The Western Indian Ocean: Essays on Islands and Islanders

In this volume, The Hassam Toorawa Trust brings together six thought-provoking essays by scholars of Mauritius and other Indian Ocean islands. Together, they explore the experiences of islanders past and present, of placement and displacement, of locals and globals. The volume opens with a Foreword by Megan Vaughan (King’s College Cambridge), situating the essays in the broader context of the historical processes in the Indian Ocean. Ned Alpers (University of California, Los Angeles) places the islands of the Western Indian Ocean in the wider African context. Himanshu Prabha Ray (Jawaharlal Nehru University) discusses ancient and medieval seafaring in the Indian Ocean. Shawkat Toorawa (Cornell University) muses on the Indian Ocean location of the medieval Waqwaq islands. Paul van der Velde (International Institute for Asian Studies) reflects on Dutch traveler Jacob Haafner’s late eighteenth century description of his visit to Mauritius. Larry Bowman (University of Connecticut) describes the nineteenth century visit of mariner Joshua Slocum to Rodrigues and Mauritius. Jocelyn Chan Low (University of Mauritius) puts the plight of the Chagos Islanders (Ilois) into the context of Cold War realpolitik and Mauritius independence.