1: Shipping in the Indian Ocean: An Overview; 2: Seafarings, Ships and Ship Owners: India and the Indian Ocean ( ad 700-1500); 3: Seafaring in Peninsular India in the Ancient Period: Of Watercraft and Maritime Communities; 4: Archaeological Evidence on Shipping Communities or Sri Lanka; 5: Pre-Modern Sri Lankan Ships; 6: Classifying Vessel-Types in Ibn Ba????a's Ri?la; 7: Navigational Methods in the Indian Ocean 1; 8: The Rise and Fall of Hadhrami Shipping in the Indian Ocean, c.1750 - c.1940; 9: Continuity and Adaptation by Contemporary Swahili Boatbuilders in Kenya; 10: The Historical Context of the Construction of the Vattai Fishing Boat and Related Frame-First Vessels of Tamil Nadu and Beyond; 11: Yami Boats and Boat Building in a Wider Perspective
Recognising the fundamental role both of shipping communities and the technologies crafted and shared by them, this book explores the types of ships, methods of navigation and modes of water-borne trade in the Indian Ocean region and the way they affected the development of distinctive settlements against a changing but strong sense of regional consciousness and identity.