Indian Ocean

When did the first humans arrive in India and how did they get here? What are Roman artifacts from hundreds of years ago doing in a town near Puducherry? How did merchants from Arabia end up near Kochi? From the east coast of Africa to Australia, one big blue body of water has connected diverse peoples and cultures for thousands of years: the incredible Indian Ocean. Listen in to learn about the fearless travelers and sailors, pirates and conquerors who set out to cross the ocean in search of gold and glory, and discover how geography can shape the course of history.

In this ambitious audiobook, best-selling author Sanjeev Sanyal chronicles the grand sweep of history from East Africa to Australia, conjuring the great cities of Angkor and Vijayanagar, medieval Arab empires, and Chinese "treasure fleets" in rich, vivid detail. He explores remote archaeological sites, maritime trading networks, and half-forgotten oral tales to challenge established historical narratives with fresh evidence. Shining new light on medieval geopolitics and long-lost cities, The Ocean of Churn is a mesmerizing journey into the heart of a vibrant civilization.

From the assassination that triggered World War I to the ethnic warfare in Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia, the Balkans have been the crucible of the 20th century, the place where terrorism and genocide first became tools of policy. Chosen as one of the Best Books of the Year by the New York Times, and greeted with critical acclaim as "the most insightful and timely work on the Balkans to date" (The Boston Globe), Kaplan's prescient, enthralling, and often chilling political travelogue is already a modern classic.

In April 2013 a global breaking news story surfaced on social media and in the world press and rapidly gathered momentum. A South African man had fallen overboard in the night during a storm in remote Indonesian waters, without anyone else on board realising. Eight hours later a frantic search was underway.

On the world maps common in America, the Western Hemisphere lies front and center, while the Indian Ocean region all but disappears. This convention reveals the geopolitical focus of the now-departed 20th century, but in the 21st century, that focus will fundamentally change. In this pivotal examination of the countries known as “Monsoon Asia”—which include India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Burma, Oman, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Tanzania—best-selling author Robert D. Kaplan explains how crucial this dynamic area has become to American power.

The transatlantic slave trade was founded by the Portuguese in the 15th century for the specific purpose of supplying the New World colonies with African slave labor. It was soon joined by all the major trading powers of Europe, and it reached its peak in the 18th century with the founding and development of plantation economies that ran from the South American mainland through the Caribbean and into the southern states of the United States. The East African Slave Trade, on the other hand, was more complex, far older, and significantly more widespread.

Throughout history, the Indian Ocean has been an essential space for trade, commerce, and culture. Every European power has sought to dominate it. Now, after a lull in the postwar period, control of major shipping routes has once again become a critical aspect of every rising state's ambition to be a global power. Darshana M. Baruah shows how governments from Washington, DC, to Nairobi and Canberra are expanding their interests in the region.

The American settlers believed the native American Indians were savages. The Indians believed the settlers were invaders trying to take their land. Lewis Wetzel continues his escapades as a one-man army but runs into trouble he can’t get out of. Knotche’s dwindling band continues to fight a just cause. The British cede the Indian land of the Ohio country to the Americans at the end of the Revolutionary War even though the Indians on the American frontier, allies of the British, had been triumphant in their battles with the Americans. When the Indians refused to relinquish their claim to...

The Silk Road may be one origin of globalization, but the Indian Ocean is another. Barry Cunliffe examines the beginning of maritime trade using the evidence of archaeology and the tales of great travelers such as Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and the Chinese Admiral, Zheng He. This story complements that of the land routes, showing how humans have been driven across thousands of years to create and maintain networks whatever the difficulties.

Around eight o'clock a.m. on December 26, a massive earthquake registering 9.1-9.3 on the Richter Scale struck off of Sumatra, Indonesia, making it the third strongest earthquake ever recorded by seismographs. On top of that, the earthquake shook for nearly 10 minutes and generated incredibly strong tsunami waves. Thanks to the element of surprise, people in the region had virtually no warning of what was coming. The tsunami waves pulverized entire towns and swept away hundreds of thousands of people across Southeast Asia.

