE to the nineteenth century. An excellent, readable overview with lots of good references to additional readings.
June 16, 2017
Disappointing. It's inevitable with books like this that the pre-European history tends to be a quick retelling of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta, moving swiftly on to the bit after the Europeans arrived and started documenting their unspeakable cruelty. Nevertheless, I was hoping for more about the empires and less about the Europeans. Furthermore, there is relatively limited analysis of the social conditions at any point, the currents that caused this. This is mostly big characters, doing terrible things, a big man style history with it's eye on the derring-do and not the less showy and generally more enlightening study of institutions and structures.
February 24, 2021
Read this book if you want to understand the pivotal role the Indian Ocean played in the creation of the modern world. It is also sobering to read how a such a large number of thriving people were overrun by a few small countries such that every country bordering the Indian Ocean became a colony within two hundred and fifty years of Da Gama discovery.
January 30, 2020
One of my all time favourite history books. Well written and great research. You will not be disappointed in this fascinating examination of the world of the monsoons in the Indian Ocean. I regard this book as an essential reference book in my personal library.
May 13, 2025
History books are not usually an easy read and this one was no exception. It mainly covered East African history of which I knew very little before reading this book. Well researched and certainly expanded my knowledge base significantly.
May 6, 2024
印度洋的历史本身是个很有趣又同时几乎毫无提及的一个方向，尤其是在中文世界这本书可以说补足这一部分的缺失。整体来说就是一部欧洲视角的入侵史，从东南亚到东非沿岸，对于本地的文化和历史涉及篇幅过少。同时，在叙述史实的同时缺少自我的观点。如果纯粹当作一本记录印度洋沿岸的前殖民时代历史，自然是丰富的，但遗憾的是深度的缺失，季风、帝国这样的概念只存在于纸面上而未能拓展。
January 10, 2025
Prettily written, in a very interesting style. Not a history of the Indian ocean, but of east Africa, featuring the Indian ocean
May 27, 2016
Superb coverage of early European exploration and colonisation of the Indian Ocean area. Contains many little-known details that are integrated beautifully into this robust and honest (and brutal) history of the region. No holds are barred in recounting the ruthlessness of the age and the travesties against the peoples of the region as they were slaughtered, brutalised and/or enslaved by the region's intruders. However, we soon find that the Europeans were not singular in their practices, many other kingdoms and states also considered Africa and the weaker states of the region hunting grounds for riches and slaves.
The latter third of the book pays particular attention to the colonisation of East Africa and fills a void in many western readers' knowledge of the region. This is a book to be read and re-read and in which I have stuck many little tabs to highlight details I know I will want to refer back to (as this is a particular area of interest to me). The illustrations are excellent and I wished there were more. There is also a 20-page index to help you find your way to information about specific individuals and some events, but it could have been even more robust. For example, while there is considerable information about the importance of Oman as a powerful ship-building and sea-going nation, and Christianity in Ethiopia, there are no index entries under 'Oman' or 'Ethiopia' to help you find your way back to them. If there is ever an updated edition, I petition the author for a more extensive index as the text is so rich, it deserves more accessibility. The end notes are interesting but rarely give the source of textual information, which many readers will miss. There is, however, an excellent bibliography broken down into sub-subjects as they relate to the book's chapters (helpful in identifying relevant additional reading).
The latter third of the book pays particular attention to the colonisation of East Africa and fills a void in many western readers' knowledge of the region. This is a book to be read and re-read and in which I have stuck many little tabs to highlight details I know I will want to refer back to (as this is a particular area of interest to me). The illustrations are excellent and I wished there were more. There is also a 20-page index to help you find your way to information about specific individuals and some events, but it could have been even more robust. For example, while there is considerable information about the importance of Oman as a powerful ship-building and sea-going nation, and Christianity in Ethiopia, there are no index entries under 'Oman' or 'Ethiopia' to help you find your way back to them. If there is ever an updated edition, I petition the author for a more extensive index as the text is so rich, it deserves more accessibility. The end notes are interesting but rarely give the source of textual information, which many readers will miss. There is, however, an excellent bibliography broken down into sub-subjects as they relate to the book's chapters (helpful in identifying relevant additional reading).
June 9, 2025
This is a book full of very interesting information and covering a vast sweep of history but I just didn't feel that it lives up to its subtitle 'A History of the Indian Ocean and its Invaders'. This is not a book like Peter Frankopan's 'The Silk Road' which makes you look at history from a completely different perspective. In many ways Empires of the Moon felt more like a history of the Portuguese exploration in India and east Africa and its rise to and failure to remain an imperial power. Otherwise to much of what is covered before about Chinese voyages to the area and later British imperial interventions felt tacked on. It is not a bad book, just not one that lives up to its advertising.
July 30, 2013
An excellent overview of the long and, often, violent history of the civilizations living from the richness of the Indian Ocean, no holds barred (the early European explorers, whose exploits made them heroes in Eurocentric history books, were nothing but blood-thirsty savages). The last third of the book is more centered around Africa and forgets the other half of the Indian Ocean, but as it covers some of the ground not covered in other African history books, it still makes for riveting reading.
June 22, 2016
Excellent first read about the fascinating history of the Indian Ocean and a good antidote tot he anglo-centric history of Africa that we grew up with. It details the trade and commerce between the Eastern seaboard of Africa over the last thousand years. Highly recommended.
May 31, 2008
A must for anybody visiting east Africa.
I just re-read this and will do again.
I just re-read this and will do again.
Want to read
August 4, 2009Xmas 2007
January 14, 2013
Excellent overview of history of the Indian Ocean and the lands surrounding it. Probably one of the best overall books on history I've read.
October 15, 2016
excellent history of the Indian Ocean rim, even more relevant in current context
March 24, 2017
A wonderful book on a very interesting topic. Hall splits the book into 55 short chapters of 9-10 pages each, focussing on a specific aspect, story or person. The subject is vast, but he has covered it skilfully. The stories of European exploration never cease to amaze.
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