Encouraging knowledge and enhancing the study of Asia iias.asia 8584 The Newsletter

The Study Surrounded by slogans

The Focus Recentering the Bay of Bengal

ICAS 12 Crafting a Global Future 2 Contents In this edition of the Focus

From the Director 3 Beyond the ‘competitive’ model ICAS 12 Recentering the 4 Crafting a Global Future The Study 5 Representing Asia in the Southern Branch Bay of Bengal of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan Susan Shih Chang Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea 6-7 Teachers, missionaries, and activists. Female religious leadership and social mobility in Southeast Asia, 1920s-1960s Iris Busschers, Kirsten Kamphuis and David Kloos Jayati Bhattacharya 8-9 A medical dynasty. The Badmaevs and and Carola Erika Lorea Often considered the periphery and the liquid the Trans-Siberian knowledge corridor borderland between South Asia and Southeast Asia, Emilia Roza Sulek the Bay of Bengal can be seen as the nodal crossroad 10-11 Between ‘green lies’ in Germany and organic and the cultural hub for a network of exchanges and agriculture in Indonesia Patrick Keilbart and Dimas D. Laksmana contacts of diverse kinds. This inter-littoral world 12-13 Surrounded by slogans. Perpetual protest in of trade, of spices and fabrics, of sandalwood and public space during the Hong Kong 2019 protests muslin, preceded the advent of the big European Milan Ismangil overseas trading corporations. It is from this time 14-15 Negotiating a global identity period that our contributors retrace the steps of the Chahida Bouhamou and Cha-Hsuan Liu social, cultural, economic and political history of the The Region Bay of Bengal and its contemporary value for the 016-2 News from the European Alliance understanding of water, changing ecologies, and 21-23 News from Northeast Asia vulnerable livelihoods. The articles in this Focus add complexity and texture to the public discourse around The Review the strategic importance of the Bay of Bengal, and 5 24-2 Selected reviews from newbooks.asia seek to de-romanticize notions of transnational flows, 26-27 New reviews on newbooks.asia 28 New titles on newbooks.asia bringing up instances of disconnections, disruptions, and unequal mobilities within and across the Bay. The Focus 29-31 Recentering the Bay of Bengal. Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea Jayati Bhattacharya and Carola Erika Lorea 32-33 European private trade in Masulipatnam. Intercultural dynamics in a pre-modern cosmopolitan hub Sonali Mishra 34 Rhythms of the Portuguese presence in the Bay of Bengal Smarika Nawani 35 Empire at leisure. Nineteenth-century Bay of Bengal as a space of trans-colonial recreation Mikko Toivanen 36-37 Anchoring maritime crossings. Coastal heritage of the Bay of Bengal Himanshu Prabha Ray 38 Resistance narratives along the Bay of Bengal border-zones and the expansion of Myanmar’s rebellion geography Maitrii Aung-Thwin The Newsletter is a free periodical published 39 Writing travel across the Bay of Bengal. Bengali In this issue accounts of Burma in the early 20th century by the International Institute for Asian Planning for ICAS 12 in Kyoto is already Sanjukta Das Gupta Studies (IIAS). As well as serving as a forum in full swing; find out more on p.4 of this issue, 40-41 Changing perceptions of environmental change, for scholars to share research, commentary and online at, www.icas.asia. Make sure to vulnerability, and adaptation in the Andaman send us your proposal, or perhaps submit Islands and opinion with colleagues in academia your new publication to the ICAS Book Prize! and beyond, The Newsletter is also a window Two members of the European Alliance Ruhi Deol and Philipp Zehmisch for Asian Studies have contributed to the 42 Wording lifeworlds. Bengali settler women into the Institute. Information about the regional pages in this issue (pp.16-20), as in the Andaman Islands programmes and activities of IIAS can be has our regional editor at Seoul National Raka Banerjee University Asia Center (pp.21-23). The report found in the Network pages of each issue on pp.46-47 is the latest update of a project 43 Water and human-nonhuman agency of The Newsletter. in the IIAS Humanities across Borders in India’s Sundarbans programme: ‘Street food practices in Calynn Dowler Dakar and its environs’. You can read he International Institute for Asian about the UKNA symposium ‘Ambivalent The Network Studies (IIAS) is a global Humanities Infrastructures’ in Nagaland on p.48, along Tand Social Sciences institute and a with a short account of the ‘deportation’ of 1 45-5 Reports and Announcements knowledge exchange platform, based in some of the participants. On the opposite 52-53 IIAS Research Leiden, the Netherlands, with programmes page, we are informed about the Double 54-55 IIAS Fellowship Programme that engage Asian and other international Degree Programme in ‘Critical Heritage partners. IIAS takes a thematic and multi- Studies of Asia and Europe’. Our latest sectoral approach to the study of Asia announcements can be found on p.51; The Portrait and actively involves scholars and experts IIAS research programmes, networks and 56 A Lasting Memento. John Thomson’s from different disciplines and regions in its other initiatives are described in brief on activities. Our current thematic research pp.52-53; and on pp.54-55 you will find Photographs along the River Min clusters are ‘Asian Heritages’, ‘Asian Cities’ information about the IIAS Fellows and Peabody Essex Museum and ‘Global Asia’. Fellowship programme. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 3 From the Director

The Newsletter is a free periodical published by IIAS. As well as being a window into the institute, The Newsletter Beyond the ‘competitive’ model also links IIAS with the community of Asia scholars and the worldwide public interested in Asia and Asian Philippe Peycam studies. The Newsletter bridges the gap between specialist knowledge and public discourse, and continues to serve as fter the frenzy of ICAS 11, the IIAS team Against this Social Darwinist trend, capacity building initiatives. They (EU’s a forum for scholars to share has been taking stock of what this a number of institutions have set out Erasmus Mundi for instance) create complex research, commentary and Aexceptional event meant not only for to move beyond the current prescribed bureaucratic models often at the expense of opinion with colleagues in future ICAS events but also for the institute logic of competition by exchanging their organically developed modes of cooperative academia and beyond. and its other activities, along with its capacity experiences while trying to revisit some of their engagement. As is similar in other branches of to do things in an always more innovative, programmatic, even epistemological, models the humanities and the social sciences, these inclusive and meaningful fashion. with a renewed interest in globally connected, programmes follow a quantitative evaluation Postal address reciprocated collaborations. At stake for these system originating from the hard sciences, PO Box 9500 One of the important meetings that organisations and the individual scholars in with insistence on ‘metrics’ rather than 2300 RA Leiden The Netherlands took place at ICAS 11 directly dealt with their midst, is a recognition on the part of substance, and on short term ‘deliverables’ the question of the role of ‘area studies’ the public (state), civic (society) and private as opposed to long term transformative Visitors academic institutions such as IIAS and the (foundation) sectors of the need to better processes. Rapenburg 59 ways in which they can best serve as inter- support their unique research, educational and One way to remedy the current marginal- Leiden disciplinary, transcultural/national platforms. service capabilities, including the importance isation of area studies, as proposed by the T +31 (0) 71-527 2227 I am referring to the workshop “Institutional of continuing to train in languages. workshop participants, is to encourage more [email protected] Support for Area Studies in Europe – Trends, One challenge they are facing is to direct, reciprocal collaborative immersions Opportunities, Limitations”, a joint IIAS/GIS- engage substantively with national and in the regions under study, and to do this ASIE roundtable organised under the aegis of international (EU) agencies that are meant to in relation to other areas so as to facilitate Colophon the European Alliance of Asian Studies (EAAS). fund them, a task few feel qualified to achieve The Newsletter comparisons. A model of decentred, multi- No. 85 Spring 2020 The workshop was significant in that it sought by themselves, hence the existence of the polar learning should in turn facilitate the to freely discuss the situation in which – in the European Alliance for Asian Studies, and along capacities of scholars to grapple with urgent Managing editor: context of Europe, and a perception shared with it, the organisation by two of its members topics of global concerns, which a narrow Sonja Zweegers by many institutions devoted to Asia studies of the workshop at ICAS. The critical aim of definition of ‘Asia’ no longer helps to elucidate: Guest editors for The Focus: – their work of developing a contextualised that exploratory meeting was to ascertain phenomena of ecological mutations, Jayati Bhattacharya comprehension of regions and societies of the to what extent European and national state digitisation and media, mass urbanisation, and Carola Erika Lorea world, and ‘their’ entanglements with ‘ours’, structures as well as foundations could be ubiquity of English at the cost of other

has not always been well appreciated within included in conversations about the (re-) languages, opposing medical systems, issues Regional editors: academia and within society. working of Asia (area) studies in our always of political and academic freedom, etc. The Centre for East and South-East Area (Asia) studies must be recognised more entangled and diverse societies. One To achieve this, academic area studies Asian Studies, Lund University as a unique vector of knowledge with its question was whether some of the existing programmes and their institutional The Department of Asian Studies multiplier effects, not just in terms of scholarly funding programmes (Marie Curie, ERC, at Palacký University funders should learn to work together in a Ilhong Ko (SNUAC) research ‘impacts’, or the direct benefits of VIDI, ANR, etc.) could be better adapted, and more horizontal, proactive fashion. More training language and country or region supplemented, to promote the consolidation regular interactions and more flexibility The Review pages editor: ‘specialists’, but in its potential to formulate and renovation of ‘area studies’ in Europe. in collaboration is needed to support Wai Cheung new methodologies (comparisons and A reality that the discussions in Leiden diversified approaches of engagement, The Network pages editor: connections), new pedagogies (transcending highlighted was a sense of disconnect that beyond the rigid ‘competitive’ individualised Sandra Dehue mental and institutional boundaries), and new presently exists between these support metrics-based grant model. Long term Digital issue editor: relationships (between societies, between mechanisms as they operate today and cooperation between European academic Thomas Voorter situated experiences, between the academic the actual working of area/Asia studies organisations and their Asian and global Graphic Design: and non-academic communities). programmes. There is a shared view among counterparts, in close interaction with their Paul Oram In the last two decades at least, the the latter that when funding schemes exist, respective social environments, should be Lava restructuring of higher education and the trend they are usually too rigidly framed to fit their encouraged. More than ever, there is a need Printing: towards its corporatisation characterised by needs. That they tend to privilege projects for all players involved, funding agencies EPC, Belgium a sharp decline in funding support, especially with prescriptive responses, often promoting included, to re-invent Asia/area studies by after the 2008-10 financial crisis, has meant quantifiable if not positivist approaches recognising the ever-growing interconnection that area studies scholars and their institutions that do not properly reflect the subtle shifts of societies, aspects of historical permanence Submissions have been subjected to an increase in narrow intervening in today’s post-Cold War, post- and fluidities, while acknowledging that Issue #86: 15 March 2020 bureaucratic scrutiny and an exacerbated colonial world, and the practice of area movements of people and ideas continue, Issue #87: 15 July 2020 competition to prove their economic studies that draws from it. even if restricted and orientated. Issue #88: 1 Dec 2020 ‘sustainability’, a process resulting in soaring Also, these mechanisms tend to stress precariousness for their members and for the systemic competition among individuals Philippe Peycam Submission enquiries development of these organisations. rather than the need for more collaborative Director IIAS [email protected] More information: iias.asia/the-newsletter Call for applications Free subscriptions Professorial Fellowship for the Chair Go to: iias.asia/subscribe To unsubscribe, to make changes (e.g., new address), or to order of Taiwan Studies at Leiden University, multiple copies: [email protected] e invite applications for the Chair of the Netherlands, 2020-2021 Taiwan Studies at Leiden University. Rights WThe Chair provides a Professorial Responsibility for copyrights and Fellow position of five or ten months for a for facts and opinions expressed visiting scholar in Taiwan Studies to teach and in this publication rests exclusively conduct research at Leiden University and with authors. Their interpretations the International Institute for Asian Studies do not necessarily reflect the views (Leiden, The Netherlands). The Fellowship of the institute or its supporters. covers (one or both of) the two semesters Reprints only with permission from the author and The Newsletter September 2020-January 2021, and editor [email protected] February-June 2021. institutes in Taiwan or elsewhere. Candidates Please submit applications (CVs in both with a full professorial position at their home Mandarin and English; one proposal in English) To facilitate the Taiwan Studies Programme institution whose research focuses on Taiwan to the Education Division of the Taipei iias.asia at Leiden University, the Department of Cross- and preferably falls within any of the fields Representative Office in the EU and Belgium Strait Education of the Ministry of Education mentioned above are particularly welcome at [email protected] of the Republic of China, Taiwan, the Leiden to apply. Applications should include suggestions for University Faculty of Humanities and the The Chair of Taiwan Studies will teach a teaching course, or courses, at BA or MA level. International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) and conduct research at Leiden University and Application deadline: 16 April 2020 have jointly established a Chair of Taiwan IIAS. The Ministry of Education in Taiwan and Studies, based at the Faculty of Humanities. The IIAS at Leiden University will sponsor round-trip For further information, Chair provides a Professorial Fellow position for airfare, living expenses, accommodation, please contact: a visiting scholar in Taiwan Studies, preferably, office facilities, as well as relevant expenses Kelly Van de Paer, Education Division but not exclusively, in the fields of Critical for one research conference. Taipei Representative Office Heritage Studies, Urban Studies or the study The Professorial Fellow can invite one master’s in the EU and Belgium of Global Asia, which are the IIAS’ focal areas. degree or PhD student affiliated with the Square de Meeûs 26-27, For five or ten months in the academic Professorial Fellow’s home institution to come 1000 Brussels, Belgium year 2020-2021, the position will be open to to Leiden for a short-term study or exchange Tel: +32 2287 2835 applicants from all universities and research visit during the Fellow’s stay in Leiden. [email protected] Crafting a Global Future Kyoto, Japan 24-27 August 2021 Davide Grieco on unsplash.com

he International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS) is a global platform enabling individuals Tand institutions from all over the world to come together to exchange views on a variety of issues pertaining to Asia. Since 1997, ICAS has brought together more than 20,000 scholars, civil society representatives, practitioners and artists, at 11 conventions. Publishers, institutes and NGOs converge to display their products, services and research outcomes in the ICAS exhibition hall. The ICAS Books and Dissertations Carousel offers (future) authors a platform to launch their publications. ICAS’ inclusive approach contributes to the decentring of Asian Studies, while successfully convening a global space in which Asia scholars from the whole world can directly interact.

ICAS 12 – Crafting a Global Future

The meeting place for the twelfth edition of ICAS will be Kyoto, Japan. Kyoto is famous for its World Heritage Sites, temples, gardens, palaces and craft centres. Kyoto Seika University (SEIKA) is the main host of ICAS 12; it will partner with the city, The Consortium of Universities in Kyoto, and the city’s museums and craft centres. The special focus of ICAS 12 is Crafting a Global Future. Participate at ICAS 12 and enjoy the multitude of networking opportunities, possibilities to share your research and to meet with publishers. Call for proposals: deadline 1 October 2020 For further information visit icas.asia or email: [email protected]

The ICAS Book Prize (IBP) 2021

The biennial IBP was established by ICAS in 2003. The IBP is awarded to outstanding publications in the field of Asian Studies. It has created an international focus for publications on Asia, which has increased their visibility and recognition worldwide. The IBP received 750 submissions in 2019 and has grown into the leading book prize in the field of Asian Studies. For this ninth edition, books in Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese will be eligible. For the English language edition of the IBP 2021 we also welcome dissertations on Asia in the fields of Humanities and Social Sciences. Deadline: 1 October 2020. Submit your titles to the IBP 2021 on icas.asia

Asian Studies Book Fair

Publishers and academic institutes are invited to exhibit at the Asian Studies Book Fair at ICAS 12, to present their publications, projects and programmes to the large number of attendees. The Book Fair will also host events such as manuscript pitches, author meetings and book launches. Exhibitors or advertisers email: [email protected] The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 A museum of Asian art and culture Taiwan as a hub where Asian cultures 5 continue to create, recreate and integrate The Study

One of the most significant exhibits is the Kangxi Manuscript Kangyur in Tibetan Script. The manuscript is the first Kangyur written in gold and also the only Buddhist Representing Asia in the scripture named after the dragon, making it one of NPM’s finest items of Qin court art. The manuscript was commissioned by the Grand Empress Dowager Xiaozhuan, the Southern Branch of the National grandmother of Emperor Kangxi, whose origin can be traced back to Mongolia. By positioning the manuscript in dialogue with other Buddhist art from all over Asia, Palace Museum in Taiwan the museum shows the historical trace of multiculturalism within the Qin Empire. By doing so, it invites the audience to rethink their understanding of Chinese civilisation Susan Shih Chang The Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum (NPM) in Taiwan as ethno-nationalistic and monocultural. opened on 28 December 2015 (south.npm.gov.tw). While the main branch in Taipei holds vast collections of Chinese art and antiques, and prides Constant redefinition The Southern Branch of the National itself as the protector and inheritor of Chinese civilisation, the Southern Palace Museum ‘de-centres’ the ‘nation’ by Branch took a different and absolutely unconventional route. Positioned as bringing in the multifaceted and trans-cultural relations of Chinese civilisation through new a “museum of Asian art and culture”, the Southern Branch is a project that collections and displays of Asian cultures and pivots on the connections between Asia and Taiwan’s multicultural history. art, and by placing current Chinese artefacts into novel and unconventional contexts. However, the creation of a separate branch focusing on Asia spurred The museum hereby also ‘re-centres’ Taiwan various debates and controversies. by shifting its subjectivity and bridging new inter-Asian connections. This allows Taiwan to seek its position in the world and embrace the Chinese ‘cultural sphere’ at the same time. The novelty of the Imprints of Buddhas is not only that it ceases to use geographical boundaries to define cultural boundaries, but it also provides visitors with an innovative perspective by exploring cross-cultural topics with collections originally categorised as ‘Chinese’ artefacts. The de-centring and re-centring process, therefore, is not merely a political agenda that embodies a conflicting ideology and notion of ‘Taiwan as a nation’, but also a quest for a new kind of modernity, a new relationship between the self and the other. The Imprints of Buddhas exhibition Above: View of the Southern Branch National Palace Museum. Right: Stupa Railing with Tree Goddesses (2-3 AD, India), has paved the way for future exhibitions, situated at the entrance of the exhibition Imprints of Buddhas. illustrating that topics on self/other don’t have to be restricted to relationships and or the opening, Chinese nationalist actor from the Chinese Communist Party led by historical ties between Taiwan and China. Jackie Chan donated replicas of bronze Mao Zedong. As Taiwan had previously been The museum’s future projects will continue Fzodiac sculptures originally seated in colonized by Japan (1895-1945), the KMT to explore the issues of self and other, as the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. The gift government promoted ‘re-sinicisation’ on well as examine the perspectives and the was publically criticised as a symbol of the the island through installations of Chinese myths, thereby opening new dialogues looming Chinese history that overshadows cultural institutions, including the National of inter-cultural transformations and Taiwan.1 Just days after the opening, two of Palace Museum. The architecture is modelled influences within the Asian region. the sculptures were ‘vandalised’ and spray- after the Forbidden City in Beijing and painted with the text ‘Cultural United Front’. displays elements of traditional Chinese royal Southern Branch opened with five permanent Susan Shih Chang, Phd Candidate This incident demonstrates how national designs and symbols. In addition, the museum exhibitions: 1) Imprints of Buddhas: Buddhist in Cultural Studies in Asia, Department museums can be battlefields for forging and emphasises a collection that is ‘inherited’ from Art in the National Palace Museum’s Collection, of Communications and New Media, maintaining political power through dominant the Qin Emperors, in order to gain international 2) Boldness of Forms and Colours: Asian National University of Singapore [email protected] ideology, and how museums not only reflect recognition for the legitimacy of the KTM as Textiles from the National Palace Museum’s a nation’s political and social development the true government of China and the sole Collection, 3) The Far-Reaching Fragrance but also, in Taiwan’s case, respond to the preserver of Chinese civilization. of Tea: Tea Art and Culture in Asia, 4) Through Notes ‘imperial centre’ of each era.2 This event is also In 2000, Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic the Annals of Time: A Brief History of Chiayi, one of the many cases that illustrate Taiwan’s Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidential and 5) Understanding Asian Art: Multimedia 1 The Initium. 2015. ‘Jackie Chan donated replicas of zodiac animals to the National public reaction to China, ‘Chineseness’ and election, ending the KMT’s nearly forty-year Gallery Guide. 3 Palace Museum, criticized of united the ‘China factor’, signalling a harsh reality authoritarian rule. The DPP is a Taiwanese front tactics [成龍捐生肖獸首複製品與 that the formation of Taiwanese identity must, nationalist political party, strongly committed 台灣故宮，被批 統戰]’; in many circumstances, consider China and to political change, human rights and a Maintaining and pushing https://tinyurl.com/initium-JC ‘Chineseness’ as reference points. distinct Taiwanese identity. The Southern 2 Wu, Rwei-Ren. 2016. ‘The Lilliputian My research, which seeks to discover other Branch was initiated and built in order to boundaries Dreams: Preliminary Observations of possibilities for referencing, focuses on how transform the National Palace Museum from The exhibition Imprints of Buddhas houses Nationalism in Okinawa, Taiwan and the Southern Branch positions itself as a a legacy of Chinese civilization into a museum a rich collection of Buddhist artefacts, Hong Kong’, Nations and Nationalism linkage of Asian heritage and civilization via and research centre that focuses on the arts “comprising dignified and elegant Chinese and 22(4):686-705. an ‘intercultural and cross-cultural discourse’. and cultures of Asia as a whole.4 Tibetan Buddhist scriptures and statues passed 3 Wu, Jieh-min. 2016. ‘The China Factor in Taiwan: Impact and Response’, in I explore the narratives that the museum uses The Southern Branch of the National Palace down from the Qing court as well as 407 gold Schubert, G. (ed.) Handbook of Modern to strengthen the position of Taiwan as a Museum was envisioned and put into planning Buddha statues donated by Mr. Peng Kai- Taiwan Politics and Society. Routledge, 7 hub where Asian cultures continue to create, by Tu Cheng-Sheng, who was later appointed dong (1912–2006) in 2004, 2006 and 2008”. pp.425-445. recreate and integrate. Through examining the Museum Director by President Chen in 2000. Buddhism originated in India and spread 4 Council for Economic Planning and exhibitions and interviews with the curators, Tu is one of the historians who came up with across South, Central, Southeast, East and Development. 2003. Challenge 2008: I was given insight into how the museum the concept ‘New History’,5 with which they Northeast Asia. It has played a crucial role in National Development Plan 2002-2007. applies the concept of ‘cultural spheres’ argue for alternative interpretations of Chinese shaping the lives and cultures across Asia, and Taipei; Ting, R. 2003. ‘A 6000 million NTD throughout the permanent galleries. This novel history and its relation to the Asian region and this exhibition demonstrates how the religion budget for the construction of National method, I argue, represents a quest for a new Taiwan. He explicitly explained the need for spread from one location to another, creating Palace Museum Southern Branch’, China Times. Taipei. the NPM to transform itself, so as to become multiple new cultural centres, along with kind of modernity for Taiwan, which symbolises 5 Tu, Cheng-Sheng. 2004. ‘異國風情—亞 6 the need, consciously and unconsciously, for a cultural window for the nation. He stressed numerous interpretations of Buddhism. 洲文物展 [The Arts and Culture Asia]’, an alternative explanation of history and other the need for the museum to not only represent “The popularity of Buddhism in the afore- The National Palace Museum Monthly possible perspectives to view the relationship Chinese and Taiwanese culture, but to also mentioned regions has led to the birth of various of Chinese Art 22(1):4-7. between the self and the other. educate the public about Asian culture and art. Buddha statues such as Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, 6 Tu, Cheng-Sheng. 2003. ‘變革的時代談 One objective of the newly established branch heavenly kings, and dharmapalas”.8 台灣博物館永續經營之道 [The Sustainable would be to show the linkage of Chinese The exhibition comprises five sections, Development of Taiwan’s Museums in The museum: a quest culture and civilisation with other parts of the with each section presenting a different region a Time of Change]’, in National Museum world. And so, in addition to newly acquired during the same period to show similarities of History (ed.) Crisis and Opportunity: Museums in the New Century Forum for identity and borrowed collections from India, Japan, and differences of the materials, artistry of Museum Directors, pp.143-157. When Chiang Kai-shek-led Kunmingtang Korea and other parts of Asia, the museum and philosophy behind the making of the 7 National Palace Museum. 2016. ‘Imprints (KMT, aka the Nationalist Party) retreated also houses artefacts from the NPM’s original artwork. The displays of these Buddhist of Buddhas: Buddhist Art in the National to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese collections of Chinese art. Staying true to artefacts aim to highlight the transformations Palace Museum Collection’; Civil War, the original plan was to use Taiwan its mission to re-orient the National Palace resulting from interactions with regional https://tinyurl.com/NPM-buddhas as a temporary base to reclaim the Mainland Museum towards Asian arts and cultures, the and local cultures, aesthetics and beliefs. 8 Idem. 6 Religious reform Women in positions The Study of religious authority

Teachers, missionaries, and activists. Female religious leadership and social mobility in Southeast Asia, 1920s-1960s

Iris Busschers, Kirsten Kamphuis What roles did Malay and Indonesian women play in early twentieth century religious and David Kloos reform? Both Muslims and Christians felt confronted in this period by a need to adapt their practices and institutions to modern times. Increasing women’s participation in religious education, ritual, and proselytization was a key aspect of this urge for renewal. Yet, very little has been written about women in positions of religious authority and historical research about women and women’s movements has a decidedly secular imprint. At the same time, the study of religion is deeply biased toward men. In both perspectives, female religious authority is a neglected theme. How did women, whose experiences were shaped largely by and through religious engagement, navigate a changing world and their own place therein? Three brief portraits provide a glimpse. They suggest that the agency of these women was more significant than commonly assumed, and also, albeit often confined to local spheres, both reflective of and conducive to new paths for social mobility.

refused to accept subsidies from the colonial government, and stated that she aimed to teach “young Muslimas, the daughters of Indonesia”, using the nationalist term for the territory.10 Diniyyah Puteri was a prestigious school in the colonial era, and remained so after Indonesian independence. As early as the 1930s, some of its graduates continued their religious education in Egypt, a global centre for modernist Islamic learning.11 In the 1950s, Rahmah herself became the first woman to receive the honorary title syeikhah from the famous Al-Azhar University in Cairo, an acknowledgement of her prominent role as a scholar of Islam. Nowadays, Diniyyah Puteri is still a flourishing institution that offers Islamic education from primary school up to secondary school level. The school will soon celebrate its one-hundredth anniversary.

