Department Of South And Central Asian Studies
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Item Indian ocean : A life -line for south asia(Central University of Punjab, 2013) Raikhy, Swati; Singh, Kiran KSince the ancient times Indian Ocean has played significant role in dissemination of capital, goods, people etc. It has been a source of immense importance and has entered in the life of all the littoral countries .Natural harbours developed at coasts of Indian Ocean in South Asia culminated in to trading points to carry out trade activities across Asia, Africa and far Western world. Sri Lanka, being located in the middle of Indian Ocean was the main boarding station for the ships enrooting east-west or vice versa. Trade routes developed during this period were monopolized by one nation or other from time to time. The discovery of sea route to India via Cape of Good Hope brought Europe and Asia closer and the Industrial revolution that began in Europe gave impetus to trade activities and globalized the Indian Ocean world. The arrival of Portuguese followed by Dutch, British, French and other European powers led them into the tussle to gain power over the Indian Ocean region for its enriched resources, commodities and the strategic importance that naturally endowed to Indian Ocean. It later became bone of contention among various European powers that was responsible for Colonization of almost entire Africa and most of Asia. The British were successful in retaining the power over the region till the end of Second World War. After gaining control over this water-body, they became the masters of the seas. Since ancient time Maldivian economy was heavily dependent on Indian Ocean. Natural resources like fishery, cowries and coir obtained from the coconut was widely cultivated at the coasts. The natural scenic beauty of Indian Ocean sea shores gave the economy of Maldives a new dimension in the form of tourism industry. Britain used its atolls as secret harbors during the Second World War. The two island nations of South Asia heavily rely on Indian Ocean as no other mean to connect outside world since the air route is too costly and cannot handle bulk cargo. In Bangladesh trade was largely based on Indian Ocean water ways but due to problem of siltation in Chittagong port goods were collected at Colombo, Singapore ports and then iv brought to Bangladesh. The countries surrounding Indian Ocean were linked with one another through this ocean. The regular trade activities from India in ancient times catered the development of trade routes, Indian rulers from time to time carried out raids to secure their position for trade activities at the points of strategic importance. The Europeans made Indian Ocean coast as their base to expand colonies and British were successful. The period after Second World War is marked with the period of intense rivalry between major powers in Indian Ocean region. On the one hand Indian Ocean revealed a long story of transformation from a zone of conflict to a zone of peace while on another the Indian Ocean mobility experienced significant change because of growing economic activities of littoral nations. Soon after independence the south Asian countries, to cater their economic needs, relied largely on import of finished goods and export of raw materials in the initial years of their independence that had been largely traversed to various countries from the waters of Indian Ocean. The economic and strategic importance of South Asia is linked with the concentration of variety of raw material or natural resources of the world such as rubber, manganese, copper, tea, cotton, Jute and Gold in various littoral states. Indian Ocean did not only help in promoting economic growth in the region but also has played significant role in shaping the polity of south Asia. Since the Indian Ocean preserves the enormous quantity of natural resources and diverse culture it has naturally become a zone of importance in all spheres for the world and South Asia.