Indian Ocean Islands

Islands are intrinsic parts of the Indian Ocean Region’s physical geography and human landscape. Historically, many have played substantial roles in the regional cultural and economic networks, as well as in the regional political developments. Today, at least three issues bring these islands back to the forefront of the regional and global affairs, namely geopolitics and strategic matters, environmental conditions and challenges, as well as ocean affairs. However, there has not been yet a lot of research and publications on this phenomenon of islands’ growing significance in the specific context of the Indian Ocean Region. This book provides a rare attempt to cover various issues related to geopolitics, international relations, history, security, anthropology and ocean/environment of Indian Ocean islands and their societies. More specifically, it provides case studies on Sri Lanka (foreign policy), Cocos and Christmas Islands (geo-strategy), Chagos Archipelago (history), Mauritius (‘Indo-Mauritians’), Mauritius and Seychelles (maritime security), European Union and the Indian Ocean Islands (international relations), and Sundarban islands (environment and society). The chapters were originally published in a special issue of the Journal of the Indian Ocean Region.

Following the format of the successful 'Sasol Birds of Southern Africa', this is an identification guide to the birds of Madagascar and the other Indian Ocean islands.

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.

Tor Sellström profiles the independent island states and the European dependencies in the African part of the Indian Ocean, their contemporary social, political and economic challenges, the wider international context and their relations with, in particular, Africa and the African Union.

In field guide form, this text presents concise descriptions of each species, highlighting diagnostic features for ease of identification. Differences between sexes and plumages are discussed as well as the status of the bird, its habitat and call.

This original collection brings islands to the fore in a growing body of scholarship on the Indian Ocean, examining them as hubs or points of convergence and divergence in a world of maritime movements and exchanges. Straddling history and anthropology and grounded in the framework of connectivity, the book tackles central themes such as smallness, translocality, and “the island factor.” It moves to the farthest reaches of the region, with a rich variety of case studies on the Swahili-Comorian world, the Maldives, Indonesia, and more. With remarkable breadth and cohesion, these essays capture the circulations of people, goods, rituals, sociocultural practices, and ideas that constitute the Indian Ocean world. Together, they take up “islandness” as an explicit empirical and methodological issue as few have done before.

This is a comprehensive scientific publication on the islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans suitable for anyone with an interest in the subject. It is also a valuable reference work as it supplies a wealth of information, maps, photos and diagrams.