Wanita Rukun Santoso: picture probably taken at an annual conference of WRS at Swaru. NL-UtHUA 1567 file 320 photo album De Vries and De Vries-Kruyt (ca. 1934). At the forefront of public life: Khaironnisah Mohd Ali Spearheading Islamic a family of ulama, scholars of Islam, and Ideologically, Diniyyah Puteri was part As in West Sumatra, the 1920s and 1930s education for girls: received practical and religious education of the kaum muda [young generation]. This in Penang could rightly be called “an age in Rahmah el Yunusiyah from the women in her family. Her older was a political and educational movement motion”. Like other port cities in the region, brother, Zainuddin Labay el Yunusy, founded that aimed to strengthen Islam by integrating such as Bangkok, Rangoon, and Batavia, this The 1920s have been characterized as a coeducational primary school for Islamic Western science into the religion. By combining island just off the coast of the Malay peninsula “an age in motion”, a period of new ideologies, education.3 Rahmah, however, argued that Islamic with secular, ‘modern’ knowledge, became a centre of social and political new technologies, new media, new forms girls should have the opportunity to follow kaum muda schools, including girls’ schools, change. Alongside Singapore and Malacca, of education, and new visions of the future.1 a designated educational programme in sought to educate a new generation of Muslim Penang was part of the so-called British Straits It is in this period that Rahmah el Yunusiyah an all-female environment. This, she believed, intellectuals capable of freeing Islam from Settlements. The expansion of trade and (1900-1969) came of age. Rahmah was one of was required in Islam. In Rahmah’s eyes, colonialism.6 They were regularly raided by commerce, the development of the local press, the most prominent figures in Islamic education women’s religious education ran the risk the colonial police and many were closed down a thriving cultural scene, and a wide range of for girls in the Netherlands Indies, and continued of being neglected in favour of men’s, and by the government. This never happened to new religious and political movements created to play an important role in education and she was determined to change this. After Diniyyah Puteri, however, possibly because unprecedented opportunities for social mobility religious politics after Indonesian independence. divorcing her husband, to whom she had Rahmah refused to align her school with overtly and emancipation. Women across social Her life story poignantly illustrates how some been married off at age fourteen, she anticolonial organizations such as PERMI classes benefited from this atmosphere of Indonesian women were able to gain significant remained unmarried and dedicated her life (Persatuan Muslimin Indonesia, the Indonesian change as they joined local and international religious authority, in spite of their doubly to the cause of women’s education.4 Muslim Union). The government considered organizations, secured access to education, marginalized position as colonized women In 1923, at the age of 23, Rahmah PERMI a grave threat and did everything it and found employment in local schools, in a racially structured society that valued opened a new school called Diniyyah Puteri could to frustrate the organization. Its schools hospitals, offices, and banks.12 men over women. [Religious Education for Girls] in a mosque were frequently raided and in 1932, PERMI It is in this atmosphere of possibilities that Rahmah was born in West Sumatra, a region in Padang Panjang. To raise the necessary leader Rasuna Said (1910-1965) became the Khaironnisah binti Mohd Ali (1933-2017) was known throughout the Netherlands Indies for funds, she had travelled extensively through first Indonesian woman to be imprisoned for born.13 Her father was a clerk at the Hollandsche the prominent place of Islam in local culture, West Sumatra and Aceh. The school was anticolonial activities.7 Interestingly, Rasuna Bank [Dutch Bank], while her mother took care and for the particularities of Minangkabau a novelty in the Netherlands Indies, offering was a former teacher at Diniyyah Puteri who of six children. The family lived in Jelutong, society. The Minangkabau are well-known for a combination of religious and secular had left the school after a conflict with Rahmah a peri-urban area outside the island’s main their matrilineal traditions. The family line, and education in a girls-only boarding school about the content of its education. Rasuna city Georgetown. From the age of seven to some extent property, passes through female environment. The curriculum was not wanted her classes to have an anticolonial onwards, Khaironnisah attended a local Malay- family members. In line with this strong position restricted to religious education and Arabic, character, while Rahmah insisted that the medium primary school. During the Japanese of Minangkabau women, West Sumatra has as was common in traditional Quranic school should be politically neutral.8 occupation, this school remained open, a longstanding tradition of girls’ education in schools. Instead, the programme included That said, Diniyyah Puteri did have an teaching children Japanese in the morning Quranic schools.2 Rahmah el Yunusiyah played a range of secular school subjects such as undeniably nationalist outlook. In the school and religion in the afternoon. Khaironnisah was a crucial part in expanding girls’ education in history, Dutch and English, geography, and newsletters Soeara Moerid [The Voice of the a good student and at twelve years old she her region into the realm of secular knowledge. economics. Diniyyah Puteri quickly gained Students] and Kodrat Moeda [Force of the already taught the Quran to younger children. Around the beginning of the twentieth century, popularity in West Sumatra and beyond, and Youth] students wrote about the important But she entered the most formative years of more and more parents sent their daughters to five years after its opening the school moved role of Muslim women in the struggle against her education only after the war. Together European-style secular schools established by to a large two-storey building that served as colonialism. Soeara Moeda stopped appearing with a few friends, she was enrolled by her the colonial government. a pondok [dormitory]. By the end of the 1930s, in 1926 after its editor-in-chief was arrested religious teacher in the famous Al-Mashoor Rahmah believed that a different kind hundreds of girls were registered, hailing from and sent to the Boven-Digoel prison camp school in Georgetown. Founded in 1916, Sekolah of education was needed for local girls. Her as far as modern-day Malaysia, Singapore, by the colonial authorities.9 al-Mashoor was one of the most important passion for religious knowledge and education and Ambon. One of them was Aishah Ghani, As convinced of the importance of Indonesian institutions of modernist Islamic education was sparked early in life. She came from a future minister of independent Malaysia.5 independence as her students, Rahmah herself in Southeast Asia.14 In contrast to traditional The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 7 The Study

Islamic schools, the curriculum included Wetan (GKJW) [East Java Christian Church] Asian YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Notes religious and secular subjects. It had a modern in 1931. Under pressure of Javanese Christians Association) conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka administration, a classroom system, and and the international missionary community, as the only Javanese attendant. Like the other 1 Shiraishi, T. 1990. An Age in Motion: Popular was open to both male and female students. the East Javanese church became (partially) WRS women highlighted here, Arsiah acted both Radicalism in Java, 1912-1926. Ithaca: Al-Mashoor was thus comparable to Rahmah independent from the mission. Javanese men within missionary circles through her work at Cornell University Press. el Yunusiyah’s school in Padang Panjang and, occupied most of the leadership positions in the the school, and in the context of the GKJW in 2 Hadler, J. 2008. Muslims and Matriarchs: due to its location in Penang, a focal point church but chairmanship remained in the hands her role as WRS board member. Moreover, she Cultural Resilience in Indonesia through of the growing urban Islamic middle class. of a Dutch missionary. Dutch missionaries combined these activities with a third function Jihad and Colonialism. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp.107-108. Khaironnisah’s mother took her daughter and thus handed some of their authority back for the transnational Christian organization 3 Rasyad, A. 1991. ‘Rahmah El Yunisiyah, her friends to school every morning, until one of to Javanese Christians after having taken YWCA, implementing YWCA work in Malang. Educational Pioneer for Girls’, in Rasyad, the teachers could no longer bear the sight over leadership in Javanese congregations WRS board member Soewati was also A., Salim, L. & Saleh. H. (eds) Rahmah El of the old woman plodding through the streets. during the nineteenth century.16 instrumental to the work of Slotemaker de Yunusiyyah dan Zainuddin Labay El Yunusy. It was decided that the girls would have to The organization of women’s work among Bruïne. Like the other women discussed here, Dua Bersaudara Tokoh Pembaharu Sistem board. A girls’ section was thus established and with Javanese Christian women was she received Christian education beyond Pendidikan di Indonesia. Riyawat Hidup, parallel to the boys’. Another big change an important element in the reconfiguration the village school level and she was part Cita-Cita, dan Perjuanangnya. Jakarta: occurred in 1949. Five female teachers got of the Christian mission and church in East of important Christian family networks. Pengurus Perguruan Diniyyah Puteri married, more or less simultaneously, and Java. Dutch missionaries and Javanese church Her brother, for instance, was the secretary of Padang Panjang, pp.245-260. left Penang. The best students, including leaders feared that Javanese Protestants would GKJW. Like many members of WRS board, she 4 1938. Boekoe Peringatan 15 Tahoen ‘Dinijjah School Poeteri’ Padang Pandjang. Padang Khaironnisah, sixteen years old at the time, lag behind the organizational vigour of other lived in Malang and adhered to the idea that Panjang. were pitchforked into a new job as teacher. Javanese groups, including nationalist and village women needed further Christianisation 5 Ghani, A. 1992. Memoir Seorang Pejuang. The girls agreed but, ambitious and assertive religious (Muslim and Catholic) organizations. and education. Soewati accompanied Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka as they were, only on the express condition The establishment of schools and associations Slotemaker de Bruïne on multiple tours of local Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, pp.6-10. that their own education received particular women’s associations, providing the necessary 6 Abdullah, T. 1971. Schools and Politics: would not suffer from attention. Slotemaker contacts for the Dutch missionary. Through the Kaum Muda Movement in West it and that they would In the early to de Bruïne’s coordinated this labour, Soewati hoped to be appointed Sumatra (1927-1933). PhD thesis Cornell be taught by the senior women’s associations as inspector for WRS, a position that entailed University; Noer, D. 1973. The Modernist teachers two days per and women’s making working visits to local associations. Muslim Movement in Indonesia, 1900-1942. mid-twentieth century Singapore: Oxford University Press. week. Four years later, evangelising work When WRS appointed an older and married 7 White, S. 2013. ‘Rasuna Said: Lioness of Khaironnisah became the Malay-Indonesian as part of a broader woman instead, Soewati moved into a position the Indonesian Independence Movement’, head of the girls’ section, transition that included of surveyor for the mission’s district nursing in Blackburn, S. & Ting, H. (eds) Women in as the first woman in the archipelago, similar moving Christian life organization in Malang. For Soewati, then, a Southeast Asian Nationalist Movements. history of al-Mashoor. beyond villages and position in the Christian women’s federation Singapore: NUS Press. She was an active and mechanisms of agency into the cities of Malang was also a means of making a career. 8 Boekoe Peringatan 15 Tahoen. enterprising leader. and social mobility and Surabaya (which For Slotemaker de Bruïne, these three 9 Witrianto. 2013. ‘Dampak Pendidikan The girls of al-Mashoor, attracted increasing women were key intermediaries, advancing terhadap munculnya Pergerakan Nasional she believed, should were at work in numbers of Christians), her missionary labour. However, their activities di Padangpanjang’, Analisis Sejarah 3:29- be knowledgeable and the founding of new as Christian social reformers and sometimes 30. 10 Boekoe Peringatan 15 Tahoen. but also prepared for Muslim and Christian Christian schools and proselytizing women were by no means confined 11 1932. ‘Doea Orang Gadis Bp. Berangkat ke 17 responsible roles in (youth) associations. to being a go-between for Dutch missions. Mesir’, Pandji Poestaka 23(10):365. society. She therefore communities. In her first years in They were evidence of the manoeuvring space 12 Lewis, S.L. 2016. Cities in Motion: Urban Life regularly organized East Java, Slotemaker and potential for social mobility implicated and Cosmopolitanism in Southeast Asia, extra-curricular trainings de Bruïne set out to in Javanese women’s roles in the context of, 1920–1940. Cambridge University Press, in skills such as public speaking. coordinate activities that, to a large extent, and particularly in moving between, mission, pp.12-13. Khaironnisah’s ambition to prepare her were already taking place, albeit not under church, and Christian associations. 13 The following paragraphs are largely based students for a visible role was modelled, at Dutch coordination.18 In her effort to coordinate on the (transcriptions of) interviews with least partly, on her own experiences. In 1946, women’s associations, she depended on Khaironnisah Mohd Ali, carried out by Mahani Musa (Universiti Sains Malaysia) and she represented al-Mashoor at an assembly of gaining access to existing local Christian Religious activism as a her students, between 2008-2014, in the the Malayan Union (the first experiment with women’s associations and the overarching pathway towards social framework of the project (also led by Mahani self-determination, orchestrated by the British federation called Wanita Rukun Santoso (WRS) mobility Musa) “Oral History Documentation, Al- and the Malay aristocratic elite). Her speech [Women Harmonious and Steadfast]. Javanese Mashoor School Pulau Pinang, 1940s-1980s” did not remain unnoticed. New political women founded WRS in 1929 as a follow-up In the early to mid-twentieth century (History Section, School of Humanities, parties were conscious of the importance of to the annual women’s conferences organized Malay-Indonesian archipelago, similar Universiti Sains Malaysia in partnership with youthful commitment, and Khaironnisah was by missionary wives since 1926. WRS’s slogan mechanisms of agency and social mobility Malaysiana and Archives, Hamzah Sendut scouted by the local branch of the United read “spiritual and material progress”. In 1936, were at work in Muslim and Christian Library, USM, Penang State Museum, and Malays National Party, the organization the organization added the aim of “bringing communities. The most significant difference Yayasan Islam Pulau Pinang). Additional interviews were carried out by David Kloos that would dominate the national political others to Christianity”. Motherhood and the between Christian and Muslim female and Mahani Musa in 2014 and 2016. For landscape for more than sixty years to come. guarding of morality, especially of Christian activists was, of course, their relationship to a longer biography, see: Mahani Musa. In 1957, the year in which Malaya became daughters, were central concerns, similar to the British and Dutch colonial regimes. While 2016. ‘Dato’ Hajjah Khaironnisa’ bt Mohd 19 an independent nation, Khaironnisah tried some Muslim women’s associations. WRS the Dutch colonial government often actively Ali: Bekas Pelajar, Guru, dan Guru Besar to resign from al-Mashoor. Her husband had united approximately thirty local associations, supported Christian missions, for example, it Sekolah perempuan Al Mashoor,’ in Mahani found a job in Singapore and she had decided which all put the federation’s slogan into repressed certain Muslim organizations which Musa. (ed.) Memori 100 Tahun Sekolah Al to follow him. The school board, however, practice in their own manner. However, it considered a threat to its authority. At the Mashoor. Georgetown: Jam’iyah Al-Ikha’ did not accept her resignation and instead all local associations organized bible circles, same time, Christian women used their skills Al-Khairiyah, pp.104-13. offered her husband a job as a teacher. They offered sewing or weaving circles, and to create a more prominent place for local 14 Mahani Musa. 2016. Memori 100 Tahun stayed. A few years later she did step down provided financial aid to those in need. people in previously European-dominated Sekolah Al Mashoor, pp.17-31; ibid. note 12, pp.191-92. WRS thus combined social, economic and religious spaces, suggesting that they did as a school director so she could dedicate 15 Slotemaker de Bruïne was not the first herself more fully to her growing family. It was religious initiatives. not always accept the colonial status-quo. woman to work for the mission, but the end of a short and turbulent career, but The work performed by Javanese women The individual women portrayed here rather the first woman to carry the title not of her visible role in local politics and civil was indispensable to fostering Christian also differed significantly, and not just in ‘missionary’. Dutch women had been part society. Khaironnisah remained active on the belonging and building up active Christian terms of their religious backgrounds. Some of mission work in different capacities forefront, as a political activist, as a member women’s associations in East Java. For of them were educated at official schools, (as missionary wives, teachers, nurses of several associations, and as a religious Slotemaker de Bruïne, these women could act while others received education at home, and and doctors) and Javanese women too teacher of both children and adults in her as intermediaries. One of the women she worked the social position of their families of origin participated in missionary and church life as neighbourhood. She continued to fulfil some with was S. Mestoko, who was married to the varied. What they had in common, however, njoras, nurses, teachers, and as members of local church councils. of these roles up until her death in 2017. first minister of the GKJW. She was chair of was a strong dedication to their religious and 16 Aritonang, J.S. & Steenbrink, K. (eds) 2008. WRS and together with missionary wife Hester social aspirations in a time of great change. A History of Christianity in Indonesia. Schuurman-Nijhoff taught the wives of future An interesting insight, in this respect, bears Leiden, Brill, pp.639-719 Christian women’s leadership: ministers at the training college for Javanese on the apparently relatively strong stance 17 Nortier, C.W. 1939. Van Zendingsarbeid tot ministers in Malang. In her capacity as chair of of several of these women toward marriage Zelfstandige Kerk in Oost-Java. Hoenderloo: Wanita Rukun Santoso WRS, Mestoko helped Slotemaker de Bruïne gain and divorce. This brief inquiry into the lives Zendingsstudieraad, pp.243-248. Christian women, too, were able to achieve access to the meetings of local associations. of Rahmah el Yunusiyah, Khaironnisah Mohd 18 The following paragraphs are based on the religious authority. In the context of Christian At the same time, this position also allowed her Ali and the women of Wanita Rukun Santoso three-monthly reports by Slotemaker de missionary work and Christian churches in East to curtail Slotemaker de Bruïne’s access. For demonstrates that a focus on Southeast Asian Bruïne published in the Women’s Mission Java, women played important roles in local example, by forbidding her from speaking at the women’s religious agency in the colonial era League’s journal Vrouwen Zendingsblad (1935-1940) and the archival files containing religious and social life. In 1935, the Women’s annual congress of WRS, instead relegating her can wield fascinating results. Their stories letters and reports about her work in the Mission League and the Dutch Missionary to the youth department, which she considered have the potential to transform the ways in mission archives located in Utrecht: NL- Society appointed Christine Slotemaker more suitable for a Dutch unmarried woman. which scholars interpret the religious history UtHUA 1102-1 files 3478 and 3526. While de Bruïne as the first woman missionary Mestoko also joined Slotemaker de Bruïne in of the region, connecting women’s religious these files report on Slotemaker de Bruïne’s in East Java.15 Her appointment meant a some of her journeys. Together with two other commitment to new pathways towards work, they also provide a record of the more sustained commitment by the mission Christian women they visited the public meeting mobility and the forging of public roles. activities of multiple Javanese Christian to dedicate itself to work “by women, for of Aisjiah, the women’s section of the Islamic women. women”. Slotemaker de Bruïne’s tasks included modernist organization Muhammadiyah, in 1938 Iris Busschers, PhD Candidate, Faculty 19 Locher-Scholten, E. 2003. ‘Morals, coordinating women’s associations and training in Surabaya. In response to that visit and the of Theology and Religious Studies, Harmony, and National Identity: “Companionate Feminism” in Colonial Javanese women in evangelising labour. broader debate about the proposed marriage University of Groningen Indonesia in the 1930s’, Journal of Women’s The East Java mission conference created law in 1937, Mestoko spoke about marriage Kirsten Kamphuis, junior researcher History 14(4):38-58. 20 Slotemaker de Bruïne’s position in response to at various WRS meetings. at the Cluster of Excellence Religion 20 Locher-Scholten, E. 2000. ‘Marriage, the “age in motion” in Java. Her appointment Another influential board member of WRS and Politics at Münster University Morality, and Modernity: The 1937 Debate was part of a series of changes in missionary was R. Arsiah, who worked as a teacher at David Kloos, senior researcher at the Royal on Monogamy’, in Women and the Colonial policy, the most evident of which was perhaps the Christian domestic science school in Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian State. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University the establishment of the Gereja Kristen Jawi Malang. In 1936, Arsiah participated in the and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) in Leiden Press, pp.187-218. 8 Tibetan medicine Enduring family legacy: from Tibet, The Study via Transbaikalia and into Europe

A medical dynasty The Badmayevs and the Trans-Siberian knowledge corridor

Emilia Roza Sulek Tibetan medicine did not come to Europe directly from Tibet; it arrived via Russia, specifically from Transbaikalia, the region east of Lake Baikal. It was a family of Buryat doctors who transferred their knowledge of Tibetan medicine, as they practised it, to the West. In the late 1850s, they opened the first Tibetan pharmacy in Europe and their medical formulas are still being produced in Europe today.

