Ancient Glass Beads with Special Reference to the Beads of East and Central Africa and the Indian Ocean

Author(s):  
W. G. N. van der Sleen
2019 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 359-383
Author(s):  
Julia Verne

Abstract:In recent years, several attempts to revitalize Area Studies have concentrated on oceans as the unifying force to create regions. In this respect, the Indian Ocean has become a prime example to show how economic as well as cultural flows across the sea have contributed to close connections between its shores. However, by doing so, they not only seem to create a certain, rather homogeneous, Indian Ocean space, they often also lead to a conceptual separation between “coast” and “hinterland,” similar to earlier distinctions between “African/Arab” or “East/Central Africa.” In this contribution, so-called “Arab” traders who settled along trade routes connecting the East African coast to its hinterland will serve as an empirical ground to explore and challenge these boundaries. Tracing maritime imaginaries and related materialities in the Tanzanian interior, it will reflect on the ends of the Indian Ocean and the nature of such maritime conceptualizations of space more generally. By taking the relational thinking that lies at the ground of maritimity inland, it wishes to encourage a re-conceptualization of areas that not only replaces a terrestrial spatial entity with a maritime one, but that genuinely breaks with such “container-thinking” and, instead, foregrounds the meandering, fluid character of regions and their complex and highly dynamic entanglements.


2001 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harriet Joseph Ottenheimer

This paper surveys the history of dictionary construction and orthographic choice in the Comoros — a former French colony in the Indian Ocean — with special reference to issues of literacy, identity, and politics. Evidence ranging from 16th century wordlists to contemporary bilingual/bidirectional dictionaries, as well as colonial, missionary, and scholarly approaches to lexicography and orthography in the Comoros, are examined and compared. While Arabic-influenced writing systems have a long history in the Comoros, the experiences of colonialism and independence in the 20th century introduced French- and phonemically-influenced systems. As the Comoros move into the 21st century, linguists and ethnographers are attempting to assist with questions of standardization, literacy, and dictionary construction. The situation remains fluid, with considerations of tradition, modernity, nationalism, and representation to be taken into account. This paper seeks to address the complex interrelationships between orthographic choice and ethnic identity in the Comoros, with special reference to the development of the first bilingual/bidirectional Shinzwani-English dictionary.


2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 215-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Om Prakash

AbstractThe paper first situates the trade carried on by private European traders in the overall framework of the Indian Ocean trade in the early-modern period. It then discusses in some detail the trading network of private English merchants in the Western Indian Ocean with special reference to the Surat-Mocha link in the 1720s and the 1730s. The evidence base is provided mainly by the private papers of Sir Robert Cowan, governor of Bombay between 1729 and 1734 and a major English private trader, operating in collaboration with Henry Lowther, chief of the English factory at Surat. Cette contribution replace tout d'abord les activités commerciales menées par les négociants européens dans le cadre général du commerce de l'Océan indien au cours de la période moderne. Elle examine ensuite avec quelque détail le réseau commercial établi par des négociants anglais privés dans le secteur occidentalde l'Océan indien, plus particulièrement les relations instituées entre Surat et Moka dans les années 1720-1730. Les données présentées ont été tirées principalement de la correspondance privée de Sir Robert Cowan, gouverneur de Bombay (1729-1734) et grand négociant privé, associé à Henry Lowther, responsable du comptoir de Surat.


Author(s):  
Eric Russell Webb

Pidgin and creole languages are found throughout the world, with relatively greater concentrations in the Caribbean basin, the Indian Ocean, the coast of Western and Central Africa, and Oceania. In most literature, pidgins and creoles are grouped according to respective lexifiers, from which the bulk of their vocabulary derives. Emerging in contact environments, pidgins and creoles have been profoundly influenced by sociolinguistic forces and offer compelling evidence of the extent to which extra-grammatical factors contribute to the shape of language. This chapter pursues two questions. What is the interest of these languages to contemporary sociolinguistics? And how can the adoption of a sociolinguistic posture better address the distinction of creole from non-creole?


Author(s):  
Marius Schneider ◽  
Vanessa Ferguson

Kenya is situated across the equator in east-central Africa, on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Kenya borders Somalia, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda, with a land area of 580,367 square kilometres (km), and a population of 47.9 million. Nairobi is the capital and the largest city with an estimated population of 3.363 million. Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya comprising of an estimated population of 972,000. Government and private-sector working hours in Kenya are from 0800 to1700, Monday to Friday with a one-hour lunch break. Most private-sector organizations also work half days on Saturdays. The currency of Kenya is the Kenyan shilling (Ksh).


Author(s):  
Helmut Rizzolli ◽  
Federico Pigozzo

In Europe, in the Middle Ages, ostrich feathers were used for the decoration of military headgear, as a representation of the high lineage of the possessor and his military virtues. They were imported from the coasts of West Africa, from Egypt and Syria into Italian and Spanish ports and from there exported to England and continental Europe. Venice, at the end of the fourteenth century, began to color feathers and soon the new fashion was spread throughout Europe. During the fifteenth century, even women began to use ostrich feathers on their hats or in their fans. When European ships reached America, Central Africa and the islands of the Indian Ocean, a huge amount of exotic bird feathers became available and ostrich feather fad spread through the population.


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