As remarkable as Columbus and the conquistador expeditions, the history of Portuguese exploration is now almost forgotten. But Portugal's navigators cracked the code of the Atlantic winds, launched the expedition of Vasco da Gama to India and beat the Spanish to the spice kingdoms of the East - then set about creating the first long-range maritime empire.

About The Kiwi and The Boy - The boy receives a parcel at his school in South Africa. The contents send him on a journey around the world from South Africa to New Zealand with a stop in Australia along the way. Where should he travel next? About The Rainbow Travelers Series - The rainbow travelers have accidentally discovered the secret to crossing the ocean in an instant. In the first book in the series, they arrive in New Zealand and need your help to decide what to do and where to go next.

In April 2013, 50-year-old Brett Archibald was onboard a surf-charter boat, making a nighttime crossing of the remote Mentawai Strait off Sumatra, Indonesia. In the middle of a storm, ill with severe food poisoning, he blacked out. When he came to, he found himself in the raging sea, 60 miles from shore. As Brett saw the lights of his boat disappearing into the darkness, it became clear that no one had seen him fall and that no one would hear his shouts for help. He was alone in the ocean.

This eBook dives into the fascinating and complex phenomenon of tsunamis, offering a comprehensive exploration of their causes, characteristics, and impacts. Beginning with a clear definition and the geological mechanisms that trigger tsunamis, such as undersea earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides, we unravel the science behind these powerful waves. The eBook highlights some of the most devastating tsunamis in recorded history, including detailed case studies of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami in Japan. These events illustrate the immense destructive ...

This book tells the true stories of mariners who became marauders, attacking, hiding, recruiting and disputing in and around Mauritius in the 17th and 18th centuries. Pirates stopped here to rest their crews, provision their ships, offload their captives, and occasionally to maroon their own men. It is also the location for the Christmas Day shipwreck and the first official salvage operation of a pirate ship in history. Read the real, authenticated accounts of pirates like John Bowen and Olivier La Buse who once haunted these shores.

This is a major history of the Indian Ocean structured through twenty human enterprises/interactions that have taken place in this diverse environment – from the discovery of fossils hinting to older ages to diving for pearls, the trade of spices, the effects of pollution, the passage of enslaved people, the charting of maps and much more. Collectively they sketch out a comprehensive overview of this extraordinary human crossroads.

It’s unbelievable but true! Born on the same day in the same small German circus town, young Bram and his elephant, Modoc, had a lifelong friendship that spanned more than eight decades. But it was never easy. From the breakup of the circus to the shipwreck in the Indian Ocean that nearly cost them their lives, the bond between the boy and the elephant survived the most unimaginable trials. This true story of their adventures together and their eventual rise to circus stardom in the Ringling Brothers Circus will be a treasure for animal lovers everywhere.

Murder and Mayhem in Mauritius presents a selection of historical crime stories ranging from the trial and execution of rebellious slaves, to tragedies arising from adultery and love triangles, and desperate acts of exploited workers. Alongside the better known cases of career criminal Nanard and exiled Malagasy noble Ratsitatane, this collection introduces readers to the tale of the Mauritian attorney who ended up in a Nazi concentration camp, and to the Indian workers on a Chagos atoll who murdered their manager and hijacked a ship, among other sometimes moving, sometimes shocking true ...

He’s famous for planting apple trees across the Midwest. But was this mythic nomad a fool, a saint, or something entirely different? Massachusetts, 1797. John Chapman craves love. Treated like an indentured servant by his father, the late-maturing twenty-one-year-old searches for enough money to take his beautiful sweetheart to a dance. But when the introspective young man is caught stealing a few coins, his stern parent condemns him to a long and dangerous journey to claim new land in the recently opened Indian Territory. Discovering unexpected skills as he and his half-brother brave the...

Calais-born Olivier Le Vasseur aka La Buse is infamous for his 1721 attack on a Portuguese ship docked at Bourbon (modern day Réunion), the island where he eventually met his fate on the gallows in 1730. The raid yielded one of the most spectacular treasure hauls in the recorded history of piracy. The value of the plunder taken - and a fabled incident that occurred on the day La Buse was hanged - have led to enduring claims about the supposed buried treasure of this ill-fated pirate. The recorded facts of Le Vasseur’s life – and their importance in debunking the legend- are the subject...