Flying to Tschita I am flying from Ulan-Ude (Buryatia) to Tschita. The aircraft is an antique. It has remnants of 1960s elegance, with graceful upholstery and wide seats. But there are neither seatbelts nor lifejackets, and apparently only one engine works. “Don’t be nervous”, a neighbour tells me, seeing the fear on my face. “If it flew to Ulan-Ude, it’ll manage to fly back.” From Tschita, the administrative centre of Transbaikalia, I travel to Aginsk, a small town in what was formerly Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug. In 2008 it lost its autonomy, which continues to be a source of resentment for most Buryats. I catch a marshrutka (a shared taxi that follows a fixed route), and the driver invites me to sit upfront. He asks: “Do you like it here”? “Yes”, I answer honestly. “You’re crazy”, he shakes his head. “One doesn’t come here. One escapes from here”. But I am going to Aginsk for good reason: to understand how a certain family of Buryat doctors was so successful in bringing Tibetan medicine from Transbaikalia to Europe, where their medical formulas are still in use today. Who were they? What helped Fig. 1 (from left to right): Tsyrendulma Batomunkina, Tsyndyma Tsyrendorzhieva, Bazarzhab Batomunkin, Galsan Tsyrendorzhiev. All relatives of the Badmayevs. them achieve this unprecedented knowledge transfer? And what made Tibetan medicine, as they practised it, so special? The beginnings century. Scholars such as Johann Georg portable pharmacy. This intricate souvenir The best known member of the Badmayev Gmelin, Gottlieb Messerschmidt and Joseph contained several dozen medicines and masses family is Piotr. Born in 1851 as Zhamsaran, he Rehmann explored the eastern frontier of of information. In order to explain the medical On the steppe left his steppe homeland to go to school in the empire and reported on their encounters system behind it, a Buryat doctor named In Aginsk, on the main square, a row of busts Irkutsk. Later, he travelled to Saint Petersburg, with Buddhist monk-doctors.1 Buddhism, with Tsultim Tseden was invited to Saint Petersburg. stand as if ready to welcome guests. They where he entered the medical faculty. But the Tibetan Medicine, had arrived in the region Unfortunately, he passed away without are all famous Buryats. There is Gombozhab main reason for his going to the capital was to in the second half of the seventeenth century moving the project forward.4 But the appetite Tsybikov, whose photographs of Lhasa were the help his brother, who had already started the and the first monasteries were founded in for medicine from Asia had been ignited. first of the Tibetan capital ever to be published first Tibetan pharmacy in Europe. The brother, the following century. The two main religious (National Geographic Magazine, 1905), and Aleksander (Buryat name Tsultim Badma), seats in Transbaikalia were Tsugol and also Tsyben Zhamsarano and Bazar Baradin, the first of the doctor dynasty, was a rather Aginsk.2 Medicine taught there was based on Man of paradoxes two Buryat scholars and politicians. Aginsk is different sort of man. Back on the steppe he theoretical foundations from the Chagpori Piotr’s biography is better known than that of as different from Tschita as can be. The latter had been a monk in Aginski datsan, one of the college in Lhasa and Labrang monastery his older brother, but its evaluation is obscured used to be a restricted-access military city; main Buddhist monasteries in Transbaikalia. in northeast Tibet. by the multiplicity of his activities. He was it has a feeling of neglect and decay. Not far His medical skills brought him admiration Yet theory and practice are two separate not only a doctor but also an entrepreneur from here lies Nerchinsk, where Decembrists from influential Russians, including Nikolay things and Buryat practitioners adapted the and diplomat, engaging in diplomatic, trade served their prison terms. Deportation to Muravyov-Amursky, general governor of East Tibetan pharmacopeia to local conditions. and intelligence missions in the Sino-Russian Siberia was the typical punishment for political Siberia. Aleksander, as the story goes, helped Local doctors inform me that 80 percent of borderlands. Elsewhere, he lobbied to lead the disobedience, and so when travelling to this him fight off a typhus outbreak in a Russian medicinal ingredients used in Transbaikalia Trans-Siberian railway project to Lanzhou in region where people were exiled to disappear, military garrison. are from the immediate China. He had political nous, too, and informed you feel as if you are heading nowhere, to the In recognition of area. Original formulas the tsar about the coming fall of the Qing end of the world. But you would be wrong. this, in 1857 Aleksander ... the need to return from Tibet, so the dynasty and the ensuing political vacuum from As slender, charred trunks of blackened trees was invited to Saint Buryats tell me, had which Russia should benefit. (the latest taiga wildfires ended only a few Petersburg to be to nature and for to be adapted to the Piotr’s life presents various paradoxes. weeks earlier) give way to the steppe proper, introduced to the Tsar. climate, diet and specific A devout Christian, he initiated construction new horizons open up in front of your eyes. Once there, he opened the harmonious metabolism of their local of the Orthodox church in Aginsk, but also co- Entering the epicentre of Buryat culture, you a clinic and started development of body patients: they were thus financed a Buddhist temple in Saint Petersburg are immediately struck by its uniqueness. treating patients. Yet, patient-tailored or even – a unique project combining Tibetan and art I continue to the village of Uzon, where Aleksander’s success and mind. culture-tailored. When nouveau influences, still a must-see in the city. I encounter a little ‘fairy-tale’ house and overwhelmed him, and these lands became He was a sworn royalist but did not blindly its inhabitants – a retired couple and their he did not even speak part of Russia and represent the interests of the state; for instance, relatives. Over a wooden fence, a lush garden fluent Russian. His younger brother had fewer Russians began to settle here, the newcomers he lobbied successfully for his fellow Buryats caresses the eye with a full palette of colours. difficulties with transitioning into this new life. had little choice but to rely on local medics. when Russian policies grew stricter, as in the Back in the house, the table bows under plates Following Aleksander, he adopted Orthodox Nikolai Kirillov, a doctor and ethnographer, 1880s when the government started dissolving of dumplings, tomatoes, bread, honey and Christianity and changed his name to Piotr reported that there were fifty-two ‘European the steppe duma, Buryat self-government preserves. Everything here is home-made, Aleksandrovich (after Tsar Alexander II). Most doctors’ in Transbaikalia but thousands of bodies, or when it pushed for religious radical self-grown or collected from nature’s garden. importantly, he mastered the family’s Tibetan monk-doctors.3 The latter dominated not only conversion policies. The lady of the house has an endless collection medicine, including the art of pulse diagnosis in number but also in quality. Seen in this Despite his many interests, Piotr was a titan of jars in her kitchen cupboards. But her and and medicine making. When Aleksander died light, calling for doctors from Aginsk to aid in the field of medicine. In 1893 alone, he was her husband’s collection of books is even bigger in 1873, Piotr expanded his practice. epidemic-struck Russian garrisons seems carrying out between 40 and 100 visits per – piled high everywhere you look, seemingly completely understandable – proof of the day, amounting to 17,000-20,000 each year.5 growing out of the floorboards. The couple, medical helplessness of the colonizers and He produced medicines, engaged in passionate Galsan Tsyrendorzhiev and his wife Tsyndyma, Famous medicine from Aginsk the medical efficacy of the colonized. polemics about the scientific value of Tibetan belong to the local intelligentsia. Born here In fact, Aleksander Badmayev was not Knowledge of the achievements of Buryat medicine and published the first translation and educated in the city, they returned to the first Buryat doctor in the Russian capital. doctors soon spread to cities in European of the classic Tibetan medical treatise, The work at the school and in cultural institutions. Interest in Tibetan medicine from Buryatia Russia. Scholars brought records of their trips Four Tantras.6 Earlier attempts to translate this They are descendants of the Badmayevs, and Transbaikalia was evident in Russian and material findings back to their universities. hermetic text had been futile, but with Piotr’s doctors of Tibetan medicine. (See fig. 1). scientific circles as early as the eighteenth Rehmann, for example, purchased a whole organizational talent it became possible. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 9 The Study

The task involved cooperation of several Buryat locally. He was an effective networker, monks whom he had invited specially to the and his son recounted that even during the city. In the process, Piotr ‘cleaned’ the text of Second World War his father was importing elements of religion or mysticism, which as he medicinal resources from abroad.9 put it, obscured its true value. His goal was thus Włodzimierz prepared his medicines not a verbatim translation but one that secured according to recipes from a particular for Tibetan medicine a legitimate place in the book, the so-called Aginski Zhor. The zhor pantheon of sciences. – or prescription book – as this genre of compendium is known, flourished among the Buryats. Local doctors compiled medical The next generation formulas with indications, dosage and The October Revolution brought Piotr’s modifications of contents. Aginski Zhor, career to an abrupt end. As a friend of the from the monastery of Aginsk, contains tsarist establishment, Piotr was arrested and 1197 individual recipes. Not all of them were he died in 1920. But in his broad shadow, his used very often, but their number shows the two nephews were building their own careers. ingenuity of local medics. Located in parkland The first was Nikolai (alias Osor), who tried to surrounded by tall larches, Aginsk monastery acclimate to the new political realities. He was is unique. Journeying through lands where Fig. 3 (above): The prescription books left to Nikolai a Red Army doctor and treated Maxim Gorky radical communism swept away most sacral Dugarov by his father Dambinima, a monk-doctor, and other celebrities of the new communist architecture from the landscape, you expect who survived the labour camps. era. He wanted to practice Tibetan medicine to encounter a cluster of new buildings erected Fig. 4 (right): Włodzimierz’s niece, Saran, the closest within the Soviet medical system. With official ad hoc in the rural-Siberian style, mixed with living relative of the Badmayev doctors, with her son permission, he opened a clinic of ‘Eastern Chinese influences. But Aginsk is different; its Purbotsyren Baldorzhievich. Medicine’, but the ‘Badmayev brand’ was too main buildings were spared from destruction. closely associated with the tsarist regime, and Today, the monastery has the serenity of truly accused of harbouring nationalistic sentiments able to adapt to new circumstances. And it had soon Nikolai found himself arrested on the old places, yet it appeals also to younger and carrying out espionage, were deported to have teamwork. Western history books tend fabricated charge of being a Japanese spy. generations. Since 1993, after a forced break in their thousands. Many died because of the to highlight individual achievements, but the He pleaded guilty and was executed. of over half a century, Tibetan medicine is harsh working conditions. Many people never transfer of Tibetan medicine was a community Nikolai’s younger brother followed a being taught here again. (See fig. 2). returned, but thankfully Nikolai’s parents did. success. The Badmayevs were in constant different path. Włodzimierz (alias Zhamyan) Dmitrii Shakhanov, custodian of the library, It required great stamina to survive. It also exchange with their fellow Buryats – monks in escaped from Russia and sought refuge in showed me the monastic collection. Aginsk ran needed strength of character to practice Aginsk and relatives on the steppe, who supplied Poland, establishing himself in Warsaw where a large printing house in the past. It published, medicine underground, which is what Nikolai’s them with knowledge and materia medica. This he quickly gained popularity as a medic. according to Dmitrii’s estimates, more titles father, now a layman, did when he got home. stopped during the years of the Great Terror He published books and journals (Tibetan than all the other Buryat monasteries together. Yet he never instructed his son in this secret and many people who built this history remain Physician and Synthetic Medicine) and was Even today, after the years of Stalinist terror knowledge, as it was too dangerous. Nikolai obscured. Their stories still need to be told. doctor to two Polish presidents. He wrote when many objects were destroyed or carried did inherit his father’s prescription books Today, even for tourists exploring Buryatia, about the dangers of technological progress, away to museums in Moscow and Leningrad, though: his private zhor with condensed Aginsk is too remote to visit. Geopolitics have about the need to return to nature and for it still has one of the largest collections of medical knowledge sharpened by years of consigned it to a part of the country that can the harmonious development of body and Buddhist literature in Russia. The steppe (illegal) practice. The writing is all Tibetan or be entered only with a special visa; it is too mind. Włodzimierz tirelessly explained the climate is good for books; even old ones, Mongolian, although in 1939 Buryats were far away from the centre for the authorities to principles of Tibetan medicine, stressing that opened once more after decades lying unread, forced to adopt Cyrillic script. (See fig. 3). leave access unrestricted. This makes it even it is a proactive medicine of health and not, look as if they have freshly left the press. more unusual; here Buryats speak Buryat (not as its Western counterpart, a reactive one Aginski Zhor is among them – in manuscript, always the case in Buryatia), the cult of high of disease. Similar to the other Badmayevs, xylographic edition and translation. Broken ties: the journey education, personified by people like Tsybikov he was a natural ambassador of his culture. or Zhamsarano, is alive and well, and the elite Born on the steppe, Włodzimierz continues character of the place is highlighted not only successfully changed country, religion and A time of brutality Did the family in Aginsk have any contact by people’s stories that Chinggis Khan ‘was language, lived through two World Wars and Aginsk monastery witnessed some very with Włodzimierz in Poland? “We knew from here’, but also by the fact that almost three revolutions. He was a man of the world, dramatic times in the 1930s. In the first years that someone was living in the West”, the everyone is somehow related – in a distant travelling to treat patients across Europe.7 after the revolution, Buryats tried to adapt to Badmayevs in Uzon tell me, “but any contact line – to one of the prominent figures in the In photographs, we see him on holiday, the new realities. The so-called Renovationist was too dangerous”. The contacts in Russia monuments on the main square. The relatives during state events and at parties (he in programme, led by Agvan Dorzhiev, another were broken too; Leningrad and Aginsk of the Badmayevs from Uzon plan to erect a tuxedo and his wife in fox furs, they fit famous Buryat, introduced Western anatomy were thousands of miles apart. The damage a new monument – to Piotr Badmayev. The perfectly into high society of the interwar and diagnostics to Buryat medical colleges, wrought on the Badmayevs is shown most opening will take place on 17 July 2020 during period). Włodzimierz continued his work while education was subject to state control. starkly in their genealogical tree, especially the International Buryat Festival Altargana. after the war, running a practice in two But after Stalin consolidated his power in 1928 the branch who carried Tibetan medicine to cities, Warsaw and Krakow – all this at a time there was no space for dialogue; anything that the West. Traditionally, Buryat genealogical Emilia Roza Sulek, University of Zürich when private entrepreneurship was actively did not meet the prescribed norms and even trees are male oriented. It is ironic that it was [email protected] repressed by the communist authorities.8 slightly hinted at the past was sentenced to during a meeting with a woman that I learned extermination. In 1936, Tibetan medicine was about other Badmayevs. Born in 1931, Saran outlawed. Monasteries were closed and monks Bazarzhapova is Włodzimierz’s niece. Of her Notes Aginski Zhor forced to disrobe. Many were executed. four uncles, one survived in Poland and one 1 For more information, see Surkova, N. et Włodzimierz ran a laboratory and produced Aginsk was shut down in 1937. It formally was executed, while the two others, who lived al. 2012. ‘Frühe neuzeitliche Begegnungen medicines. These were all officially registered, reopened in 1946, but its buildings housed in Leningrad, died young or disappeared in deutschsprachiger Forscher mit der with a name (derived from Tibetan) and a military quarters, a tuberculosis sanatorium unknown circumstances. Saran’s father stayed tibetischen Medizin in Sibirien’, Forschende number. This was the project his uncles had and drug addiction clinic. The monastic on the land but one night he was taken by the Komplementärmedizin 19(3):143-152. started in Saint Petersburg; to systematize the inventory was largely destroyed. “Soldiers secret police and shot on espionage charges. 2 Both monasteries first operated from yurts. The first buildings were built in 1811 (Aginsk) formulas they brought to Europe, by ordering, threw books out of the windows”, a neighbour (See fig. 4). and 1831 (Tsugol); see Vanchikova, T. et al. numbering and translating them. Włodzimierz of the monastery told me. “Pages fluttered in Włodzimierz died in Poland in 1961, but 2008. Zemlya Vadzhrapani: Buddizm v purchased some ingredients from abroad, the air and spread on the ground like snow.” his formulas continued their journey. In 1959, Zabaikalie. Moskva: Dizain – Informatsia including India, while others were grown People collected these fragments and hid them Swiss entrepreneur Karl Lutz attended a lecture – Kartografia, pp.386,402. away. Many of these books are still by Cyrill von Korvin-Krasinski, a Benedictine 3 Kuz’min, Y. 2014. Doktor P.A. Badmayev: secreted in people’s homes. Every monk and expert on Tibetan medicine. The uchenyi, diplomat, predprinimatel. now and then, an elderly Buryat topic fascinated him and so Lutz decided to Moskva: KMK, p.55. brings back what she or he saved study Tibetan medicine, seeing in it a chance 4 See Grekova, T. 1998. Tibetskaya medicina from destruction. to revolutionize the European pharmaceutical v Rossii. Istoriya v sud’bakh i litsakh. St. Petersburg: Aton; Rehmann, J. 1811. Nikolai Dugarov also has an market. Thus, Korwin Krasinski, a former Beschreibung einer Thibetanischen important and sacred part of his patient of Włodzimierz, turned Lutz’s attention Handapotheke. Ein Beytrag zur family history stashed away in his to the medical formulas of the Buryat doctor. Kenntnis der Arzneykunde des Orients. home. I meet him at the National Lutz wanted to rescue them from behind the St. Petersburg: Drechsler. Museum (named after Gombozhab Iron Curtain; the Polish authorities were not 5 Semennikov, V. (ed.) 2016. Za kulisami Tsybikov, of National Geographic interested in continuing their production, but tsarizma. Arkhiv tibestkogo vracha fame), he works at the ticket office. he feared that they would not like losing control Badmayeva. Moskva: LKI, pp.76-77 Nikolai studied art in Leningrad over this unique heritage. Finally, in 1965, 6 Badmayev, P. 1898. O sisteme vrachebnoi and returned to Aginsk because Włodzimierz’s son, Piotr, brought the Badmayev nauki Tibeta. St. Petersburg. of his parents. Their history reveals formulas to Zürich where Lutz began testing 7 Some sources say that Piotr also exported medicines, for instance to Switzerland. much about the fate of the Buryats them. The company he founded, named after 8 The policy of ‘battle over trade’ aimed at in the Soviet Union. But also about the Badmayev family, continues to produce destroying private entrepreneurship, such the fate of Tibetan medicine. “My them today. as by levying astronomic surtaxes. A daily father, Dambinima, was a monk- newspaper reported that Badmayev had doctor. When the persecutions to pay 7 mln PLN – roughly ten years’ the started, many monks were killed The Trans-Siberian average salary of an employed person. or ‘disappeared’. My father fled to The same article called him “a dangerous Krasnoyarsk, together with khambo- knowledge corridor sorcerer”; see Anon. 1948. ‘Nieładnie, panie lama Gomboev.10 One worked as What was necessary for the Trans-Siberian doktorze!’ Życie Warszawy 25.5.1948. 9 Badmajew, P. 2013. The History of a a fireman, the other in a smelter”. knowledge corridor to function? It needed Warsaw Insurgent. iUniverse, p.6. So Nikolai starts his story. His mother pioneers, daring spirits who did not shy away 10 Zhambal Gomboev became a khambo- was deported to Krasnoyarsk, a from publicity, who felt the spirit of the time lama or head of the Buddhist church in Stalinist centre in the gulag system. and grasped possibilities. It required a ground the USSR. As Nikolai says, both men had Fig. 2: Aginski Zhor, from the monastery of Aginsk, contains 1197 individual recipes. Since 1993, after a forced break of over half a Mass deportations were a daily ready to accept their knowledge. It also needed a plan: to rehabilitate themselves through century, Tibetan medicine is being taught here again. occurrence in Russia; Buryats, the flexibility of the Tibetan medical system, voluntary enrolment in Krasnoyarsk. 10 Organic agriculture Food security, environmental integrity, The Study and challenges of the global market

Left: A typical wood-burning stove for cooking coconut flower nectar. People in Kokap use firewood for cooking as it is cheap and still relatively abundant in the area. Photo courtesy of Dimas D. Laksmana.

Right: The silhouette hanging from the tree branches is a coconut farmer still collecting coconut flower nectar as dusk is falling. Photo courtesy of Dimas D. Laksmana.

Above: An elderly woman crushing lumps of granule coconut sugar using copra. Photo courtesy of Dimas D. Laksmana.

Between ‘green lies’ in Germany and organic agriculture in Indonesia

Patrick Keilbart Germany and other countries of the Global North import a variety of organic products from and Dimas D. Laksmana Indonesia, such as organic rice, coffee and coconut sugar. The Indonesian National Standard was formulated by the Indonesian government to ensure the quality standard of organic produce in order to protect consumers and producers. However, certification is negatively perceived by some Indonesians as simply privileging large-scale profitable projects, thereby ignoring issues such as food security and environmental integrity; and farmers who are certified face numerous challenges once they are integrated into the global market.

The organic movement by law. A survey conducted by Research at large-scale organic supermarket chains. responsibility can the objective of a in Germany Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in In addition, the major supermarket chains sustainable global market for organic 2018 shows that 87 countries have national and discounters provide a range of organic products be achieved. The ‘Organic Movement’ is a generic term organic regulations.2 products or have even introduced their own Unfortunately, recent cases of green- that refers to individuals and organizations However, regulations and certification organic brands. The report conducted by the washing are a perversion of the initial objectives involved in the promotion of sustainable systems for organic agriculture, and the Society for Consumer Research (Gesellschaft and efforts of the organic movement. Those agriculture through organic farming practices. growing international market for organic für Konsumforschung, GfK) further shows are enterprises that offer products or services As part of this international movement, products, are not unproblematic, especially that in the last ten years, the market share (or obtain raw materials) in a clearly environ- Germany has played a considerable role both for producers and producing countries. of organic food products in Germany has mental unsustainable or socially unjust as a wealthy importer of organic products and In many cases, local farmers do not have doubled (from 2.6 to 5.7%) in 2017, and the framework, but try to establish a positive public as an influential member of the community. access to the organic market since they percentage of German households “with image as sustainable, eco-friendly, and fair. Many German actors share the movement’s often encounter difficulties in fulfilling the a high affinity for healthy, sustainable The journalist Kathrin Hartmann5 illustrates aims to promote and expand organic international regulations or requirements food” has reached more than 30%. a prime example of such ‘green lies’ and agriculture, and to develop it from a small niche for certification, and applying for organic These figures, however, present an negative effects of the bio-fetish in Germany to a broader, more mainstream market by certification poses significant financial burden incomplete picture on the overall achieve- with the case of palm oil production in establishing detailed regulations and efficient to farmers. Furthermore, organic products are ment of the sustainability and transparency Indonesia. It is promoted as a sustainable and yet fair certification and control systems. The often targeted for wealthy importing countries aims pursued by the organic movement. eco-friendly product, though in reality it has International Federation of Organic Agriculture of the Global North, in which the organic The problem with organic brands or devastating effects on rainforest biodiversity Movements (IFOAM) based in Bonn, Germany, industry partly develops contrary to the ‘bio-brands’ in Germany is that they and labor living conditions. was established in 1980 to provide the first initial objectives of transparency, economic, contribute to the “fetishization of every- In the last few years, public awareness international guidelines for organic agriculture, social and environmental sustainability. thing ‘bio’”.4 That means, they create about green lies of sustainable palm oil from and in 1991 the European directive for organic market demand and represent a profitable Indonesia has gradually been raised by media agriculture (EU Verordnung Ökologischer line of business without providing sufficient reports. The Süddeutsche Zeitung featured Landbau) was implemented.1 Currently, more The German bio-fetish, green- information about the producers. Many a report titled ‘Rainforest clearings for the than 1000 affiliates in over 120 countries are people in Germany buy products that are supermarket’,6 and Der Spiegel reported on members of IFOAM. washing and ‘green lies’ labeled ‘bio’, without knowing its meaning ‘The dirty business of palm oil producers’.7 With these achievements, the overall The main finding of the recent consumer and background. For a comprehensive Yet, ultimately the main responsibility lies with objective of a transparent and sustainable research ‘GfK Consumer Index 2017’ suggests understanding of the organic markets, the importers and consumers of presumably global market for organic products appears that in Germany, organic products have it is necessary to consider financial and organic products. Responsible consumers more feasible. A growing number of countries already reached the mainstream consumer economic structures, but also productive and supporters of the organic movement in worldwide accept and implement national market.3 People can purchase organic and immaterial labor as well as producers’ Germany must look beyond bio-brands and and international regulations, and what products at various places, for instance at perspectives and life worlds. Only by green lies, and consider mechanisms of the constitutes ‘organic’ is increasingly defined small organic and health food stores, but also assuming ethical, social and environmental organic market on the production side. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 11 The Study

