Marine Trade Quotes

“By the time the trading nations of the Indian Ocean began to realize that their old understandings had been rendered defunct by the Europeans, it was already too late. In 1509 AD the fate of that ancient trading culture was sealed in a naval engagement that was sadly, perhaps pathetically, evocative of its ethos: a transcontinental fleet, hastily put together by the Muslim potentate of Gujarat, the Hindu ruler of Calicut, and the Sultan of Egypt was attacked and defeated by a Portuguese force off the shores of Diu, in Gujarat. As always, the determination of a small, united band of soldiers triumphed easily over the rich confusions that accompany a culture of accommodation and compromise.”
― Amitav Ghosh, In an Antique Land