man traverses the uneven terrain of Menoreh Conclusions: from Hill, to the west of Yogyakarta, Central Java. This sound signals the beginning and end of bio-fetish to sustainability a day for many coconut farmers [penderes]. Departing from the global organic The routine is followed by smoke spewing out movement and its aim to promote sustainable of houses as the women prepare fires to cook agriculture through organic farming practices, the coconut flower nectar collected by the we have shown that the organic industry men. Together they are the preservers and partly developed contrary to this aim. Organic backbone of the traditional coconut sugar products have clearly reached the mainstream making, which relies on human ingenuity consumer market in Germany, but without and adaptation to the environment. adequately taking the perspectives and In Kokap District, Yogyakarta, coconut life worlds of producers into consideration. sugar has always been produced with a On the contrary, ‘green lies’ about supposedly clear division of labor. Every morning and sustainable and eco-friendly organic products afternoon, the men climb coconut trees conceal perilous working conditions and with nothing but their bare hands and a devastating environmental effects at small knife or sickle to make incisions in the production sites. flowers, allowing for the nectar to drip into the The case of organic coconut sugar bamboo containers [bumbung]. The women production in Indonesia illustrates the then cook the nectar for a couple of hours obstacles and pitfalls organic farmers are on a wood-burning stove, until the liquid facing, especially when aspiring to reach reaches the right consistency and is ready to the global organic market. Although organic Below: Taman Nasional be molded on copras (dried coconut shells). granule coconut sugar has proven to be a Kalibiru (or Blue River National Park), one The only additives are coconut milk or grated profitable export commodity, international of the main tourist coconut to prevent the boiling liquid from market fluctuation, financial barriers attractions in the area. overflowing, and a mixture of limestone water of organic certificates, and uncertain With the opening of the new Yogyakarta and mangosteen sap, which is the yellowish future prospects (concerning the younger International Airport crust formed on the skin of the fruit. All the generation) put its sustainability into within a 30-minute ingredients are naturally abundant in the question. drive, and other related area. “I don’t know who invented this recipe, Indonesia, as an exporting country, infrastructure plans, the area will likely undergo a but as far as I know even my grandmother needs cross-sectoral integration between massive transformation produced coconut sugar this way”, says the government and producers to sustain the in the next 10-15 years. a retired teacher and coconut sugar maker. development of organic agriculture. In importing Photo courtesy of Dimas D. Laksmana. “It is truly natural and the molded coconut countries like Germany, responsible consumers sugar has different shapes depending on the must try to look beyond organic brands, and makers’ preferences. Some like it small, some demand that providers of organic products like it big. It depends on the copras too”. follow ethical guidelines that include concerns “So we invented organic granule coconut of the producers. Only if both producer and Above: Women employed sugar for the export market to increase consumer sides translate those guidelines by their neighbour to help the income level of coconut farmers here into concrete measures can the objectives make organic coconut sugar. Photo courtesy of Dimas D. in Kokap”, says a member of Jatirogo of transparency, economic, social and Laksmana. cooperative, the pioneer of this product. environmental sustainability be achieved. Today, the export of organic coconut sugar has developed into a profitable business Patrick Keilbart & Dimas D. Laksmana sector for local farmers. “In the past, the price work for ‘IndORGANIC’, a research project of granule coconut sugar was 7000 Rupiah at the University of Passau investigating per kilo (about €0.40) and coconut sugar the potential of and challenges for organic agriculture in Indonesia. For more was 3000 Rupiah per kilo, and since then information, see www.indorganic.de the price of coconut sugar has reached up to 13000 Rupiah when the price of granule A version of this article was published in coconut sugar was 16000 Rupiah”, says a German in the online open access journal coconut farmer. This account is repeated südostasien: https://tinyurl.com/SA-biofair and confirmed by other people in the region; (‘Indonesian sugar as a global commodity’, coconut sugar production provides a stable in the 2018 thematic issue: ‘Organic, fair income, whereas other job opportunities are and what else? - Sustainable products in scarce and youth unemployment is common. Southeast Asia’). Organic agriculture seeks to achieve diverse yet often interlinked Despite this economic benefit, issues, such as healthy diets, sustained unfortunately, the creation of organic granule in Indonesia livelihoods, social justice, food security, and coconut sugar, which is specifically designed Notes Germany and other countries of the Global environmental integrity. Organic farming is to fulfill international market demands, 1 Ministerium für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, North import a variety of organic products not simply a variety of agricultural practices poses unprecedented problems. Firstly, the Landwirtschaft, Natur- und Verbraucher- from Indonesia, such as rice, coffee, and that refrain from using petrochemical long value chain of the product is subject to schutz des Landes Nordrheinwestfalen. coconut sugar. In response to the gradual pesticides and fertilizers as well as genetically international market fluctuation and creates 2013. ‘EU-Verordnung Ökologischer expansion of the market for organic produce modified seeds. Therefore, certification uncertainties for farmers. When demand Landbau. Eine einführende Erläuterung mit in the course of the 1990s, an Indonesian based on particular standards, technical stops, farmers cannot sell the granule coconut Beispielen’; https://tinyurl.com/euveroko National Standard (SNI) was formulated by rules, and political procedures (as a result sugar that they produce on a daily basis. (accessed 21 August 2018). 2 Willer, H. & Lernoud, J. 2018. ‘The World the Indonesian government. It defines organic of institutionalization) is not a suitable means There is also low demand at the local market, of Organic Agriculture Statistics and agriculture as a production management for achieving sustainability. as in Indonesia people usually consume Emerging Trends 2018’. Research Institute system that increases and develops the health In the early 1990s, the Farmer and Fisherman coconut sugar, but not in the granule form. of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, and of the agro-ecosystem, avoids the use of Association World Food Day (SPTNHPS), one of During low demand periods, piles of granule IFOAM – Organics International, Bonn. synthetic fertilizer and pesticides, and applies the first pioneers of organic agriculture in Java, coconut sugar packed in transparent plastic 3 Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung site-specific management practices adapted was formed in Central Java. This organization can be found in the corners of farmers’ (GfK) 2017. ‘‘Bio’ kommt im Mainstream to local environmental conditions. advocates 4 principles in sustainable houses. In comparison, regular coconut sugar an. Consumer Index 07/2017’; The objective of the SNI is to ensure the agriculture: ecologically sound, economically can be sold regularly at the local market. https://tinyurl.com/gfkbiomain quality standard of organic produce in order feasible, culturally adapted, and socially Secondly, the costs of organic certificates (accessed 21 August 2018). 4 Birch, K. & Tyfield, D. 2012. ‘Theorizing to protect consumers and producers. Its major just. While organic agriculture started off as create financial barriers for farmers, hindering the Bioeconomy: Biovalue, Biocapital, role is to provide a guarantee system for the a social movement driven by environmental them from enjoying the economic benefits Bioeconomics or …What?’, Science, organic value chain, to develop nationally and concern, it has developed into a more market- of being organic farmers. For instance, the Technology, & Human Values 38(3): internationally recognized certification for oriented sector. “At the early stage, we mainly cost of applying for an organic certificate 299-327, p.299. export and import purposes, and to contribute focused on teaching farmers how to grow food for the European market is 200 million Rupiah 5 Hartmann, K. 2018. Die Grüne Lüge. to environmental protection efforts at the without using artificial pesticide and fertilizer, (about €12.000) and another 70 million Weltrettung als profitables Geschäfts- local and global level.8 The increased state how to care for our nature”, says one of the should be paid annually for recertification. modell. München: Karl Blessing Verlag. regulation through the SNI, however, has founders of SPTNHPS. “We didn’t think about These numbers are beyond the reach of 6 Hennemann, L. 2012 (6 Sept.). embedded organic farming into a national marketing, but now things have changed. Now many landless farmers whose monthly ‘Regenwald-Rodungen für den agro-economic framework predicated on a marketing is everything, especially after the expenditure is below 5 million Rupiah (about Supermarkt’, Süddeutsche Zeitung; https://tinyurl.com/szregenwald productivistic logic and neoliberal ideas of government passed SNI on organic farming. €300) according to the Statistic Publication (accessed 20 August 2018). market expansion. The legally-enforceable Our organization is starting to look for potential of Indonesia in 2015. 7 Hartmann, K. 2015 (7 Mar.). 9 certification as promoted by the SNI defines market access”. Even farmers who focus on Thirdly, the financial prospect of being ‘Das schmutzige Geschäft der Palmöl- access to the market and thus implies selling certified organic products as premium organic farmers still does not appeal to young Produzenten’, Der Spiegel; (further) production constraints on producers, goods are experiencing numerous challenges people given the challenges above. In this https://tinyurl.com/spiegelpalm particularly in the case of marginalized once they are integrated into the global market. area, the aging generation of coconut (accessed 20 August 2018). small-scale farmers who do not have the farmers can hardly find successors to 8 Standar Nasional Indonesia (SNI) means to afford certification. continue collecting coconut flower nectar 2002. ‘Sistem Pangan Organik. Badan For some Indonesian producers and Organic coconut sugar as the young people tend to emigrate to Standardisasi Nasional Indonesia’; https://tinyurl.com/snisistem consumers, organic certification is perceived Picture a lean man with a honed sickle by neighboring cities to find more promising and (accessed 21 August 2018). as privileging large-scale, export-oriented, his side, carrying cylindrical containers made prestigious occupations. The present example 9 Sekretariat Pelayanan Petani dan and highly profitable projects, and are thus from cut-bamboo stems filled with coconut of organic granule coconut sugar for the Nelayan - Hari Pangan Sedunia STPNHPS rejected. However, organic agriculture in flower nectar. The containers are tied to a export market illustrates challenges faced (n.d.) FO Profile Indonesia STPNHPS; Indonesia can also be understood as a social pole which balances on his right shoulder, and by farmers when their products are intended https://tinyurl.com/SNIprofiledoc movement and socio-ecological endeavor that they create a ‘tock, tock, tock’ sound as the for consumers thousands of miles away. (Google Doc). 12 Spaces of perpetual protest The breakdown of ‘normal’; continuously The Study reacting to and accommodating the protests

Surrounded by slogans Perpetual protest in public space during the Hong Kong 2019 protests

Milan Ismangil On the way to the metro, I walk past graffiti and posters asking me to be conscious and supportive of the protests. In the metro itself footage of protesters is shown on the many television screens.1 Public space in Hong Kong can no longer be neutral, it seems. The protests in Hong Kong are entering their fifth month at the time of writing. Originally demanding the withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill, they quickly transformed into a larger cry for accountability of those in power, with universal suffrage and an independent investigation into police brutality amongst the five main demands. The Lennon Walls 2 that have popped up all over Hong Kong and other places across the world are home to post-its, posters and various other visual media, put there by anyone wishing to Fig. 1 (above): express their support for the movement. In this The ‘Lennon Bridge’ in Tai Wo Hau. article I discuss the transformation of Hong Fig. 2 (left): Kong’s public areas into spaces of perpetual Remembering the movement near Wong protest. Tai Sin temple. Fig. 3 (below): Appeals to history and memory at the Chinese t is nearly impossible to walk anywhere the attacks on protesters by assailants with University of Hong Kong. in Hong Kong today without encountering knives on 21 July 2019, and the second to Fig. 4 (bottom): Isigns and slogans of the protests on walls, the police violence inside a metro station Informing the public pavements, railings, walkways, poles, ceilings on 31 August 2019. Other dates such as about vandalism; photo taken near Jordan. and so on. Furthermore, buildings targeted for ‘10.1’ and ‘8.11’ again refer to incidents of their (perceived) support of the Communist police violence: respectively, the first live Party have fortified themselves with bars and gunshot injury and a rubber bullet shot reinforced doors, adding to the changing into a protester’s eye. Dates have become image of Hong Kong’s streets. part of the canon of Hong Kong protests, One of the most impressive aspects of with numerous public displays urging us the movement is its diversity and expertise to remember. This is also typified in graffiti in visual imagery. The use of social media seen around the city stating, “Some moved and image hosting sites, combined with Hong on, but not us”, or “we will never forget”. Kong’s population density and high economic Slogans such as 毋忘721 831 [Don’t forget development, allows for a rapid spread and 721 831!] are seen all over Hong Kong. high visibility of new protest images. Some Historical appeals are powerful metaphors. of these are curated, organized by certain There is an awareness among the protesters organizations, but others are more guerrilla in of China’s power of their need to shape the nature, posted online for anyone to print out and narrative. The ubiquitous nature of these disperse across Hong Kong. Based on a number ‘calendars’ shows a protest against a regime of photos taken during the movement I discuss that has a tight grip on the memory and history some themes and motives that characterize the of its people. They appeal to their observers visual makeup of the protests, along the lines to remember and spread the word, and not of four categories: ‘memory and remembrance’, fall prey to manipulation and subversion by ‘appeals and explanation’, ‘beyond the local the Chinese state. Some posters, written in context’, and ‘the changing city’. simplified Chinese, directly appeal to the many mainland Chinese visitors with the aim to unbalance the state’s narrative. These Memory and remembrance posters are engaged in a silent battle with The movement uses dates as stark reminders the state’s propaganda apparatus. of events in the past. Repeated references to these dates help to legitimise the movement by giving it a solid foundation of historic Appeals and explanation events. The dates are displayed on so-called A second major part of the visual makeup ‘protest calendars’ (fig.2), and considering the of the movement is clarification. Acts of censorship regime of the ever-encroaching vandalism or destruction are explained by mainland China, it makes perfect sense to protestors – on site – to inform passers-by, connect to and remind people of its history. with the intention to spread a message Memories of important protest events are that goes beyond wanton violence. Fig. 4 kept alive through posters displaying, and shows a vandalized Starbucks, targeted by chants repeating, their dates. For example, protestors because the branch is managed references to ‘6.4’ (六四), the date of the by the pro-Beijing Maxim’s Group. The spray- Tiananmen massacre, are a relatively common painted texts explain their reasons as well sight (see fig.3). ‘7.21’ and ‘8.31’ are two as their vow to not steal from the property. other well-known dates; the first refers to The promise and act of not stealing is vital The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 13 The Study

as it crystalizes the vandalism as ideological Keeping the destruction. The belief in this ethos was Fig. 5 (right): Online and movement alive offline in Diamond Hill. exemplified by a person being tied up and left for the police after he was seen trying to Everyday space has become protest space, Fig. 6 (below): Emojis loot a XiaoMi store.3 Other public messages but the protest has also bled into the fabric come to life at University Station 黨鐡不了 [Cannot explain why the MTR is a target of attacks, of everyday life. Many restaurants have stand the (communist) or why certain stores are boycotted, or as the televisions broadcasting the news; the Metro, party rail]. movement grew more violent, became a target used by a majority of the population, shows for ‘renovations’. The MTR was targeted due protest footage inside the train cars, making it to its perceived role in assisting the police as near impossible to escape the protests even on well as possibly ‘covering up’ police brutality quiet days. Not to mention the categorization by refusing to make camera footage inside the of restaurants and businesses into ‘Yellow’ stations public. Most famously on 31 August (pro-protesters) or ‘Blue’ (pro-police). The (8.31.), when policemen entered the station political becomes the everyday. and clashes took place. Rumours of possible The protesters have succeeded brilliantly deaths due to police brutality spread rapidly in transforming Hong Kong into a political site. leading to outrage and further demands I have shown but a snapshot of the diversity of public accountability of the police and of the visual culture of the movement and the possible role of the MTR in protecting or have left out many of the common slogans facilitating the authorities. sprayed all over Hong Kong, such as 光复香 港，时代革命 [Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times],香港人加油 [Keep it up Hong Beyond the local context: Kongers], which later turned into 香港反抗 from offline to online, [Hong Konger – resist], a more provocative domestic to abroad statement. Revising this article several months later, the slogan 香港人報仇 [Hong Kongers A large part of the movement is its digital take revenge] has become popular, as the sensibility. This bleeds into the real world as general legitimacy of the government and online memes and imageries are reproduced police force continues to be eroded. on the streets. Technologies such as QR Travelling anywhere within Hong Kong one is codes serve to establish an ephemeral bridge sure to encounter some form of protest related between the ‘real’ world and the digital world art, be it graffiti, posters or some other method ‘out there’, reached through our phones on of altering the public space. The protestors the streets. Pepe the Frog, an American have also cleverly managed to dance cartoon character, has been adopted by the between off- and online space, national and protesters as an icon (fig.5). Other cartoon international space. International attention is characters, such as the dog (連狗) and pig seen as an effective weapon to put pressure on (連豬) (fig.6), hail from the LIHKG Forum, the government and many of the posters speak one of Hong Kong’s most popular forums beyond the observer on the ground. There is and used by many protesters. The protesters a digital strategy of sharing, spreading, and have been identified as “young, educated, making viral the protest’s art. It is a constant and middle class”,4 which explains the game between the government who regularly popularity of using emblematic icons taken cleans up contested sites, and protesters who from the internet. These images can digitally come back the next day with updated posters, communicate the protest message beyond occasionally even sardonically thanking the the local context, across the world, shared government for cleaning up the old, irrelevant Fig. 7 (left): Newly installed through social media. posters and giving them a blank canvas to grates near above With ‘beyond the local context’ I refer express themselves. Kowloon Tong to the strategy of sharing that underlies A final point relating to digital technologies metro station. the protests. Clearly, posters and other is the blurring of audience of these images. Fig. 8 (below): visuals are made not exclusively for the local Many images are meant to be photographed San Po Kong Bank observer but with (international) television and shared, rather than seen by passers-by. of China ‘bunker’, showing security and social media in mind. Exemplary of this One example are the many posters that speak measures taken. strategy are protest messages at university directly to foreign leaders, imploring them graduation ceremonies. By cladding the walls to intervene. Or the posters thanking other Fig. 9 (bottom): of graduation venues with protest images and countries for showing solidarity with the Hong Graffiti has been painted over. slogans, most photos taken at the ceremony Kong movement. These speak ‘beyond’ the will become carriers of pro-protest messages. local, relying on the press and local observers to As people share their pictures of Hong Kong, share these online. They are decontextualized they inadvertently share protest messages. within Hong Kong in order to speak beyond. The ever-developing professionalization and standardization of the protest art is also The changing city: of note. Different forms are being explored, accommodating the such as the post-it imagery of the dog and pig. protests Other locations might feature large art pieces tailor-made to fit a precise location, such as The visual media in the public space on the ‘Lennon bridge’ (fig. 1). The movement ensures one is constantly reminded of the is more than people semi-randomly sticking protests during the daily commute. Recently, flyers on walls; it is seemingly blossoming in its however, the reminders are also found in creative expression, and speed of employment. the structural changes that the city has By turning everyday space into protest space been submitted to. The city is bearing silent the protests, since June, have turned Hong witness to the breakdown of the normal Kong into a space of perpetual protest reaching state of being. The changing cityscape is beyond the local into the digital world and reacting to and accommodating the protests through it, the entire physical world. in different ways. For example, in anticipation of large crowds and for safety concerns, fences and chains at pedestrian crossings Postscript have been removed and replaced with Revising this article several months later simple tape. The little changes affect the with still no end in sight, most of the artwork way in which we now navigate the city. has been removed or replaced by more recent Metal grating was installed to open sides versions (fig.9). The government has stepped of railway bridges/walkways after the up its efforts to clean up the city, leading to protests started, most likely to prevent people new strategies and tactics in a city engulfed (protesters) from throwing things onto the in a seemingly endless daily struggle. rails, or accessing the station after closing time (fig.7). Milan Ismangil, PhD candidate at Lastly are some of the protective measures the Chinese University of Hong Kong, taken by many companies, such as the Bank writes about culture and everyday life of China, Yoshinoya and the Industrial and https://notjustaboutculture.com Commercial Bank of China. Due to the recent targeting of ‘pro-Beijing’ establishments, Notes some companies have opted to protect their properties; glass windows have, for example, 1 Several weeks after writing this the metro station was largely trashed and sections made way for metal panels, further changing burned during the police siege of the the atmosphere on the streets (fig.8). Walking Chinese University of Hong Kong around Hong Kong, some establishments 2 Named after the Lennon Wall in Prague, look like construction sites blending into the where fans wrote messages after his death. background, with only simple signs fixed to 3 https://tinyurl.com/scmp-looting the facade betraying their function. 4 https://tinyurl.com/scmp-demo 14 Challenges regarding identity Could a ‘global identity’ overarch The Study an individual’s multiple identities – and create a new global ‘we’?

Negotiating a global identity

Chahida Bouhamou and Cha-Hsuan Liu

The International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS), the most inclusive international gathering in the field of Asian Studies, held its 11th edition in Leiden, the Netherlands (15-19 July 2019). Among a flurry of activities, the roundtable ‘Negotiating the Global Above (left to right): Önder Düran, Oussouby Sacko, Cha-Hsuan Liu, Janice Duel, Chahida Bouhamou, Identity’ took place on 18 July. It aimed to open up a dialogue on the value of diversity Seong Bin Hwang, and Elena Valbusa. and how individuals identify themselves in the contemporary globally connected world. Intense discussions broke out about, for example, the ‘identity mismatch’ and the limitations of seeing identity as an asset in a multicultural society. In order to tackle such challenges regarding identity, it was proposed that we negotiate the ‘global identity’.

nstead of focusing on just academic opinions, seems to be a choice to create a favourable formation among the second or the third conflicts, environment, equality, genders the panel consisted of members from various position in the communication with ‘others’ generation migrant youths in the Netherlands. issues and migration. Therefore, diversity Ibackgrounds to enrich the discussions rather than a fixed label. His comments led to discussions about should be seen as a strength not a weakness. regarding the complexity and the challenges Janice Deul, an activist in the fashion ‘identity confusion’. He further proposed that global citizenship of identity matters. The composition of this industry, saw the power of fashion as a tool to Elena Valbusa is the project manager of can be used positively to incorporate different roundtable was noteworthy: firstly, the five influence the way in which an individual can be the Incluusion Program at Utrecht University. social elements that make up the identities panellists included two academia (both perceived. Fashion, according to Janice, is not The program offers people with a refugee that we are proud of. The ‘global identity’ is the education and research fields), one policy (only) about shoes, clothes, and so forth, but it background the possibility to study. According capacity to remove ourselves from our cultural communication advisor, one journalist cum is also about representation, emancipation and to Elena, and the discussions she has had, comfort zone. It does not mean that we have fashion activist, and a project leader for social a way to express one’s identity. It can be used the ‘refugee label’ leads to stigmatization and to surrender our own native identity, instead, inclusion. At the last moment, two students to determine how an individual wants to be polarization; the program gives them the ‘option’ we can gain new identities and values. from a Dutch University, two professors from perceived by others. In her presentation, Janice to use ‘student’ as a new label, with which they Cha-Hsuan then invited the guest Asian Universities and one Japanese female provided evidence of how fashion photography can proudly introduce themselves. The goal participants to join the roundtable discussion conference participant joined the discussion. can positively/negatively influence public of the program is to allow the refugees to peel by asking the question: what is identity All participants held different ethnical and opinion of (images of) ethnic minorities. off the stigmatized label by replacing it with a to you? Chahida Bouhamou, who just national identity combinations: Dutch, Chinese She discussed how fashion communicates new one and to empower them for acceptance obtained her Master’s degree at Utrecht (China and Taiwan), Moroccan, Turkish, perceptions of beauty, however, it does not in the host society. However, participants in University, contributed her experiences of Surinamese, Japanese, Korean, Nigerian, reflect the inclusion of a multicultural society the program have different opinions regarding seeking her identity as a second generation Italian and Malian. The diversity stimulated in most parts of the world. Janice gave an this student identity. While one participant Dutch-Moroccan in the Netherlands. In her spontaneous debates and enriched the example of this: a Dutch magazine portrayed expressed gratitude towards this student youth, she felt and believed that identity is conclusion of this roundtable. and celebrated ‘Dutch beauty’ by presenting identity for giving her more confidence in the one-dimensional: with both parents being only blonde skinny models with blue eyes. host country, another person indicated that born in Morocco, it was never a question what Aside from the fact that beauty is relative, it is just a ‘sugarcoating’ of reality. her identity was at home – it was Moroccan Is identity a label? this presentation excluded the Dutch with The fourth panellist, Chudi Ukpabi, without a doubt. However, in her twenties her Is identity a label that you assign to yourself, different ethnic backgrounds. Unintentionally, originally from Nigeria, is a senior perspective shifted. She was no longer satisfied or that is ascribed to you? The roundtable it proposed to the public that this is the ideal international cooperation and development with being perceived as Moroccan, which in started with moderator Cha-Hsuan Liu’s beauty. In this way the industry plays a role professional, working in governance, strategic fact legitimized the lack of access to resources statement that “the term ‘identity’ is perceived in identity creation. communication, and nation building projects in and possibilities in Dutch mainstream society. differently in different parts of the world”. Önder Düran, a lecturer of Interdisciplinary the Netherlands and over 35 African countries. For that reason, Chahida insisted on presenting In Asia, identity is not explicitly mentioned Social Science at Utrecht University, shared his He argued that diversity is not about losing herself as Dutch and correcting people when in parenting or fundamental education. In concerns about how he should present himself your own values, but gaining new values she was referred to as a Moroccan. Over time, Western culture, however, identity is a recurring in public; for example, what he should wear, or and identities from other cultures – as is she came to understand that she is the one topic; it has, for example, become common in how he should ‘profile’ himself – as a lecturer learnt in Nigeria, where people live side who determines her identity. According to Europe to ask people to identify themselves first? What comes second? He claimed that by side with diverse identities, languages, her, identity involves more than ethnicity or in terms of the ethnic background and/or he carries various identities with him: Islamic, religions, ethnicities, traditions, modern and nationality, and for that reason identity should religion. Cha-Hsuan, currently a lecturer of Turkish, and Dutch. In addition, being born traditional communities, etc. Chudi argued be seen as fluid and not static. Chahida’s Multicultural Society and Generation Study at in Brabant, perceived as a ‘less developed’ that understanding and respecting cultural experiences heated up the discussions and Utrecht University, regards identity formation province by city dwellers in the Netherlands, diversity is fundamental for building relations, debates in the second session of the roundtable. as an action of making choices: individuals he was confronted with his provincial accent reconciliation, breaking down stereotypes, Three themes emerged with regard to identity: may present various identities in different when he started working at Utrecht University. cultural assumptions. It helps us to deal with the ‘identity mismatch’, identity is ‘an asset’, settings. She argued, how to present ‘oneself’ Önder also shared his worries about identity global social challenges, such as poverty, and negotiating a ‘global identity’. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 15 The Study

The identity mismatch Netherlands for quite some time, but who and social boundaries that limit the social that many people are facing. The ‘global Yiran, a PHD candidate at Leiden University, has had no experience in the Dutch labour mobility for some minority groups. This means citizen identity’ is conceptualised as the identifies herself as Chinese and not Dutch environment, stated that she has not had the that agency is only effective up to a certain ultimate form of an inclusive identity that even though she migrated to the Netherlands negative experiences (e.g., discrimination) point and societal changes have to be made to tackles the mismatch between the self- many years ago. She found it difficult to fully in the Netherlands that were shared by some ensure social mobility for all groups regardless identity and identity ascribed by others in understand Chahida’s identity struggle and of the other participants of the roundtable. of factors such as gender, ethnic background, a multicultural society. The global citizen wondered why Chahida insisted on her Dutch She also could not recognize the experiences religion, etc. identity can be understood as a melting pot of identity. Interestingly, Elena stated that some shared by Oussouby and Seong Bin about multiple identities in which there is a dialogue newcomers in the Netherlands (e.g., Syrian her home country Japan. This led to agitated concerning values, cultures, religion, ethnicity, refugees) share similar thoughts as Yiran. reactions from a few of the participants. The Negotiating identity nationality, and so forth. Chudi suggested, One could consider the fact that Yiran, Elena explanation offered for Yoko’s experience In the roundtable discussion, there were the global citizen identity – a collective term and the refugees mentioned are first generation by the roundtable members was that Yoko increasingly dissatisfied sounds heard from of having multiple identities – will be an asset migrants, whilst Chahida is second generation. might not acknowledge her privileged participants with bi-cultural backgrounds. that can be used all over the world. Multiple While first generation migrants tend to carry position in both countries. In Japan, Yoko is Some felt that their social position under- identities allow you to adapt depending on their original identities to the host country, the part of the dominant majority and therefore mines the equal access to resources and the place or situation you are in. Oussouby second generation have fewer emotions linked might overlook the discrimination that the opportunities. Some shared their experiences of and Chudi outlined an ideal situation in which to the lands where their parents came from. minority is confronted with. In addition to her investing effort to fight against discrimination people can define themselves as global citizens For example, first generation Dutch Moroccans Dutch family’s status, the Japanese in the and racism; for example, Janice’s work to whose cultural capital is heavily valued. use the Moroccan word for ‘going home’ to Netherlands are considered to be ‘honoured create space for models with darker skin To what extent is this global identity refer to their yearly vacation to Morocco. Western migrants’ – Japan is classified as tones in the fashion world, and Önder’s blog feasible? An important condition would On the other hand, the later generations, ‘Western’ because it is a rich and industrialized about positive identity formation amongst appear to be that the proposed identity born or raised in the Netherlands, do not country. In other words, Yoko’s Japanese migrant youths. Cha-Hsuan then invited the is recognized and respected by others. For necessarily share that perspective and seek identity appears to be an asset that secures participants to rethink ways of empowering example, in recognizing the need for a third to be validated as Dutch citizens. There seems her living circumstances. And so at that point, minorities to gain societal space, beyond the gender choice, an ‘X’ was introduced for to be a discrepancy between the generations and in line with Yiran’s earlier statement that negative images of certain identities, and the Dutch passports in 2018. This movement in the understanding of identity, which might identity is a tool, the focus of the debate limitations of identity as an asset. provided the choice of a non-binary gender not yet be explored in academic debates. shifted from identity mismatch to the positive A soft approach was proposed: redefine identity to people who do not want to be The second generation’s selfidentity and aspects of identity. the identities that an individual carries. identified as male or female (gender neutral) their identity proposed by the family are Cha- Hsuan gave an example of a Taiwanese or those who identify themselves both as mismatched. Furthermore, the majority of the female friend of hers who, instead of male and female (gender fluid). Participants host society tend to ignore the fact that later Identity as an asset introducing herself as a migrant, uses the term agreed that manifesting the ‘global identity’ generations of migrants identify with their ‘cultural enricher’ to advocate for the value can reinforce the ‘we’ feeling and allow us current home and continue to identify this and its limitations of her presence in Dutch society. Oussouby to embrace all identities perceived. group as ‘foreign’. Both Yiran’s and Yoko’s statements shared his observation of how Africans in Oussouby added that since acceptance Önder addressed his experiences with indicated that identity can sometimes be Japan nowadays align their identity with of diversity concerns the (ethnic) minorities a mismatch concerning his religion. In the seen as an asset to negotiate one’s space the African American pop culture to turn more than the majority, the effort to change Netherlands there is freedom of religion, in a multicultural society, consciously or the negative images of, for example, people this perspective has to come from people of however, the normative situation is different unconsciously. They are both very confident from low-income African countries, into a colour. Unfortunately though, access to rights, than society claims. When being in contact about their own identities and even present it cultural trend and a perception of economic resources and possibilities, is very much tied with the majority of the Dutch, he has always to their advantage. For instance, as Chinese power. According to Oussouby, it is not an up with one’s identity and position in society. felt that his religious identity wasn’t allowed are perceived to be ‘model migrants’ in easy process to change misconceptions Yet to make the global identity a success, it to be presented. Contrary to the ideology many countries, Yiran’s contribution to the and stereotypes, but through intercultural is essential that this perspective on identity of the Netherlands to respect all values and University is appreciated. These positive stories exchange both sides can advance their views should become mainstream and not an idea expressions of religion, Önder indicated that stimulated the roundtable participants to about each other. Following the previous promoted only by people with different cultural he does not have the same freedom to manifest view identity from an intersectional point to discussion about ‘identity as an asset’, backgrounds. It was a pity that there was only his religious beliefs when it comes to Islam, gain insight into how differently identity can acquiring a valued identity for social mobility one roundtable participant considered to be a which is still largely perceived as a threat to be experienced. A clear thin line was revealed was also suggested. Socially desirable member of Dutch society’s majority. Dominique the Judeo-Christian society and to Democracy. between the experiences of the privileged and identities that are seen as ‘positive’ and Voskuyl, a Dutch student of Wageningen Nonetheless, he does not want to deny this part nonprivileged. Based on the stories of Yoko, ‘valuable’, such as a master’s degree may University & Research, shared her mixed feelings of his identity; that would be like erasing a part Oussouby and Seong Bin, their socio-economic facilitate individuals in claiming social space. about being a minority at the table, yet also of his family’s history and memories. related identities create a privileged position in The roundtable participants argued that expressed her gratitude for the knowledge and Elena faced a contradictive situation. Ever which they are accepted by the host society the success of these soft approaches depends emotions shared by the participants with bi- since she married a Dutch man and moved to regardless of being seen on how much space the majority chooses to cultural backgrounds. Following her reflection, the Netherlands, her Italian family perceives her as a member of the majority or not. share with the minority members. The process those present raised their concerns about the identity as a mixture of Italian-Dutch and not Not all people with a bi-cultural back-ground of an attitude change in a society can take a lack of communication between the majority solely Italian. Some members of the family find are able to enjoy the same privileged position long time. Therefore, it is understandable that and minority and welcomed the majority’s voice it difficult to accept or to understand her choice to climb up the socio-economic ladder. some members from disadvantaged cultural to provide different views in the debate. to move to another country, and therefore frame The participants argued that people with a groups elect to demand respect from society The debate on the mismatch of identities, her living abroad as some sort of ‘betrayal’ to bicultural background with higher education, or through activism. Petitions or demonstrations the acknowledgement of a fluid identity, and her Italian cultural heritage. It seems that her even with a high financial status, may still, up to are used to provoke the issues around identity the acquisition of a global identity, led to the acceptance of Dutch identity is regarded as a certain point, need to claim the value of their and social acceptance. However, the hard suggestion of three approaches to deal with the the abandonment of her cultural roots. identity instead of have it be granted. For those approach also has its limitations because negative impacts of identity and with shaping The mismatch takes place when the self- with a bi-cultural background who are low on resistance does not always inspire goodwill benefits of identity. From an individual’s aspect, identity(ies) of an individual does not match the socio-economic ladder, their social space from the majority. one could try to redefine their identity to one with the identity(ies) ascribed by others, often might be strongly determined by factors such as The approaches mentioned above with more value, or to advocate for the value the majority. Oussouby Sacko, President of gender, class, ethnic background, educational all aim to convince the majority of the of their existing identity. From society’s aspect, Kyoto Seika University, joined the discussion. level, physical ability, sexual orientation and valuable contribution of diverse groups an inclusive society that respects all cultural As a Muslim from Mali living in Japan, he stated so forth. We cannot deny that improving one’s in a multicultural society, and to demand values should be encouraged. And last but not that when meeting new Japanese people, socio-economic status can create valuable inclusivity, regardless of any cultural least, a global identity is proposed to overarch conversations usually start with the other identities that increase acceptance by the background. As Chahida stated, she should the strengths of an individual’s multiple identities person saying: “We love animals. We envy you. majority. Such a privileged position can also be appreciated as a member of Dutch society, – thereby creating a new global ‘we’. More You are able to see lions and elephants every grant access to other countless rights (e.g., rather than be seen as being part of a specific discussions regarding the inclusivity of identity day”. And even though he has the Japanese job opportunities), in turn further increasing cultural group. In other words, a society with in a multicultural society are necessary. nationality, he is never perceived as Japanese. one’s position on the socio-economic ladder. diversity, not a society with minorities. In such If all society members participate in such Seong Bin Hwang who is a professor in Nevertheless, this positive influence is limited. an egalitarian society all members can be identity discussions, then equality and Japan, shared a similar story. He was born in Just like in the caste system in India, once respected and have equal access to human inclusivity between and among the diverse South Korea but has lived in Japan for more an individual is bound to the caste they were rights on the basis of their innate merits, not identities can be achieved. than half of his life. He is respected in Japanese born into, their education or wealth may not be the value defined by secular social desires. society for his academic accomplishments and enough to move upwards on the socio-economic Oussouby further suggested that Chudi’s Chahida Bouhamou and career, yet the majority still do not consider ladder. In the Netherlands, although there is idea of having a ‘global citizen identity’ can Cha-Hsuan Liu, Utrecht University him as Japanese, regardless of the fact that no such caste system, there are still symbolic be an ideal solution to the identity challenges his appearance does not differ from the We would like to thank the participants natives and that his Japanese is better than of this roundtable for their bright minds his Korean. He argued that acceptance by the and valuable contributions to this article: majority can only be enhanced by creating Moderator awareness of such issues through education. Cha-Hsuan Liu, Utrecht University It was concluded that a few of the factors leading to a mismatch include one’s Panellists cultural/ethnic background, religion and/or Janice Duel, journalist and fashion activist Önder Düran, Utrecht University appearance. This raised a further question: Elena Valbusa, Utrecht University is a mismatch inevitable or is there room to Chudi Victor Ukpabi, Chudi Communication adjust the narrow perspective of what a true Consult the Netherlands (national) identity entails. If there is indeed room, how much space is there for identity Participants Chahida Bouhamou, Utrecht University to be altered and claimed. Yiran made a Seong Bin Hwang, Rikkyo University Japan valid point by stating that she sees identity Yoko Odaka, Japan as a tool with which to identify herself, and Oussouby Sacko, Kyoto Seika University not one with which others can identify her. Dominique Voskuyl, Wageningen Yoko, a Japanese woman married to a University & Research Caucasian Dutch man, who has lived in the Yiran Yang, Leiden University 16 News from the European Alliance Regional Editor The Region for Asian Studies The Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University

Below: Asia Library, photo courtesy of Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies. The European Alliance for Asian Studies The Secretariat is located is a co-operative platform of European at IIAS in Leiden. institutions specialising in the study of Contact: dr. Willem Vogelsang, Asia. Please read all about the Alliance [email protected] on its website: www.asiascholars.eu for further information.

The Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies at Lund University The Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies (hereafter the Centre) was established Asian studies, university politics, and the future in 1996 as a result of a government initiative and long-term efforts at Lund University to promote education and research on the region Marina Svensson (https://www.ace.lu.se).

History and early in East and South-East Asia, that motivated the ahead of the retirement of the director and the new institutional environment. After much institutional set-up establishment of the Centre in 1996. The aim future retirement of one of the two lecturers, discussion, the Centre decided to choose the Education and research on Asia have was thus to stimulate research and education the Centre was allowed to recruit three Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology been conducted at Lund University since the on East and South-East Asian contemporary associate senior lecturers on a tenure track, rather than the Faculty of Social Sciences. This 1970s, mainly at the Department of East Asian societies. In the period up until 2012, the Centre’s and in late 2018 to promote one researcher to choice was motivated by the promise by the Languages. The focus was on China and permanent staff was quite small and consisted lecturer. This means that the Centre today has former that the Centre could establish a Ph.D. Japan although languages such as Thai and only of a professor, who served as the director, a permanent staff consisting of one professor programme, and by a generally more positive Indonesian were taught until 2006 (when there administrative staff and librarians, whereas and four lecturers. It also has one researcher, view on and experience of area studies. was a general cut-back on languages with the researchers were either postdoctoral fellows and in 2020 two postdoctoral fellows will join Due to the institutional and administrative result that no Swedish universities any longer or researchers with external funding on a non- the Centre. It is currently the only institution set-up at the faculty the transfer in January offer Thai or Indonesian). The department permanent basis. The Centre from the beginning in the Nordic countries that conducts both 2019 also meant that the Centre became began an undergraduate programme in East ran a master’s programme in Asian studies teaching and research on contemporary a division within the larger Department of and South-East Asian Studies in 1984 that that has developed over the years (see further East and South-East Asia. History that apart from the division of history combined languages with area studies. Only in below). The Centre also established its own also houses the division of human rights. 1989 did the department get its first professor, library and in 1999 it was merged with the library The Asia Library remains at the same premises who had a focus on China. The department at the Department of East Asian Languages. New institutional set-up as the Centre but is now run by the faculty had started its Ph.D. programme the year The Asia library was then run jointly until 2006 When the Centre was established it was library management. The Centre has adopted previously with a focus on Chinese modern when the Centre took over sole responsibility as decided that it would be based outside of the new directives to ensure its interdisciplinary history, literature, and language. Individual the Department of East Asian Languages was faculties as were all other interdisciplinary focus, something which is also reflected in the scholars at Lund University were involved in incorporated in the newly established Centre centres. This had several advantages but advisory board that has members from other research on East and South-East Asia, as for Languages and Literature. also meant, among other things, that the faculties as well as one external member. well as on South Asia, but they were few and Although the postdoctoral fellows and Centre was not allowed to develop its own Furthermore, the Centre maintains its scattered across departments of anthropology, other researchers at the Centre were very Ph.D. programme. With a new university social science focused master’s programme sociology, history and political science. active, the nature of their positions made it management came a decision around 2016 and aim to promote cross-faculty inter- Sweden has quite a strong tradition in difficult to develop a sustainable teaching to transfer all the existing interdisciplinary disciplinary research. During this first Sinology, represented by eminent scholars such and research environment. The restriction on centres, including for example the Centre for year, the Centre has begun a number of as Bernard Karlgren and Göran Malmkvist, but it permanent staff was lifted in 2012-2013 when Middle Eastern Studies, to a faculty. This was undergraduate courses as well as had its was an interest in contemporary socio-economic new directives were adopted, which led to more of a pragmatic rather than a visionary Ph.D. programme in East and South-East and political developments, as well as the two lecturers being appointed (and one later decision, and raised concerns about how Asian Studies approved. The programme growing global importance of some countries promoted to professor). In mid-2016, planning to maintain the interdisciplinary nature in a will begin in September 2020. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 News from the European Alliance Regional Editor 17 for Asian Studies The Centre for East and South-East The Region Asian Studies, Lund University

The above overview of the background work during the fourth semester. Students and civil society developments. The Centre Institute of Asian Studies Nordic Council. This for to the establishment of the Centre and its are also able to take an exchange semester in is a member of the Human Rights Research example means that students and staff at Lund development shows that its birth was motivated East and South-East Asia as well as conduct Hub at Lund University. A recent joint call University can access data bases and journals by a public and governmental interest in the their fieldwork with the help of some of our for a postdoctoral fellow in human rights held by NIAS. It has also resulted in collaboration region coupled with some visionary thinking partner universities in the region. The masters’ in East and South-East Asia is also part of such as the recent conference ‘Digital Asia’. at Lund University. But university politics, programme thus enables students to both get this research focus. The open access journal administrative restrictions, and the strong a good overview of developments in the region Made in China, with one editor based at the power of faculties and disciplines at Swedish as well as focus thematically and with respect Centre, can also be regarded to be part of this Future work and challenges universities, have hampered the Centre in its to a specific country. Many former students focus. The third theme, ‘Global Challenges At the Centre we are confident that the development. Interdisciplinary area studies have go on to a Ph.D. programme whereas others and International Relations’, addresses the interdisciplinary field of area studies will difficulties to get a footing at universities due take up jobs in NGOs, government bodies, region’s role in global economic development remain relevant. Knowledge of individual to quite conservative institutional set-ups that and private companies. and geopolitics. This theme is also reflected in countries and the region is necessary in privilege more disciplinary institutions. Right individual projects dealing with sustainability order to understand many current global now, however, the Centre is in a more favourable issues, migration, human rights and flows challenges such as climate change, human and stable position than before with a larger Research, networks of cultural products. The research agenda rights and security issues, and the growth of permanent staff and the ability to develop its at the Centre is thus underpinned by a focus populism. Furthermore, the region is a site for own interdisciplinary Ph.D. programme. and activities on flows of people, ideas, and goods – and new developments and applications of digital The master’s programme reflects some of the impact of these flows on individuals, technologies that both harbour possibilities the research interests at the Centre. Individual communities, the environment, and human and new dangers, e.g., increase states’ Interdisciplinary education research projects currently cover topics security. This focus opens up for new ways surveillance capacities. Another cause of The master’s programme is today a such as civil society and domestic politics of studying the region, and links between concern is the lack of and threats to academic two-year long interdisciplinary programme in Cambodia, microcredit programmes and domestic, regional and global developments. freedom in many countries, including in conducted in English with a focus on contem- economic developments in China, labour The Centre hosts visiting scholars and in particular China, that have serious implications porary East and South-East Asia. Each year and migration in China, China’s digital recent years has provided accommodation for research as well as make collaboration around 25 students begin the programme. society, cultural heritage issues, film and and office space as well possibilities to difficult. Being able to engage and collaborate The first semester consists of an introduction media in China, Japan’s foreign policy, organise research seminars for visiting with researchers in the region is central for the to area studies and the region’s economic and and international relations in East Asia more Ph.D. students. The Centre organises public future of Asian studies. The Centre has thus political developments. In the second semester generally. The Centre has been working to lectures, film screenings and photo exhibitions been involved in discussions and seminars on students can choose to focus on a sub-region consolidate its research profile. There are in order to engage with the public and academic freedom and how best to support or a country, currently China, Japan and currently three interlinked interdisciplinary interested students and staff at the university. scholars from the region. This was also the Korea, and South-East Asia, as well as take research themes. The first, ‘Digital Asia’, builds It also organises workshops and international topic for a panel at ICAS 11 in 2019 that the a course in methodology. The third semester on and expands the Digital China project conferences. Centre organised under the auspices of the consists of several elective courses on topics (funded by the Swedish Research Council The Centre has extensive contacts with European Alliance for Asian Studies. such as economics, development issues, from 2013 to 2018) as manifested in a recent scholars and institutions in East and South-East human rights, digital developments, and conference and Ph.D. workshop (see opposite Asia and elsewhere. It is also a member of Marina Svensson, Professor of Modern international relations in the region, in addition page). The second, ‘Human Rights and Social different associations and networks, including China Studies; Director, Centre for to an obligatory data collection course that Justice’, addresses topics such as academic the European Alliance for Asian Studies. East and South-East Asian Studies, prepares students for their master thesis freedom, freedom of speech, labour rights, The Centre is a paying member of the Nordic Lund University

Similarly highlighting regional differences, a panel on digital politics and governance gave insights into disparate patterns of Digital Asia digital politics across Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea. The role of Facebook for bureaucratic governance in rural Cambodia Conference report was explored, highlighting the technological difficulties encountered by local officials. Conversely, the potential of the digital for Nicholas Loubere, Astrid Norén Nilsson, and Paul O’Shea oppositional politics was laid out with regards to neighbouring Thailand and Japan, putting a spotlight on the Future Forward Party and Rikken Minshuto respectively. We were also n academic conference in Sweden of Asian digital kinship and performative introduced to the animated sphere of political in December may not at first glance cartography (place-making through mobile podcasts in South Korea. Refreshingly, a long Aseem an appealing prospect: the days media), Larissa Hjorth offered fascinating history of post-truth politics in South Korea have been internalised by different populations, are short and the weather is, well, cold. The perspectives on how ‘dataveillance’ can be was traced, putting the current hype about shaping social interactions in unpredictable semester is coming to an end and exams and caring and benevolent, rather than exploitative ‘post-truth’—Oxford Dictionary’s 2016 Word ways. ICTs and digital finance technologies, administrative tasks are taking priority. On as we typically imagine it to be. Diving into of the Year—in perspective. including the emerging phenomenon of the other hand, attendance at panels is more the related question of trust, Aim Sinpeng A striking but perhaps sadly unsurprising cashless societies, were also examined in depth, or less guaranteed, as the darkness and cold explored patterns of trust in social media across insight offered by a separate panel was how revealing uneven digital geographies and new keeps participants indoors! Whether this was a range of Southeast Asian countries during the Japanese internet is dogged by misogyny spaces for both exploitation and resistance. intentional or not, the 12th Annual Nordic election times, concluding that social media is and racism similar to that witnessed here Combined, these papers and the ensuing Institute for Asian Studies (NIAS) Council informative in an environment of low trust, but in Europe. We learnt how both UK-based discussions provided an unflinching—and often Conference and PhD Course at the Centre becomes transformative when trust is high. Facebook-Brexiters and Japanese nativists uneasy—glimpse into our shared digital futures. for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund Strikingly, the profoundly human traits and use similar tactics, and how female politicians University in December 2019, was, regardless needs that infuse digital life emerged again on Japanese Twitter face the same kind of of the weather outside, both a lively and as a main theme in Pauline Cheong’s keynote, vitriol as seen in Europe. But we also learnt Preparing for the next timely event. which explored human-machine interactions of Japanese social justice activists, whose generation of digital and the role of human communication in online counter-protests against the far-right scholarship Lively, because of the engaged presenters robotic systems. Human emotions were also an use gamification to increase participation coming from far and wide, including Asia, important part of Florian Schneider’s exploration and scope. Methodological innovations were The conference concluded with a two-day Australasia, North America, as well of course of what happens when Chinese nationalism in evidence here as elsewhere—getting access course for PhD students working on topics Europe and the Nordic region. Timely, because goes digital, which suggested that nationalism to vast amounts of social media data is one related to digital society and/or with digital of the theme—Digital Asia: Cultural, Socio- today is a combination of human psychology thing, but researchers still have to make sense methodologies. This included presentations on Economic, and Political Transformations. Aside and technological design (algorithms), and an of it. It was gratifying to see how advanced digital ethnography, digital data visualisation from having the largest Internet population, emergent property of online networks. this research is, combining the best of Asian tools, and techniques for gathering and Asia is at the forefront of digital developments Studies in terms of context, nuance, and organising rich data from social media. in many fields, from governance, entertainment, language, with the latest software to shed There were animated discussions in sessions and e-commerce. The vastness of the region Digital politics new light on older topics of research. on emerging ethical issues in digital research also means that these developments take A roundtable on Internet politics, populism, and the role of digitisation in transforming divergent directions, reflecting local cultures, and digital authoritarianism brought together academic publishing. Participants also broke histories, socioeconomic, and political realities. expertise on Southeast Asia, China and Taiwan, Digital imaginaries into small groups for peer review sessions, Given the theme, the papers presented South Korea, and Japan. The various insights providing an opportunity for detailed cut across a wide range of disciplines and offered from these diverse contexts fuelled a and urban futures discussions about ongoing research projects methods, diverse but unified in their aim of productive—and sometimes even passionate— The conference provided a space for early and facilitating collaborative thinking for future understanding the past, present, and future debate among those taking part. Participants career scholars to present cutting-edge research research directions. All in all, the conference of the digital in Asia. For the programme see had different perspectives on key questions, on the ways in which digital transformations are provided fertile ground for researchers across https://www.digitalasia2019.com such as whether social media platforms fundamentally reorganising life for Asia’s urban disciplines, fields, and areas of expertise to inherently give anti-democratic politicians an residents. Papers were presented on emerging come together and compare notes on the advantage, pointing variously to a digital bias platform societies, smart cities, and the digital digital developments that are transforming Keynotes: recovering and the liberal values that some argue are sharing economy—exploring the ways in which society and life in Asian contexts. also spread by social media applications. Nor big data is facilitating new forms of algorithmic the human in the digital was there a consensus on the usefulness of control both by companies and governments, Nicholas Loubere, Astrid Norén Nilsson, Four innovative and intellectually lively the term populism for understanding the role as well as attempts to subvert and game these and Paul O’Shea, Associate Senior keynotes framed the conference, exemplifying of the digital in Asian politics, whilst concern digital systems by those subjected to them. Lecturers at the Centre for East and the wealth of approaches that a focus on was raised over the ease with which popular Other presentations focused on digital subject- South-East Asian Studies, Lund University ‘Digital Asia’ enables. Conjuring up vignettes sentiment is dismissed through it. ivities, looking at how apps and rating systems https://www.ace.lu.se 18 News from the European Alliance Regional Editor The Region for Asian Studies The Department of Asian Studies at Palacký University

Below: Current premises of the Department of Asian Studies at Křížkovského 12 & 14 in Olomouc.

The European Alliance for Asian Studies The Secretariat is located is a co-operative platform of European at IIAS in Leiden. institutions specialising in the study of Contact: dr. Willem Vogelsang, Asia. Please read all about the Alliance [email protected] on its website: www.asiascholars.eu for further information.

A Moravian view of Asia Matěj Kukulín (Mathias Cuculinus, 1641–1696) finished a doctoral degree in philosophy in Oriental and Asian Studies at Palacký University Olomouc Olomouc and joined Strobach on the mission to the Marianas. He described the local revolt against the Spanish colonial government. His letters documented the local culture. Kukulín Olomouc, the historical capital of Moravia, is home to the second-oldest is also known for his reports, copied from a knowledgeable source, on Tonkin (Relatio Czech university. The history of Oriental and Asian Studies at this institution continens qvaedam de statu Christianitatis in spans three periods of bloom upset by periods of political gloom. The first Regno Tunqvin), Cochinchina (De Cochinchina), Cambodia (De Camboya), and Siam (De Regno period (1573–1773) coincides with the founding of the Bohemian province Siam). He described in detail the Siam kingdom, of the Jesuit order. Jesuits opened their college in Olomouc and recruited the local custom and the position and treatment of Christians. He praised the Siam king for the brightest minds for missionary work in Asia and the New World. Shortly his benevolent attitude towards Christianity. after the suppression of the Jesuit order, Olomouc lost its university status The autograph of the report is kept in the for fifty years, only to be restored in 1826. The institution changed its status Moravian Provincial Archive in Brno. several times: diocesean, public, imperial and royal, before being reduced Pavel Klein (also Pablo Clain, 1652–1717) joined the fourth mission from Bohemia to the Faculty of Theology, which alone survived until 1939, when the and Moravia to the Philippines in 1678. Nazi regime closed all Czech universities. The university was reopened The company, consisting of medics and pharmacists, sailed from Spain via Mexico in 1946 but the brief bloom period for Oriental Studies (1946–1951) ended (1681) and arrived in the Philippines in 1682. with their transfer to Prague. When in 1991 the Rector Josef Jařab initiated Klein became the Jesuit Provincial Superior, a professor at the Jesuit college and later the the reopening of Asian studies in Olomouc, the current period started rector of Colegio de Cavite and Colegio de (https://kas.upol.cz/en). San José. He is known for his linguistic work: he compiled the first substantial Tagalog dictionary which was published after his death in Manila in 1754 as Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala. Building on his pharmaceutical Jesuit college (1573–1762) Johann Schreck (1576–1630), training, Klein compiled a herbarium of Giacomo Rho (1593–1638) and medicinal plants of the Philippines. Besides “shedding own blood in Johann Adam Schall von Bell their medicinal use, he collected the local the vineyard of the Lord” (1591–1666), who later became the names in Tagalog, Visayan and Kapampangan, president of the Astronomical Office and added Latin and Spanish names. Finally, So characterises Bochuwaldus Carolus in Beijing. Kirwitzer published his Klein is associated with the Spanish discovery Ledniczkus (born in 1623), in his litterae astronomical observations of comets of Palau Islands in 1697, when he interviewed indipetae, his own desire to join the mission and wrote about the history of the a group of shipwrecked Palauans in the in Asia.1 His poetic tone and missionary zeal Jesuit missions in China and Japan. Philippine island of Samar. were triggered by the visit of the future missionary B. Diestel, who sailed to China Valentin Ignác Stansel (also Estansel, Karel Slavíček (嚴嘉樂, 1678–1735) studied in 1659. Ledniczkus mentions the death of 1621–1705) was a Jesuit missionary. theology and philosophy in Olomouc. 52 martyrs in Japan and his strong desire He studied in Olomouc and later also In 1713 he was appointed professor of to follow in their steps. taught rhetoric and mathematics in mathematics and Hebrew. Slavíček came Palacký University was founded in 1573 Olomouc and Prague. He requested from a family of organ builders and had by the Jesuit order as a public university a mission appointment and travelled a keen interest in music, astronomy, in the historical seat of Moravian bishops. to Portugal to wait for the boat to mathematics and linguistics. He joined Theology was soon accompanied by other take him to India. Unable to travel to the Jesuit order and for his knowledge of fields: philosophy, law, medicine, astronomy Asia he was sent to Brazil. He is known mathematics and astronomy was selected and languages. The Jesuit college educated for his astronomical work: in 1668 he to be sent to China. In 1716 he travelled to scores of missionaries who travelled to Asia discovered a comet whose position was China from Portugal. After his arrival in and the New World, and who contributed confirmed by Jesuit F. de Gottignies Macau in 1717 he was sent to the Beijing to various sciences. Although the detailed in Goa. The comet is named after both: court and was introduced to the Kangxi history of the Czech Jesuit mission remains the Estancel-Gottignies Comet.2 Emperor. Slavíček learned Chinese and is to be written, the most significant Olomouc considered to be the first Czech sinologist. alumni certainly include the following. Augustin Strobach (1646–1684) The Emperor ordered Slavíček to make a studied theology and philosophy map of Beijing. It was the first precise map Wenceslas Pantaleon Kirwitzer (Qi Weicai, in Olomouc and in 1681 departed of Beijing and Slavíček clarified the exact 祁維材, 1588–1626), was an astronomer via Mexico to the Mariana Islands. latitude of the city and its landmarks. and among the second wave of Jesuit He described the local Chamorro Slavíček compiled a treatise on Chinese missionaries to China, brought together customs, with special focus on music but it did not survive. His stay in by Nicolas Trigault (1577–1628), who himself funerary rites and documented local Beijing is described in his many letters to was sent from China back to Europe by fauna and flora. He documented the various European scientists. After he passed Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), one of the founders abuses of the Spanish administration away in 1735, he was succeeded in the of the Jesuit mission in China. The Kirwitzer’s but ironically died during an uprising position of the Court musician by another Unknown author, memorial print of Augustin Strobach, group sailed from Lisbon in 1618 and included against the Spanish in 1684. He is kept with the martyr’s relic at St. Ignatius of Loyola Church, Czech Jesuit, Jan Xaver Walter (1708–1759), other well-known astronomers such as considered a martyr.3 Jihlava, Czech Republic (foto courtesy of Tomáš Blažek). about whom much less is known. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 News from the European Alliance Regional Editor 19 for Asian Studies The Department of Asian Studies The Region at Palacký University

Alois Musil (1868–1944) was a theologian, orientalist, and explorer. In Olomouc he studied theology and obtained his doctoral degree in 1895. He continued his studies in Jerusalem, Beirut, London, Cambridge and Berlin. He is known for his discovery of the 8th-century desert castle Qusayr 'Amra in Jordan. In 1902 he was appointed professor of theology in Olomouc and in 1909 professor of Biblical studies and Arabic at Vienna University. After WWI he became a professor at Charles University in Prague. He was one of the founders of the Oriental Institute of the Academy of Sciences.

1946: University rebuilt The first independent sinology program in Czechoslovakia was opened in 1946 at the newly reopened University, which was named in honour of the 19th century Czech historian Above: Alois Musil and politician František Palacký (1798–1876). (1868–1944) in 1901 The initiative to open sinology and indology as a chief of the Beni-Sacher tribe came directly from the rector Josef Ludvík (source: Wikipedia) Fischer (1894–1973), a sociologist and philosopher interested in both Chinese Right: Alois Musil and Indian philosophy. Oriental Studies (1868–1944) in 1901 as a chief of the Beni-Sacher at Palacký University flourished especially Ignatius Sichelbart's Baojiliutu, Taipei National Palace Museum (source: Wikipedia) tribe (source: Wikipedia) thanks to guest lecturers invited from Prague, including indologist Vincenc Lesný and sinologist Jaroslav Průšek, who was replaced Ignatius Sichelbart (Ai Qi Meng 艾启蒙, Jan Koffler (1711‒1780) studied philosophy Olomouc into a fortress to counter in 1948 by his student Augustin Palát. 1708–1780) was a Jesuit missionary in China, and theology in Olomouc. In 1738 he travelled the Prussian expansion in Silesia. Her son, In the turmoil of 1950s the Oriental Studies a painter and a musician. He studied theology to Lisbon to join the next Jesuit voyage to Joseph II pressured Pope Clement XIV to in Olomouc was closed and the faculty and in Olomouc and was selected for the China China, arriving in Macau in 1740. He was dissolve the Jesuit Order and in 1773 the students transferred to Prague. mission in 1745 with two more painters: sent to the city of Sin-hoa (present-day Pope obliged. Several university buildings Giuseppe Castiglione and Jean Denis Attiret. Huế) in Cochinchina, where he served as a were assigned to the Habsburg army, Vincenc Lesný (1882–1953) was a scholar in All three served as artists at the Imperial court mathematician and a medical doctor at the leaving the university with a single building. indology and Iranian studies. After completing and combined Chinese and western painting court of the Nguyễn Lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát Finally, in 1777 the university was downgraded classical philology, Sanskrit, and Old Indian techniques. He was named a mandarin in (1714–1765). In 1755 Koffler was expelled from to a lyceum. The Habsburgs decided to culture at Charles University of Prague, 1777 by the Qianlong Emperor and given a Cochinchina and returned to Macau until centralise the tertiary education in their he continued his studies of modern Indian state funeral. Only about 25 of his paintings 1759 when he was transferred to Paraguay. monarchy to Prague, Vienna and Lviv. and Iranian languages in Bonn and Oxford. are preserved. In 1762 he was arrested and deported Olomouc regained its university status after In 1924 he was appointed professor in to Portugal and imprisoned. Upon the half a century, in 1827. Only a few remarkable indology at Charles University and served Christian Schneider (1742–1824) was a intervention of the Empress Maria Theresia, Orientalists are known from this period. from 1937 until the dissolution of Czech Franciscan missionary and an orientalist. Koffler was released and returned home. universities as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts. He studied theology in Olomouc but following He briefly worked as a prefect in the Jesuit Johann Martin Jahn (1750–1816) was a After WWII Lesný was recruited by Fischer the example of his uncle, Herculanus college in Litoměřice before leaving again as theologist and orientalist. After studying to teach in Olomouc. At the same time, he Schneider, a Franciscan missionary to China a missionary to Transylvania where he died. philosophy and theology in Olomouc he served as the director of the Oriental Institute (石若翰, or 石耐德, d. 1747), Christian decided was recruited to teach exegesis and oriental in Prague. Lesný was one of the founding on missionary work.4 In 1772 he departed on During the reign of Queen Maria Theresia languages in 1784. In 1789 he moved to Vienna members of the Czechoslovak Academy of a mission to Egypt and Ethiopia which lasted of Austria, tertiary education in the Habsburg where he taught oriental languages, biblical Sciences. He is known for his translations of seven years. Although the mission failed monarchy underwent a reform that escalated archaeology and dogmatics until 1806. the Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore. Lesný to establish a missionary base, Schneider into a conflict between the monarch and the He published a Hebrew grammar and works published on Marathi grammar and various gained direct experience with the area which Jesuit order. Maria Theresia took away the on Chaldean, Aramaic, Syrian, and Arabic. topics linked to Buddhism. Lesný and Průšek, influenced his later work about the history Jesuit monopoly to appoint the rector and He was forced to give up his position and who will be discussed next, translated and anthropology of Egypt. appointed her secular favourite. She turned accept cannonry at St. Stephan's cathedral. The Analects of Confucius.

Sinophone Borderlands Project

The funding allows a substantial upgrade of the infrastructure of the research centre. Laboratories are being built for instrumental study of language, material culture, and statistical analysis of society. Once completed, these laboratories will enable the team to measure trends in language change, manufacturing competition, public opinion, or migration between China and its neighbours. It is our long-term ambition to develop a permanent Research Centre for Asian studies in Olomouc and this project is an important milestone to that goal. The project brings an opportunity to host a number of important events in the near future which may bring you to Olomouc:

• 2 5-27 September 2020: 11th n 2018, the European Structural and on China and methodologies in humanities Far East, changes to traditional production International Conference of the Investment funds (ESIF), through its and social sciences. The key regions are networks and taste in Central Asia, narrations European Association of Chinese IOperational Programme Research, Mainland and Insular Southeast Asia, Tibet, of identity in Tibet and Taiwan, language Linguistics, (EACL-11) https://sites. Development, and Education, funded the Central Asia, Russian Far East, and Taiwan. contact and linguistic history of Taiwan and google.com/view/eacl-11/home Sinophone Borderlands project at Palacký Each of these key regions is investigated South China and others. • 2 8 June-2 July 2021: University Olomouc. It is a 5 year project by a number of researchers who are The project develops means to gauge 15th International Conference on the aim of which is to introduce a new organised in disciplinary clusters: literature China’s global impact and disseminates its Austronesian Linguistics (ICAL15) interdisciplinary approach towards rising and linguistics, international relations findings to the public, scientific audiences, • S eptember 2021: The European China. The project leader is Ondřej Kučera. and political science, material culture, as well as national and EU policy makers. Association for Southeast Asian anthropology, and socioeconomics. The international team conducts research Studies (EuroSEAS 2021) The approach is grounded in the Investigated topics include international on cultures and societies in the Chinese dialogue between key regions bordering relations and conflict in the South-China borderlands, Taiwan, Russia, Mongolia, Detailed information about the Sea, Belt and Road Initiative, cross-border Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, project can be found at its website Above: Sinophone borderlands team. Chinese economic engagement in Russian Vietnam and beyond. and social media: http://sinofon.cz 20 News from the European Alliance Regional Editor The Region for Asian Studies The Department of Asian Studies at Palacký University

Jaroslav Průšek (普實克, 1906–1980) was Augustin Palát (1923–2016) was a student a sinologist. He graduated from Charles of Průšek and replaced him in Olomouc in University in Classic history. He learned 1948, when Průšek could no longer fulfil his Far left: Jaroslav Průšek Chinese in private before continuing his commitments in both Prague and Olomouc. (普實克, 1906–1980) Source: Czech Academy studies under Bernard Karlgren (1889-1978) Palát taught in Olomouc until 1951, when of Sciences. and Gustav Haloun (1998-1951) first in the Oriental Studies were closed. After Gôteborg and later in Halle, where he finished several years in the diplomatic services Near left: Augustin Palát (1923–2016). Source: his doctoral degree in 1930. Průšek was he returned to the Oriental Institute until Lu Xun Library, Oriental employed by the Oriental Institute and in his forced retirement in 1973, under similar Institute Prague. 1932 sent to China and Japan. He returned to circumstances as Průšek. He produced a Czechoslovakia in 1937 and taught Chinese number of language textbooks and works on and Japanese. In 1945 Průšek started the Chinese medieval history. He is known for his Department of East Asian Studies at Charles translations of Tang poetry. University and was one of the founders of the journal Nový Orient [New Orient]. Průšek Karel Werner (1925–2019) was an indologist was a close friend of Fischer and between and religious studies scholar. He belonged 1946-1948 taught in Olomouc. He developed to the circle around Josef Ludvík Fischer the Olomouc sinology program and trained who attracted him to Olomouc. He studied Augustin Palát, who replaced Průšek in 1948. philosophy and classical Chinese with In 1952 Průšek became the director of the Jaroslav Průšek. Privately he learned Sanskrit in Olomouc were closed down in the autumn under similar circumstances as Průšek and Oriental Institute in Prague. He was forced out and modern Chinese. Later he pursued the of 1951, Werner became one of the early Palát in 1976. He returned to the academic in 1971 during the Normalisation that followed studies of Chinese under Vincenc Lesný victims of Communist prosecution. He lost life in 1990s and taught in Olomouc from the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia and became an assistant in the Indology his academic position, despite the appeals 1994. His life-work is a prosodic description of of 1968. He is known for his work on mediaeval section. He defended his PhD in comparative by Lesný and Fischer. During the 1950s he spoken Chinese, based on a large transcribed and modern Chinese literature, oral tradition linguistics and appointed to teach Sanskrit worked as a clerk. Privately he continued his corpus of recordings accompanied by a and history of Chinese civilisation. and Indian history. After the Oriental Studies studies and published in academic journals grammatical description. A research cluster in the UK, Germany, India and Sri Lanka, led by David Uher continues Švarný’s work which led the Secret Police to bring spying on Chinese prosody. charges against him. He was sent to work The department publishes its own journal in coal mines, worked as a plumber and Dálný východ [Far East]; its editor-in-chief a tram driver during the 1960s. is David Uher (https://kas.upol.cz/en/ During the same period Werner turned academics-research/journals/dalny-vychod- his attention to hatha yoga and led a secret far-east/) Its most recent issue is dedicated circle of practitioners and published about it to Švarný’s work on the prosody of Spoken in samizdat. His appeal for rehabilitation in Chinese that appeared in English or German 1968 was turned down and he left to exile two and summarises his work published in Czech. days after the Soviet occupation in August Research interests of the department 1968. He became a Cambridge University members cover a wide range of topics from librarian and was appointed as a supervisor linguistics to international relations and of Sanskrit in Churchill College. In 1969 history. Recent titles published in English are: Werner was appointed Lecturer in Indian • On 'doing friendship' in and through Philosophy and Religion in the University talk: Exploring conversational of Durham where he remained for the rest interactions of Japanese young people of his career. (H. Zawiszová, 2018), • Koreans in Central Europe: To Yu-ho, Han Hŭng-su, and Others (A. Schirmer, 2018), 1991: Asian studies starts • Japanese Given Names: A Window Into Contemporary Japanese Society Central European Institute for the third time (I. Barešová, 2016), In 1991 the rector of UP Josef Jařab • The exotic other and negotiation of of Asian Studies initiated the reopening of Chinese philology. Tibetan self: representation of Tibet in The task was entrusted to Jiří Černý, Head of Chinese and Tibetan fiction of the 1980s Department of Romance languages. The Far (K. Hladíková, 2013). East Section was established and scholars The Department also organises an Annual were recruited to prepare the Chinese and Conference of Asian Studies (http://acas. he Central European Institute of Some of the notable CEIAS publications Japanese programmes. In the pre-Bologna upol.cz) and a Summer School for graduate Asian Studies (CEIAS) https://ceias.eu include: system, these were five-year double-degree students. Tis an independent think tank with • Monthly briefing about most programmes initially in combination with While we still face various challenges, branches in the cities of Bratislava important policy-related news from English philology. Both programmes admitted we believe that we are becoming a mature (Slovakia), Olomouc (Czech Republic), Asia (in Slovak/Czech language): their first students in September 1993. The member of the European Alliance of Asian and Vienna (Austria). Building upon the https://ceias.eu/sk/asia-briefing-2 Chinese programme was developed by Studies that can educate the next generation activities of the Institute of Asian Studies • Bi-mon thly briefing about Central and Lucie Olivová (*1956, presently at Masaryk of Czech Asia scholars and offer a distinct in Bratislava, CEIAS is a joint venture of Eastern Europe’s relations with Asia University in Brno) and Oldřich Švarný view on Asian cultures and peoples worthy the Institute of Asian Studies, Palacky (in English, starting from January 2020). (1920–2011). The Japanese programme was of our predecessors. University’s project ‘Sinophone Borderlands • Chinese Media Watch: overview of developed by Alice Kraemerová (*1950) and – Interaction at the edges’, the Austrian Chinese media discourse of various Pavel Flanderka (*1962). Contributors to article: Institute for European and Security Policy, policy-related issues with the connection In 2002 the Far East Section became the František Kratochvíl, Sylva Martinásková, and the Department of East Asian Studies to (Central) Europe: https://ceias.eu/ Department of Asian Studies. The department Iveta Nakládalová, Joanna Ut-Seong Sio, Richard Turcsanyi. at Comenius University. chinese-media-watch-2 was led between 2002–2014 by David • CEIA S Insights: our op-ed section Uher (*1970), between 2014–2016 by Ivona The main purpose of CEIAS is to spread covering broad range of topics: Barešová (*1974) and since 2017 by František knowledge about Asia among scholars, https://ceias.eu/sk/ias-insights Kratochvíl (*1976). The department gradually Notes experts and professionals in Central • R esearch papers: Some recent ones expanded in both student numbers and its Europe and beyond, while at the same time discussed issues related to (Central) programme offer. It started language courses 1 Litterae indipetae (short for litterae ad to inform the wider world about Central Europe’s relations with China and for Korean and Malay, which were developed Indiam petentes) are petitionary letters by Jesuits sent to their generals asking European engagements with Asia. East Asia, domestic issues in China, into full-fledged programmes. Korean for for foreign missions. Only a fraction were To meet our aims, we conduct and or other aspects of Chinese inter- Business (BA) was opened in 2015. It was granted their wish; for example, out of publish our own research, organize public national relations including soft followed in 2016 by Indonesian for Tourism 114 such petitions in Poland, only 4 were seminars and conferences, support power or Belt and Road Initiative: (BA) and Vietnamese (BA) in 2019. All five granted. See Miazek-Męczyńska, M. education about relevant Asian topics, and https://ceias.eu/policy-papers-2 language specialisations are included within 2018. ‘Polish Jesuits and Their Dreams communicate with the media. Our activities a single MA programme in Asian studies about Missions in China, According to focus mainly on international relations CEIAS participates in international from 2019. Finally, the department offers the Litterae indipetae’, Journal of Jesuit and security studies in the geographical projects and initiatives. Most recently two doctoral programmes (Languages and Studies 5(3):404-420. Doi: https://doi. regions of East, Southeast, South, and these have included: Cultures of China and Japan & Asian studies). org/10.1163/22141332-00503004 2 Camenietzki, C.Z. 2003. ‘The Celestial Central Asia. CEIAS cooperates with similar Chin fluenCE: Research and public Over the last three decades the student • Pilgrimages of Valentin Stansel (1621–1705), organizations and like-minded individuals awareness project mapping Chinese enrolment has grown steadily in both BA Jesuit Astronomer and Missionary in Brazil’, in the region and beyond to help achieve influence in Central Europe: and MA programmes. In 2019, over in Feingold M. (ed.) The New Science and our goals. CEIAS researchers are regularly www.chinfluence.eu 200 students were admitted to the five Jesuit Science: Seventeenth Century quoted and contacted by media in the • CHOICE: An initiative grouping undergraduate programmes and about Perspectives. Springer. Czech Republic, Slovakia, and beyond on researchers and ‘China watchers’ 40 to the MA programme. 3 Boye, E. de. 1691. Vita et Obitus venerabilis a wide range of issues, especially related from Central and Eastern Europe: An important figure for the department patris Augustini Strobach è Societate to China and international relations. www.chinaobservers.eu was Oldřich Švarný (1920–2011), a phono- Iesu ex Provincia Bohemiae pro insulis • E TNC: European Think Tank Network logist and orientalist. Švarný studied Marianis electi Missionarii, et à Rebellibus on China as of 2019 and participates European languages and later also Chinese Sanctae Fidei in iisdem insulis barbarè trucidati Anno 1684. Mense Augusto. in all the activities of the network, and phonetics at the Charles University in Olomucii: Typis Joannis Josephi Kylian. including workshops, publications, Prague. In 1951 he joined the Oriental Institute E-book: http://eod.vkol.cz/34415 and presentations of the findings in Prague, where Jaroslav Průšek assigned 4 Liščák, V. 2014. ‘Franciscan Missions to the public. him to study Spoken Chinese and to develop to China and the Czech Crown Lands a Czech romanisation system for Chinese. (from the 16th to the 18th Century)’, He lost his position at the Oriental Institute Archiv Orientální 82:829-841. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 News from Northeast Asia Regional Editor 21 The Borderlands of Northeast Asia Ilhong Ko The Region

The Borderlands of Northeast Asia

Ilhong Ko Borderlands are places where different social, political, and economic systems come into contact with one another. Borders may act as barriers, hindering interaction, but they may also act as bridges facilitating contact between different cultures and traditions. Borderlands are diverse in nature; some borders can be extremely porous whereas others are guarded with great vigilance. In this issue of News from Northeast Asia, we examine the borderlands of Northeast Asia. The Seoul National University Asia Center (SNUAC) is a research and international exchange institute based in Seoul, he way in which even the hardest of of Tsushima Island have negotiated a The meeting of asymmetrical systems that South Korea. The SNUAC’s most distinctive borders can be a node of cross sections borderland existence from ancient times. takes place in the borderlands results in great feature is its cooperative approach in Trather than a place of severance is The borderlands of Okinawa, located economic opportunities, as well as hybrid fostering research projects and examined by Hyunjoo Jung of Seoul National around its American bases, are remnants regional cultures. This fact is well illustrated international exchange program through University in “Porous Borders and a Negotiated of war. by Li Yinhe of Yanbian University in “Hun Chun: close interactions between regional and Sense of Place: Re-imagining Kaeseong However, Keun-Sik Jung of Seoul National An International Cross Border Economic Region”. thematic research programs about Asia Industrial Complex as the Borderlands”. University reminds us, in “Shuri Castle as a and the world. To pursue its mission Symbol of Peace in East Asia”, of a different, Ilhong Ko Research Fellow, to become a hub of Asian Studies, SNUAC In “Tsushima, an Island of Hybridity”, more peaceful, type of borderland identity Seoul National University Asia Center; research teams are divided by different Todoroki Hisroshi of Ritsumeikan Asia that had been present in the islands during Regional Editor of News from regions and themes. Research centers and Pacific University explores how the people the era of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Northeast Asia [email protected] programs are closely integrated, providing a solid foundation for deeper analysis of Asian society.

Porous borders and a negotiated sense of place. Re-imagining Kaeseong Industrial Complex as the borderlands

Hyunjoo Jung

orderlands’ is the fuzzy area where different powers compete; a place ‘B of multiple oppressions and violence. As implied by the Chicana feminist writer Gloria Anzaldúa,1 a border is a porous area rather than a clearly fixed line; it becomes a node of cross sections rather than a place of severance. The hardest border, if any in the real world, would be the national boundary between the two Koreas. The DMZ, the most intensively armed zone in the world, symbolizes the clash between the two most powerful ideologies of the modern world. It has come to be regarded as an almost sacrosanct place where two irreconcilable nations maintain a distance from each other.

Such an infusible boundary, laden with power and hostility, is nevertheless sometimes Railway yard of Panmun Station at the Kaesong Industrial Complex. Photo reproduced under a creative commons license courtesy Christian Latze on Wikipedia. dissolved. One momentous event was the construction of the Kaeseong Industrial Complex, located just 1.5 km north of the The intermingled co-operation of These examples illuminate merely the geographical imagination of the borderlands, DMZ’s Northern Limit Line and 60km from Kaeseong Industrial Complex by North and surface of bigger and deeper transformations from margins to node of interactions where Seoul. Until its suspension in 2016, 125 South Koreas generated numerous ‘contact that occurred. The changes that emerged new social relations and experiments emerge. companies based at the complex were hiring zones’ for both parties: spaces where in Kaeseong Industrial Complex demonstrate 55,000 Northern Korean workers on an annual geographically and historically separated how the borderlands may operate within Hyunjoo Jung, Associate Professor, basis, and the cumulative gross product groups or individuals come into contact and beyond its territory. This may also Department of Environmental Planning, had reached 1,506,490,000 dollars. In order with one another.2 They are places where bring about changes to our thoughts and Seoul National University to operate the complex, both governments borders may facilitate connections rather imaginations of the faces and minds of [email protected] constructed a road and railroad within their than act as barriers. Many scholars have North Koreans and vice versa. Cracks were territories, which were later connected. South explored Kaeseong Industrial Complex from created in the world’s hardest boundary Korean corporations (such as the Korea the perspective of contact zones, where the through the building of infrastructure and Notes Electric Power Corporation, Korea Telecom, mental landscape of the people of the North the flow of materials; it was made porous Korea Land Corporation, and Hyundai and the South come to be integrated through through roads, communication, and the 1 “to survive the Borderlands/you must live Asan) provided infrastructure, including daily interactions.3 It is a place of ‘Choco migration of people between the borders, sin fronteras/be a crossroads”, Anzaldúa, power, communication, and all facilities for Pie-zation’, a metaphor that symbolizes the as well as through transculturation. The G. 1999 (1987). Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. San Francisco: Aunt Lute the industrial complex, while North Korea cultural translation and capitalization of boundary was also made porous by North Books, p.217. transferred the right to use land (66.1 km² for North Korean tastes through the circulation Korean workers commuting on South Korean 2 Pratt, M.L. 1992. Imperial Writing and 50 years). Both governments cooperated in of Choco Pies, the South Korea daily snack shuttle buses, which traveled around vast Transculturalism. Routledge; Carter, making new laws and rules for this area, which that was a favorite among North Korean areas of the city of Kaeseong and three P. 1992. ‘Making contact: history and had become open to common governance workers, provided by South Korean firms. other adjacent provinces. performance’, in Carter, P. (ed.) Living in for the first time since the separation of the In addition to Choco Pies, innumerable goods As Doreen Massey claimed in her essay a New Country: History, Travelling and two Koreas. The Kaeseong Industrial Complex and ideas came to be circulated among of global sense of place, the identity of place Language. London: Faber and Faber. Foundation, the administrative organization the people in the complex, and eventually is never inwardly created or discovered but 3 Lee Y.W., et al. 2016. Connecting Divided established by South Korea, ran almost beyond its walls. They spread to the city of negotiated through social relations outside Minds: the Contact Zone of North and South Korea. Seoul: Sahoi Pyeongron; 300 shuttle buses covering 5 routes to carry Gaeseong (Kaeseong), changing the fashion the place.4 Kaeseong Industrial Complex Paek, Y. 2019. ‘Spatial Features of the 55,000 North Korean workers every day. of women, the building materials of individual as a borderland shows how a tiny piece of Gaesong Industrial Complex as a Contact The buses were all manufactured by houses, and dietary habits (such as caffeine land may act as a bridge towards bigger Zone’, Cultural and Historical Geography Hyundai, provided by the South Korean addiction, thanks to South Korean instant social transformations by making cracks 21(2):76-93. government and firms of the complex, yet coffee mixes, another favorite snack provided in the borders from the bottom up. This 4 Massey, D. 1994. Space, Place and Gender. driven by North Korean drivers. daily within the complex). case demonstrates the need to change our University of Minnesota Press. 22 News from Northeast Asia Regional Editor The Region The Borderlands of Northeast Asia Ilhong Ko

The Korean understanding of Tsushima is Tsushima, an island of hybridity well illustrated in the journals of the Joseon Tongsinsa diplomatic envoys to Japan. The chief of the 1764 envoy, Jo Eom 趙曮, noted, Todoroki Hiroshi as he sailed near the shores of Tsushima, that the pulse of the Korean Peninsula’s mountain range (the Baegdudaegan Mountain Range) is even connected to Tsushima through the Straits of Korea.2 In this case, Jo Eom appears to be using nature to state his view that Tsushima was originally a subordinate area of Joseon. In a more explicit passage, he states that Tsushima had changed its belonging from Joseon to Japan without his knowledge.3 Indeed, at the time there was a wide spread awareness that Tsushima was de facto subjugated to Joseon even though it was officially within the Japanese domain. Even in the modern era, the ties between Tsushima and Korea have been inseverable. In the late Joseon Dynasty, the island acted as a place of exile for independence fighters (such as Choi Ik Hyeon). Many residents of the island are said to have visited Busan to buy goods for marriage. In the 21st century, the number of Korean tourists visiting Tsushima drastically increased, leading to a multifold increase in investments on the island. However, as a result of the souring of relations between Japan and Korea in 2019, visitors to Tsushima have decreased by almost Aso Bay viewed from Mount Jo. Photo reproduced under a creative commons license courtesy Saigen Jiro on Wikipedia. 90%. This illustrates that, even in present times, the livelihood of Tsushima’s residents is directly related to Japan-Korea relations, as sushima is located closer to the Korean Wuhuan, Xianbei and Dongyi in the ‘Book the 1592 invasion. Upon unifying Japan, it has always been in the past. Tsushima is a peninsula than Japan; it is less than of Wei’ of the Records of the Three Kingdoms. Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent word to Tsushima to geopolitical community that shares its destiny T50km away from the Korean island of The passage mentioning Tsushima describes the request the King of Joseon for his surrender. with both countries. The island’s hybrid identity Geoje. From the Kankoku Lookout in Waniura, navigation route from Korea to Japan: Daifang Joseon obviously declined. Even when Joseon has played a key role in ensuring a sustainable at the northern end of Tsushima, the landmarks Commandery – Geumgwan Gaya – Tsushima eventually sent a diplomatic envoy [Joseon existence. How the residents of Tsushima will of Busan, South Korea’s second largest city, Province – present-day Iki Island – present-day Tongsinsa] to Japan, it was under the condition negotiate the troubled political currents and can be seen on clear days and even its Kyushu.1 It demonstrates that Tsushima was that Tsushima was to give up the leader of use the island’s hybridity to their advantage fireworks at night. Since the beginning of a key point in maritime travels to Japan from Japanese raiders. However, when peace will be a litmus test for Northeast Asia in 2020. history, the island has been a geopolitical ancient times. The passage also mentions negotiations fell apart and the invasion of 1592 mirror of Korea and Japan; its people have Tsushima’s farmlands and the underdeveloped commenced, Tsushima became an informant Todoroki Hiroshi, survived by negotiating the politics between nature of its traffic routes. of Toyotomi, guided the Japanese troops, and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, the two. Indeed, the reason that the people After the middle ages, Tsushima became a even participated in battles. College of Asia Pacific Studies [email protected] of Tsushima are described as ‘cunning’ in a base for Japanese raiders and the powerful So After the end of the war, Tsushima acted as number of historical and literary documents clan was able to monopolize trade rights with mediator for conciliatory diplomatic relations may be due to their strategies for survival. Joseon by controlling the raiders. The system between the Tokugawa Edo Bakufu and the of governance by So clan endured through the Joseon Dynasty in order to survive. When the Notes Over 90% of Tsushima consists of mountains Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592 and up to Joseon Dynasty demanded a statement of and a ria coastline meaning that there is almost the Meiji Restoration. The So clan established apology for the invasion and the Bakufu refused, 1 始度一海千餘里、至對馬國、其大官 no flatland for agriculture. Residents can only Japanese settlements at three Joseon ports for Tsushima forged an apology and succeeded in 曰卑狗、副曰卑奴母離、所居絶㠀、 make a living with fishery and hunting. This trade and diplomatic purposes, and it was due dispatching a mission for reconciliations. Once 方可四百餘里。土地山險、多深林、 道路如禽鹿徑。有千餘戸。無良田、 has resulted in an economic dependence on to such economic and diplomatic concessions diplomatic relations were recovered, Tsushima 食海物自活、乗船南北市糴。(三國志 Korea, its closest neighbor yet a foreign country. acquired from making use of its geopolitical was able to maintain its trade concession once 魏書 烏丸鮮卑東夷傳) Tsushima’s particular relationship with the position that Tsushima could survive and the again and even re-established a Japanese 2 盖聞石脈在水中、相連於我国長鬐地 Korean Peninsula and the rest of the islands So clan’s governance could be continued. settlement in Busan. It was through such trickery 境、而自豊崎入海数十里、則或露出 of the Japanese Archipelago is illustrated in Tsushima’s prosperity depended on peace and diplomatic aptitude that Tsushima was able 或隠伏（海槎日記） the earliest historical account of the island, between Korea and Japan, and therefore the to successfully act as an intermediary between 3 盖此馬島本是朝鮮所属、未知何国何 which appears in the Biographies of the island endeavored to avoid war even before Korea and Japan. 時入於日本…（海槎日記）

as the ‘Ryukyu Disposition’, but Professor heritage containing Ryukyu’s soul had Shuri Castle as a symbol Namihira Tsuneo of Ryukyu University, who disappeared completely. has studied this period in detail, argues that During the American occupation, the of peace in East Asia as this term reflects only Japan’s position, government of Ryukyu was established and the more objective term ‘Ryukyu Annexation’ Ryukyu University was built on the ruins of should be used, in the way that Joseon is Shuri Castle. As a result of the Cold War in Keun-Sik Jung regarded to have been formally ‘annexed’ East Asia, the American presence became by Japan. permanent. The US military base in Okinawa Following the Manchurian invasion, Japan proved its value through the Korean War n 31 October 2019, Okinawa’s Shuri which adorned Shurimon (the southern gate) pursued a strategy of assimilation of the and the Vietnamese War. Along with the Castle was completely destroyed by and the tablet featuring the inscription ‘Land colonies into subjects of the emperor, in order other military bases deeply embedded in Ofire. The soul of the Ryukyu Kingdom, of Chinese Mountains’ [中山之土], a gift from to strengthen the role of the internal colonies East Asia, it allowed the US to operate as which had carefully been restored for 30 Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty that hung as key components of the empire; on the other a living power in the region. years starting in 1989, burned down entirely. in the main hall of Shuri Castle, symbolized hand, it also carried out a policy designating The Ryukyu government restored Shuri For Koreans, this tragic event brought back the kingdom’s status as a tributary state of important historical monuments as places of Castle in 1958 but the restoration of the memories of the 2008 fire that destroyed China. In the early 17th century, the Ryukyu cultural heritage in order to elevate the pride main hall took more time. Ryukyu at this time the wooden structure of Namdaemun Kingdom was invaded by the Satsuma domain of its colonial residents. It was in this wider did not belong to Japan; only the potential (Soongrye Gate), the southern gate of of Japan, which subsequently controlled the context that Shuri Castle was designated sovereignty of Japan had been recognized. the Joseon capital. Just as Korean history kingdom to profit from entrepôt trade with as a national treasure, just as the Japanese It was in 1972, during the Vietnamese had unfolded under the watchful gaze China. Nevertheless, the fact that the Ryukyu Government General of colonial Korea had War, that Ryukyu was ‘returned’ to Japan, of Namdaemun, Shuri Castle had stood Kingdom signed a trade treaty with the United designated Namdaemun as Korean Treasure becoming Okinawa Prefecture once again. witness to the fates of Ryukyu and its hybrid States in 1854 demonstrates how it had No. 1. However, the hills of Shuri Castle were After Ryukyu University was moved in 1979, people. This piece was written in order to remained an independent kingdom. taken over by the headquarters of the 6th Okinawa Prefecture and the Japanese commemorate Shuri Castle, a symbol of The Ryukyu Kingdom’s misfortunes began Division of Japanese troops to prepare for government made plans to rebuild Shuri peace in East Asia. with the Meiji Restoration. In 1872, the King of the Pacific War. The aftermath was terrible. Castle. The actual restoration began in 1989, Ryukyu became the king of a mere ‘domain’; In May 1945, as the American campaign and the construction of the main hall, south Shuri Castle became the seat of power of in 1879, the domain was abolished, Ryukyu to capture Okinawa was carried out, the hall and north hall buildings was completed a unified Ryukyu Kingdom with the founding became Okinawa Prefecture, and the king Japanese headquarters and Shuri Castle in 1992. The castle became a park open of the Sho Dynasty. The tablet that read was degraded to a noble and forced to were completely damaged by bombardment to visitors. In 2017, it was visited by 2.85 ‘A Country of Good Proprieties’ [守禮之邦], relocate to Tokyo. The latter process is known from warships. The monument of cultural million people. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 News from Northeast Asia Regional Editor 23 The Borderlands of Northeast Asia Ilhong Ko The Region

Hun Chun, an international cross-border economic region

Li Yinhe

un Chun is situated in the borderlands of China, North Korea, and Russia. HThis fortuitous geographic location has allowed the region to become an international logistics hub for Northeast Asia. The Tumen River Development Program, proposed by Jilin Province in 1990, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) that followed in 1991, laid down the building blocks for the region’s development.1 The end of the Cold War in East Asia led to improved international relations in the region, and brought about the possibility of multilateral, rather that bilateral, economic cooperation. Globalization has led to an increase in the frequency of cultural exchange. As a result of this, Hun Chun has become an extremely hybrid place in a short period of time.

The Border Economic Cooperation Zone in Hun Chun is a national border economic cooperation zone that was approved by the state council in September 1992, with a planned area of 21.77 square kilometers. In April 2000 and February 2001, the state council approved respectively the establishment of the Hun Chun Export Processing Zone and the Hun Chun Russia- China Trade Zone within the cooperation zone, implementing a ‘three areas in one’ management mode. In April 2012, the state council approved the establishment of China’s Tumen River Region (Hun Chun) International Cooperation Model Zone, The ‘three language landscape’ of Hun Chun. Photo by the author. which ushered in the historical opportunity for leapfrog development. The Hun Chun Export Processing Zone is 2001, and officially put into operation developing, and the textile and garment Korean, and Russian. The ‘three language one of the first 15 export processing zones in in June 2005. It is the only border trade industry continues to grow. The development landscape’ of Hun Chun demonstrates China, with a planned area of 2.44 square functional zone open to Russia in Jilin of new and high technology industries how the region’s fluid and hybrid nature kilometers. With the continuous adjustment Province, meeting the need for the has accelerated and the tertiary industry has brought about unique regional cultural of national industrial policies and increasing development of border trade. has emerged. characteristics. requirements for the transformation and At present, there are 808 registered These developments taking place in the upgrading of export processing trade, enterprises in the Border Economic Cooperation Zone have meant that Hun Li Yinhe, Lecturer, College of Geography export processing zones experienced rapid Cooperation Zone, including 41 foreign- Chun has come to experience the full force of and Ocean Science, Yanbian University development. They feature a characteristic funded enterprises from eight countries and globalization. An increase in the cross-border [email protected] industrial pattern of woodwork processing regions including Japan, the Republic of flow of goods has been accompanied by and seafood processing, supplemented Korea, Russia, the United States, Hong Kong. the flow of information, capital, services, by cross-border e-commerce and bonded It has successively introduced a number and people. The result of this has been the Notes logistics. At present, the planned area has of well-known enterprises both at home emergence of a fluidity and hybridity in the been adjusted to 1.038 square kilometers, and and abroad, and has come to develop a region. This is best observed in its cityscape, 1 Matsuno, S. 2011. ‘International Cross the area consists of ‘seven connections and characteristic industrial system. In the an example of which is the system of signage Border Economic Regions in East Asia, one leveling’. The Hun Chun China-Russia Cooperation Zone, the non-ferrous metal used in Hun Chun. Following the guidelines Greater Tumen Region (GTR) and Greater Trade Zone covers an area of 9.6 hectares. industry is gradually maturing, while the of the Hun Chun government, all of the signs Mekong Sub-region (GMS)’, Ritsumeikan It was put into trial operation in December aquaculture processing industry is rapidly in the city are in three languages: Chinese, International Affairs 10:143-158.

Shuri Castle was used to project the image of Ryukyu’s past, as a place of coexistence and peace. This tied in with Okinawa’s strong tradition of peace movements that had taken root around the US military base. Amidst the attempt to relocate Kadena air base to Henoko and the resistance that emerged, many peace activists in Okinawa further called for the removal of US bases to Guam. However, the geopolitical atmosphere of the region changed in 2010 with the sinking of the Cheonan warship in the West Sea of Korea, and calls for US military base transfers from Okinawa fell silent. In the 30 years since its restoration, Shuri Castle stood as a beacon of peace in East Asia. Its presence acted as a reminder that these islands, which have played such a crucial role in US strategies in East Asia, were once a peaceful and prosperous place of trade. It is therefore hoped that Shuri Castle will be soon be restored so that it may once again project our aspirations for peace East Asia.

Keun-Sik Jung, Professor, Department of Sociology, Seoul National University [email protected]

Naha Okinawa Japan Shuri-Castle. Photo by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas. Photo reproduced under a creative commons license courtesy Uwe Aranas on Wikipedia. 24 newbooks.asia Asian Studies. Newest Titles. The Review Latest Reviews.

contemplation – deeper into the wondering compulsory ID registration, or struggling minds of Tibetans and deeper into one’s own with the gambling plague. inner world. Enticement as a compilation The reader is travelling through Tibetan of ten stories touches upon completely villages, cities and pastures. One gets to different aspects of life: friendship, love and meet the curious minds seeking to see a care, birth and death, treachery, loyalty, bigger picture behind the average routine life, Enticement: cruelty, modernization and globalization, one gets to laugh at the funny perplexities Buddhist beliefs and local superstitions, of life, one gets to share the joy and pain extraordinary coincidences, and human of the protagonists, one gets to peek into Stories of Tibet reflections about life. While many stories modern Tibet and the various happenings tend to present rather realistic descriptions, there. Besides, there is no politics or anything in terms of literary styles one could encounter didactical. These stories describe things elements of traditional Tibetan folk tales simply as they are, void of any moralization. Natalia Moskaleva (e.g. the traditional frame of the Golden Enticement is Tibetan and universal at Reviewed title Corpse Tales), examples of magical realism, the same time. Despite the fact that the Enticement: Stories of Tibet or even science fiction. protagonists are Tibetan and are living in the nticement is a new window into Interwoven with Buddhist themes and conditions quite often unfamiliar for the bulk contemporary literature about Tibet traditional Tibetan cultural markers, of us, a reader still can relate to their feelings. Pema Tseden. 2018. ed. and trans. created by a Tibetan author and made Enticement goes further beyond the Most stories finely catch your attention and E by Patricia Schiaffini-Vedani and accessible for all by its translators in English. commonly understood topics of human keep in suspense till the end. Michael Monhart Originality of the stories’ plots, which to some happiness or grief. Tseden introduces a reader I can assume that the perception of extent could even be called exotic, runs hand Albany, NY: State University of New York Press to the way of life on the Tibetan Plateau that Tseden’s stories might vary for a reader with in hand with descriptions of universally shared ISBN 9781438474267 is gradually going through changes. Alongside a different cultural background. However, feelings and challenges experienced by many the main line of the plot, the author offers being limited as a Western urban dweller people in their everyday life. Being a graphic a glimpse of modern Tibet and the ongoing and a Tibetan Studies student, I believe that piece of art, the book pictures a beautiful social transformations there: be it the existing Enticement is an exciting ride in the world with faraway world of Tibetan grassland, snowy tradition of religious reincarnations facing the Tibetan flavour worth taking by anyone – be mountains, and local people. Witty, naive, As Pema Tseden puts it in the Author’s modernity, Mao Zedong’s literary heritage still it a keen Tibetologist or any other interested cunning, loving, joking, or distressed and going Preface: “Many times I write fiction for no vividly living in the memory of Tibetan people, reader. I would highly recommend reading through hardship Tibetan characters frequently other reason than to enter this state in which first encounters of Tibetans with a modern this book to any reader willing to learn more remind a reader of something personal and I can see and know myself more deeply. flow of Westerners enchanted with Tibetan of modern Tibet and would certainly suggest forgotten. The stories could refresh a memory … All the words you want to say can be culture, rural Tibetans not being able to adding this book to a reading list for classes from one’s childhood, something once felt or found in the texts you write” (p.1). Enticement, speak Chinese or lacking the practical grasp on modern Tibetan literature or culture. seen somewhere else. However, at the same indeed, does not show modern Tibet as a of the urban Tibetan population and being time, a peculiar twist or twists of each story flat postcard. Tseden’s words written down beguiled by them, Tibetans being swept over Natalia Moskaleva, Saint-Petersburg returns the reader back to the realities of Tibet. as stories set a reader on a trip of deeper by the wave of modernization in the form of State University, Russia

volumes investigated examples of the kind adjust an all too limited popular image, such of constellations of interlocking and cross- as in Takeshi Kadobayashi’s essay on Azuma fertilising media and their social functions that Hiroki, primarily known internationally as the we have come to refer to as media ecologies. man who theorised the otaku figure in his Media Theory The scope of what Media Theory in Japan influentialOtaku: Japan’s Database Animals considers as constituting ‘media’ is wide and (Kodansha gendai shinsho, 2001). Kadobayashi varied. Some are familiar staples, such as charts Azuma’s career and thematic fixations in Japan Aaron Gerow’s essay on television theory well beyond his most famous work, charting in Japan, in which he observes how much what he suggests is an ongoing process to shift Reviewed title of this echoed the preoccupations of many emphasis from media theory to media strategy. Media Theory in Japan pre-war film theorists that had been dismissed, Steinberg explores how Marshall McLuhan’s Tom Mes ignored or forgotten in the intervening years. theories were adopted and assimilated to fit an existing need in the Japanese advertising Marc Steinberg and Other choices come across at first as rather industry, in a way that suited the local situation Alexander Zahlten (eds). 2017. more unexpected, such as Yuriko Furuhata’s consideration of architecture as a medium. Yet rather than necessarily remaining true to Durham and London: her chapter provides what is surely the finest intended meanings. Tomiko Yoda too looks at Duke University Press possible example of a literal media ecology, advertising, specifically its role in the creation ISBN 9780822363125 of media forming a ubiquitous environment – of a consumer demographic that had previously considering Tokyo’s media-saturated cityscape been ignored, and its disposable time and with its multitude of gaudy advertisements income left untapped: single young women. In and giant video screens blaring and flinging the same breath she also charts the shaping messages into the urban atmosphere. Her of Tokyo’s Shibuya district into the consumer- consideration of architect Tange Kenzo’s driven, media-saturated cityscape noted earlier. ating back to the 1950s at least, the study This blank spot which Japan currently theories from the 1960s provide the necessary Media Theory in Japan is divided into of Japanese film can rightly be considered occupies on the ‘Euro-American media- historical framework for something that has three sections, though the choice for which Da venerable discipline in Western theoretical map’ is allegorized most come to represent a popular techno-orientalist essay fits which section occasionally comes academia. Its research agendas, though, have effectively in Marilyn Ivy’s contribution to image of a hyper-urbanized, hyper-saturated across as somewhat arbitrary: the chapter to a significant extent been decided by scholars’ this volume, which begins with the realization future through such films as Ridley Scott’s on Azuma Hiroki, for example, is found under mastery of the Japanese language, or rather that she is the first person to ever check 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner. While this ‘Communication Technologies’ alongside the by the lack thereof. This has at times resulted out from her university library a volume of image needs to be seen in some degree of essays on television and architecture, rather in what Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto has identified as InterCommunication, one of Japan’s most perspective – so much of Tokyo is a sprawl of than under one of the more appropriate- an ‘interpretative machine’, which supplied authoritative journals of media scholarship, bland cookie-cutter functionalism, with the sounding sections ‘Practical Theory’ and scholars, even those who lacked linguistic which ran from 1992 through 2000. So either media saturation mostly concentrated in the ‘Mediation and Media Theory’. Also, given skills, with ‘stock images of national character, there are too few Western media scholars urban centres surrounding such major railway co-editor Zahlten’s familiarity with the topic tradition, and fixed cultural traits’ that allowed that can read Japanese – an understandable hubs as Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro – its (as he demonstrated in The End of Japanese them to ‘understand’ and comment on their phenomenon – or too few Japanologists have hold on the popular imagination across cultural Cinema, an investigation into home video could research object. an interest in media studies. Probably, it is a borders is undeniable. have lent the ‘Communication Technologies’ good deal of both. Quite a number of contributors to this section a more robust profile. The global Partially as an extension of this problem, Media Theory in Japan boldly volunteers volume shine a light on past theorists and on impact of the VCR, which was developed by scholarship has also suffered from a skewed to begin filling this gap. It does not limit the journals and other avenues through which Sony and JVC, and our almost complete lack perspective, with Japan’s films and filmmakers its ambitions there, however; as Steinberg they published, thus providing a roadmap of knowledge of Japanese theoretical writing receiving ample devotion, but scant attention and Zahlten point out, this is not just that connects previously unconnected (and on the topic certainly form enough reason for being paid to the country’s wider media the first ‘systematic introduction to and many cases unknown) dots, while also offering its inclusion in a collection of this kind. The landscape, even at a time when Film Studies has contextualization of’ the history of Japanese anchoring points from which future scholarship editors even mention in their introduction how widely evolved to include media more broadly. media theory in the English language, it is the can begin charting further areas and topics. the popular success of the VCR contributed This is a rather peculiar phenomenon, since, as first book to do this in any language, including A fine example is Zahlten’s chapter on the to a boom in ‘new media’ discourse during Marc Steinberg and Alexander Zahlten point out Japanese. Aware of the challenges their wave of ‘New Academism’, which during the 1980s, but the medium is conspicuous in the introduction to their new anthology Media pioneering effort faces, the editors propose the 1980s saw unparalleled commercial for its absence from all subsequent pages, Theory in Japan, Japan possesses “one of the a shift in how to view concept of ‘media success and popular media exposure for such index included. largest and most complex media industries on theory’, away from a deceptive pretence at theorists as Asada Akira, Nakazawa Shinichi, But these are minor quibbles (admittedly the planet” (p.2). Not only does it make sense universality that is in fact firmly Western- Yomota Inuhiko and Ueno Chizuko. Though from someone who makes video his own for scholars to more frequently consider it as a centric, and toward seeing it as “a practice on occasion, people, discourses, or practices field of research), since this is an otherwise case study, but Japan also is a nation with its composed of local, medium-specific, and under review tend rather too much toward the rigorously conceived and realised tome that own long and chequered history of theoretical culture-inflected practices” (p.6). insular, especially in terms of their pertinence provides solid foundations for future research writing on media. As Akira Mizuta Lippit observes Steinberg and Zahlten are no strangers to for anyone not already firmly and profoundly in a wealth of disciplines, not limited to media in a preface that is, characteristically, as playful such an approach, having deftly demonstrated engaged with the study of the Japanese media studies and Japanology, but also notably as it is challenging: for too long have we thought its pertinence in their respective monographs landscape, as is the case with Ryoko Misono’s for the social sciences. that understanding and theorizing media only Anime’s Media Mix (University of Minnesota chapter on television critic Nancy Seki. happens in the West – even when the media Press, 2012) and The End of Japanese Cinema Other contributors cover what may seem Tom Mes, Leiden University, themselves were made elsewhere. (Duke University Press, 2017). Both these at first like familiar ground, yet delve deeper to The Netherlands The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 25 The Review

not the author's fault. The Near East has Israel is only featured as a part of been, for most of the 20th and 21st centuries, the hyphenated conflict. In the same vein, in a state of flux, and any publication going Zionism is here only featured as a foil, and beyond a historical analysis but aspiring to the author is not interested in its history Rashomonic depict the present is almost doomed to be and different currents. Unsurprisingly, the overtaken by events. However, this hardly author, more often than not, returns to diminishes the value of the work, especially quotes from Theodor Herzl to explain recent Rhapsodies in the section on Syrian nation building, which Israeli politics, a historically myopic choice. offers key insights into the still raging civil Furthermore, by separating Israel from war. As such, the atlas can contribute to the rest of the Near East according to its our understanding of recent developments, pre-’67 borders, referring to the Golan the Near East even if it does not cover them. Heights as the Alsace-Lorraine of Syria, the author reinforces the notion of the Israeli state being a European spearhead, Sebastian Musch A handy teaching tool somehow separate from its Near Eastern Reviewed title Furthermore, this is a beautifully designed surroundings. Yet, for various reasons, Atlas of the Near East: State Formation book, multicoloured eye candy, even though it can hardly be denied that the state its steep price will limit its wider distribution. of Israel forms an intrinsic part of the and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1918-2010 The maps are, for the most part, beautifully Near East. At one point, the author almost executed, illuminating and rich in detail. There concedes this much when he writes that Fabrice Balanche. 2017. is much to discover here. Plus, for historians “even if the Palestinians are not living in Leiden and Boston: Brill of the Near (or Middle) East, many of the symbiosis with the Israelis, the Palestinian ISBN 9789004344297 maps would come in handy as teaching tools. space is subject to the political, economic The accompanying texts generally provide and military influence of Israel”(p.88). succinct information, allowing a newcomer Then is the same not true for Israeli space, to understand the context of the maps. which is subject to the influence of its Near he Near East or Middle East, and seminal Atlas of the European Novel (Verso, Personally, I learnt a lot about environmental Eastern neighbours? Where is the place especially the Israeli–Arab conflict, 1998) reminds us. So, what is the internal logic factors in the history of the region, many of of the Israeli space, one wonders. Must Tis rashomonic to its core, a web of of the narrative presented by this author? It which shine a fascinating new light on a wide Israel not be seen as part of the Near East contradictory narratives that are, more is one of a geopolitical area hamstrung by array of contexts and caused me to reconsider – maybe even more so today than a couple often than not, mutually exclusive. Too many environmental factors like aridity and, due foregone conclusions, especially regarding of decades ago? That Israel – its politics, justified claims populate the area – too many to the scarcity of resources, demographics. recent migration trends in the Near East. The economy, military, culture, and society, for a peaceful understanding and certainly Population movement, migration, the urban– atlas does a stellar job in highlighting the and, yes, its space – are deeply intertwined too many to do justice to in one book. rural divide and consequent demographic implications and ramifications for a large with the Arab Near East is indubitable. By not pressure, have played and continue to play, number of idiosyncratic contexts. However, acknowledging this fact, an opportunity is It would, therefore, be an easy task to according to the atlas, a decisive role in state the original French title, Atlas du Proche- missed in my view. show that the author of this highly instructive formation in the Near East and the Israeli– Orient arabe, is much closer to its scope. However, these objections do little to atlas favours one narrative over another, is Arab conflict. Since the atlas was already While the Israeli–Arab conflict is sufficiently reduce the overall value of the atlas, whose biased towards one actor, did not consider complete in 2011 and was first published (in represented to justify its prominence in the practical achievements are beyond doubt. this or neglected that, etc. However, this French) in 2012, more recent developments English title of the atlas, it is striking that the The author is to be lauded for having crafted would just display a misunderstanding of (the civil war in Syria and subsequent waves atlas falls short on the Israeli side. a comprehensive and smart tool, which will what the author aspired to do and even of refugees heading to neighbouring countries help to understand a region whose competing what a project like this atlas is capable of. and beyond, the rise and fall of ISIS, and narratives often conceal its multilayered Maps are intellectual tools, which allow us re-emergence of the Kurdish question, to The place of Israeli space history and ever-changing present. to see connections we have not previously name but a few), which have transformed the Even aside from the question of the web considered and bring to light the internal region, are not featured in the atlas. This is of narratives that form a mental map of the Sebastian Musch, logic of a narrative, as Franco Moretti in his unfortunate but not surprising and certainly Near Atlas, it is notable and regrettable that University of Osnabrück, Germany

nine of them being tangible and materialistic, We must be careful at the same time as while one is human and must be seen rather most of the objects that make it to our time as a concept, since it is referred to as ‘the were either luxurious goods that were deemed unknown slave’. Blinded as we may be by fit to be preserved – and as such were given Silk, Slaves, and Stupas the spectacular objects, their shape, colour, enough care – or they were monumental items or delicate form, we tend to forget that the such as buildings, stones with inscriptions. Silk Road was also a slave road. Tribes from So, being the only objects that survived they Patrick Vanden Berghe the four directions were engaged in fights tell just one part of history, usually a tale Reviewed title in order to conquer huge numbers of slaves. of leaders, of wealthy and influential people. Silk, Slaves, and Stupas: These slaves came from the North, sub- Only a rare example will give us a glance Saharan Africa, Turkic tribes of Central Asia, of a world that is less familiar. Material Culture of the etc. Slave markets thrived across the Silk Silk Road Road, slaves often being presented as gifts to rulers. The quest for each object Why this choice for this approach? It is with this perspective that one Susan Whitfield. 2018. As the author testifies: “Telling history should read the story of the ten objects that University of California Press through objects … is not a new approach, Whitfield selected. Each object is given full ISBN 9780520281783 but over the past two decades it has become attention in its own chapter, with each chapter more central in teaching and in popularizing answering more or less the same questions: world history” (p.2). Objects do tell a tale, what does the object look like and where a narrative which is different for the three was it discovered, how was it transferred sides concerned: the creator, the user, to its place of discovery and its present he history of the Silk Road (for the The Silk Road and its and the (contemporary) historian, collector, place, how and by whom was it made, sake of convenience I will use the term material history or spectator. Their history often comprises why was it made, and what was its meaning TSilk Road instead of Roads as this is a shift from an object (or tool) to a piece of during its lifetime. While of course these also the term used in Susan Whitfield’s book) It is tempting to see the Silk Road as art. But objects (unless they were too heavy questions cannot always be answered is usually written in terms of transfer and unidirectional with things always moving to carry) were not always meant to stay in for each object, Whitfield digs as deep as exchange; this is transfer of goods, people, from the east to the west. This may be due place. So, movement of objects is essential possible. For most of the objects she can fashions, and ideas. While we know now to the emphasis on goods such as silk that to the concept of a trade road, in particular use the findings of other researchers, but that its history (or should we write ‘their’ as were unknown in the west. However, history the Silk Road. This book is about objects and she has given herself the task of bringing there were many routes that ran criss-cross has provided us with many examples of not about raw materials, such as silk, paper, a coherent story of each object. the vast area between China and Europe) items going the other direction. Religions herbs, etc. By focussing on one particular Well written, although she lost me some- is difficult to write, we may assume that the and ideologies such as Christianity and object Whitfield can tell a much more times when being too detailed in explaining foundations were laid from the 6th century Buddhism are just some of them. And while intriguing tale. techniques, this book is at times a page-turner BCE onwards when the Persians dominated changes often happened because of events Objects enter in a dialogue with the comparable to a good detective story. While large stretches of land from the Aegean hundreds (or thousands) of miles away, some cultures they encounter. Their function each object is a character with its own story, Sea until the Himalayas. From then we see happened independently from each other, and meaning can be changed by the receiving the ten objects are part of a new story, in a rapid growing pattern emerging in which as does the history of early Christianity culture, but objects can also change cultures this case the history of the Silk Road. These intellectual exchange goes together with shows. So, it is not always easy to see the as they may lie at the basis of new ideas and objects (to name just a few: earrings, a glass the transfer of more tangible goods. While right relations between events, changes, new concepts. They may be the reason why bowl, coins, a stupa) show how the exchange for the vast majority of people in this region and actions. For objects found in places that one culture changes its ideas or approach along the road was huge, but that knowledge (and in others as well) horizons were local, sometimes lay at the other end of the road towards another culture. Objects may be of this exchange is still poorly documented. the web of exchange wove into each other this is true as well. How did it end up there, the axis around which new trading routes A lack of interest and understanding still to create a world that was international, was this incidental or planned, how and are opened (or old ones closed) or they blocks our view on the Silk Road. This book is multilayered and ever-changing. Along when did it travel to its new place? These are may be the instigator for engaging in a war. a station on the way to the final destination this web things could travel fast and it is questions that Susan Whitfield asks in Silk, And so, objects do not only tell their own of comprehension! not difficult to imagine how objects and Slaves and Stupas: Material Culture along story, but also the story of moving materials, commodities had the potential to travel the Silk Road. In this book she showcases ten technologies, and craftsmen, some of Patrick Vanden Berghe, from east to west or the other way. objects found somewhere along the Silk Road, which have disappeared. Independent researcher 26 newbooks.asia Asian Studies. Newest Titles. The Review Latest Reviews.

New reviews on

newbooks.asia is the go-to Asian studies book review newbooks.asia website, administered by IIAS. The site lists the newest titles in the field of Asian studies and makes them available Now available to read online for review. Find a selection of new titles on page 28. All reviews are posted online, whilst a lucky few also make it into The Newsletter. Browse a selection of the latest reviews below.

‘An excellent pathway through the medium ‘Without doubt Hӧllmann has produced of Dalit fiction and literature to get a sense a book that … every reader will be delighted of the realities Dalits still face in India, to have chosen as a first entry into the world among other places, today’ of the Chinese script’ – Peter Admirand – Arthur Th. Witteveen

Laura R. Brueck. 2017. Thomas O. Hӧllmann, trans. by Maximiliane Donicht. 2017. Writing Resistance: The Rhetorical Imagination of Hindi Chinese Script: History, Characters, Calligraphy Dalit Literature New York: Columbia University Press New Delhi: Primus Books ISBN 9780231181723 ISBN 9789384092726 https://newbooks.asia/review/chinese-script https://newbooks.asia/review/dalit-literature

‘A comprehensive insight into aspects ‘A sensible and indispensable scholarly of travelling and collecting in the 1930s discovery of literary, photographic, and in the Pacific and Indonesia’ artistic imaginations of the golden era of – Itie van Hout early 20th-century Shanghai modernity’ – Lei Ping Fiona Kerlogue and Dagmar Pospíšilová. 2018 Collecting Experience in the 1930s – Indonesian and William Schaefer. 2017. Pacific Collections of Růžena Charlotta Urbanová in the Shadow Modernism: Photography, Writing, and Space National Museum in Shanghai, 1925-1937 Prague: National Museum Prague Durham, NC: Duke University Press ISBN 9788070365779 ISBN 9780822369196 https://newbooks.asia/review/ruzena-urbanova https://newbooks.asia/review/shadow-modernism

‘Ground-breaking and novel study of Iranian ‘A new addition to the thriving field of the and Indian kingship that expertly examines the Chinese food regulatory framework’ social processes through which sacred kingship – Louis Augustin-Jean

is constructed from the rule of Timur through Guanqi Zhou. 2017. the Safavids and into the early Mughal period’ The Regulatory Regime of Food Safety in China: Governance – Caleb Simmons and Segmentation London: Palgrave Macmillan Asfar Moin. 2017. ISBN 9783319504414 The Millennial Sovereign: Sacred Kingship and Sainthood in Islam https://newbooks.asia/review/food-safety-china Delhi: Primus Books ISBN 9789384092719 https://newbooks.asia/review/millennial-sovereign

‘A fascinating portrait of the daily functioning ‘A timely book on how Malaysia, Indonesia, of low-end globalization during the early and Thailand achieved a transition out of decades of this century … in Guangzhou’ agriculture without an increase in inequality’ – Hans Schenk – Soundarya Iyer

Gordon Mathews with Linessa Dan Lin and Yang Yang. 2017. Andy Sumner. 2018. The World in Guangzhou: Africans and Other Foreigners in South Development and Distribution: Structural Change China’s Global Marketplace in South East Asia Chicago and London: Chicago University Press Oxford: Oxford University Press ISBN 9780226506104 ISBN 9780198792369 https://newbooks.asia/review/low-end-globalization https://newbooks.asia/review/developer_dilemma

The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 27 The Review

‘An important lens for us to better understand ‘This impressively detailed account is volunteerism, nationalism, civil society, not only a fascinating read but one that state-society relations, and moral-political could be of use to migration and identity dilemmas in contemporary China’ scholars, beyond anthropology’ – Qiaoyun Zhang – Charlie Rumsby

Bin Xu. 2017. Philipp Schröder. 2017. The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake Bishkek Boys: Neighbourhood Youth and Urban Change and Civic Engagement in China in Kyrgyzstan’s Capital Stanford: Stanford University Press Oxford: Berghan Books ISBN 9781503603363 ISBN 9781785337260 https://newbooks.asia/review/chinese-civil-engagement https://newbooks.asia/review/bishkek-boys

‘Complex and comprehensive; but needs ‘Lent and Xu have given the English-speaking a collective, concise, and consolidating world an invaluable resource on the history conclusion’ of graphic narratives in China’ – Anthony Rausch – Richard Miller

Melissa Couch (ed.) 2017. John A. Lent and Xu Ying. 2017. The Business of Transition: Law Reform, Development Comics Art in China and Economics in Myanmar Jackson: University Press of Mississippi Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ISBN 9781496811745 ISBN 9781108416832 https://newbooks.asia/review/comics-art-china https://newbooks.asia/review/business-transition-myanmar

‘A Wasted Opportunity’ ‘If any thread unifies this book, it is the – Anubhav Pradhan myth of the incompatibility of Islam and

Nandini Sen. 2018. “Chineseness” and how Chinese Indonesian Urban Marginalisation in South Asia: Waste Pickers converts to Islam have acted to counteract in Calcutta that myth since 1998’ Abingdon and New York: Routledge ISBN 9780815357667 – Mary Somers Heidhues https://newbooks.asia/review/wasted-opportunity Hew Wai Weng. 2018. Chinese Ways of Being Muslim: Negotiating Ethnicity and Religiosity in Indonesia Copenhagen: NIAS Press ISBN 9788776942106 https://newbooks.asia/review/chinese-muslim

‘Given the paucity of research and writing on ‘Transcultural Justice, while not always contemporary Laos, Changing Lives in Laos: successful, is distinct in viewing the Tokyo Society, Politics, and Culture in a Post-Socialist Trial as a meeting ground for different State is a welcome addition to the literature’ national legal cultures’ – Ronald Bruce St John – Vinay Lal

Vanina Bouté and Vatthana Pholsena (eds). 2018. Kerstin von Lingen (ed.) 2018. Changing Lives in Laos: Society, Politics, and Culture Transcultural Justice at the Tokyo Tribunal: in a Post-Socialist State The Allied Struggle for Justice, 1946-48 Singapore: NUS Press Leiden: Brill ISBN 9789814722261 ISBN 9789004359970 https://newbooks.asia/review/changing-laos https://newbooks.asia/review/transcultural-justice

‘A comprehensive resource for understanding ‘An uneven collection of articles but the history of Calcutta’s hospital system’ nonetheless important for their broad – Chelsea McGill coverage of an under-studied topic’ – David Schak Srilata Chatterjee. 2017. Western Medicine and Colonial Society: Hospitals of Calcutta, J. Bruce Jacobs and Peter Kang (eds). 2018. c.1757-1860 Changing Taiwanese Identities Delhi: Primus Books Abingdon and New York: Routledge ISBN 9789384092986 ISBN 9781138636781 https://newbooks.asia/review/calcutta-hospitals https://newbooks.asia/review/taiwanese-identities 28 newbooks.asia Asian Studies. Newest Titles. The Review Latest Reviews.

Visit newbooks.asia to browse the newest titles in the field of Asian studies. If you would like to review any of the available titles, of which you will find Asian Studies. Newest Titles. Latest Reviews. a selection below, please submit a review request through the website or send an email to our editor at [email protected]

newbooks.asia Banishment and Belonging: Exile and Diaspora in Sarandib, Lanka and Ceylon

Ronit Ricci. 2019.

Cambridge University Press ISBN 9781108480277 https://newbooks.asia/publication/ banishment-belonging

Avian Reservoirs: Virus Hunters and Birdwatchers in Chinese Sentinel Posts

Frédéric Keck. 2020.

Duke University Press ISBN 9781478006985 https://newbooks.asia/publication/avian-reservoirs Mountain Temples and Temple Mountains: Architecture, Religion, and Nature in the Central Himalayas

Nachiket Chanchani. 2019.

University of Washington Press ISBN 9780295744513 https://newbooks.asia/publication/mountain-temple

Food, Faith and Gender in South Asia: The Cultural Politics of Women's Food Practices

Nita Kumar and Usha Sanyal (eds). 2020.

Bloomsbury Academic ISBN 9781350137066 https://newbooks.asia/publication/food-faith-gender

Gabriella Lukács. 2020. Kirsten W. Endres. 2019. Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Xiaoning Lu. 2020. Raymond Corbey. 2019. Invisibility by Design: Women Market Frictions: Trade Elliott Prasse-Freeman, Moulding the Socialist Korwar: Northwest New and Labor in Japan's Digital and Urbanization at the and Patrick Strefford (eds). 2020. Subject: Cinema and Guinea Ritual Art According Economy Vietnam-China Border Unravelling Myanmar's Transition: Chinese Modernity to Missionary Sources Duke University Press Berghahn Books Progress, Retrenchment and (1949-1966) Ethnographic Art Books ISBN 9781478006480 ISBN 9781789202441 Ambiguity Amidst Liberalization Brill ISBN 9789054500223 https://newbooks.asia/publication/ https://newbooks.asia/publication/ NUS Press ISBN 9789004423510 https://newbooks.asia/publication/ invisibility-design market-frictions ISBN 9789813251076 https://newbooks.asia/publication/ korwar https://newbooks.asia/publication/ socialist-subject Timothy Cheek, David Ownby, Matthew Akester. 2019. myanmar-transition Kōji Nakakita. 2020. and Joshua A. Fogel (eds). 2019. The Jebumgang Temple: Patton E. Burchett. 2019. The Liberal Democratic Voices from the Chinese Century: Ritual Architecture and K. C. Ho. 2019. A Genealogy of Devotion: Party of Japan: The Realities Public Intellectual Debate from the Defense of the Modern Neighbourhoods for the City Bhakti, Tantra, Yoga, of ‘Power’ Contemporary China Tibetan State in Pacific Asia and Sufism in North India Routledge University of Washington Press Garuda Verlag Amsterdam University Press Columbia University Press ISBN 9780367149239 ISBN 9780231195232 ISBN 9783906139357 ISBN 9789462983885 ISBN 9780231190329 https://newbooks.asia/publication/ https://newbooks.asia/publication/ https://newbooks.asia/publication/ https://newbooks.asia/publication/ https://newbooks.asia/publication/ ldp-japan public-intellectual-debate jebumgang-temple city-pacific-asia genealogy-devotion

The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 29 The Focus

Recentering the Bay of Bengal Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea

Jayati Bhattacharya and Carola Erika Lorea The interconnected world history of the Bay of Bengal is re-enacted in people’s memories, habits and everyday practices. The word for ‘star anise’ in Central India is Singapoor ke phool [Singapore flower], a colloquial echo of a pre-modern network of maritime trade. The Bengali word for window [janala] is directly borrowed from Portuguese, a reminder that language witnessed the syncretic impact of early European settlements around the Bay. Epic stories from the Ramayana, originating in ancient India, are re-enacted daily in Javanese traditional theatre. These are just a few of the examples that can serve as metaphorical mappings of the past and present of a network of interdependent livelihoods, a busy seascape, and a web of littoral hubs, which constitute the life of the Bay of Bengal.

Above: Sadarghat harbour in Dhaka. Right: A monsoon day in southern Bangladesh, June 2011. Photos by Carola Lorea, 2019.

he Bay of Bengal, a web of maritime waterscape has been characterized by an and ideas across the region. The hegemonic deeply embedded in academic, political, highways as well as a chessboard of absence of any major territorial conflicts (British) colonial domination over the seascape and public discourses. It is only recently Trelationships and mobilities, is a vital or claims; perhaps one of the reasons for and adjoining hinterlands and littorals was that increasing globalization and inter-state region for several countries; both littoral traditionally receiving less attention – in the often achieved through destruction and interactions have facilitated looking beyond (India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, larger realm of Indian Ocean studies – than violence. Yet, administrative subjugation the conventional categories sanctioned Sri Lanka, Thailand) and landlocked (Nepal, the western Indian Ocean region. Yet, the also generated a sense of unity in the Bay. by the history of Area Studies. The Bay of Bhutan, China, Northeast India, Nepal). eastern Indian Ocean has been one of the This complex area has thus witnessed Bengal thus emerges as an incredibly fertile Often disregarded as the periphery and the busiest seascapes, with overlapping circuits multiple and mutual borrowings across the field of inquiry as an in-between space of liquid borderland between South Asia and of interaction between the regional nodes seas, littorals and borderlands, with strong borrowings, contacts and interactions that Southeast Asia – two macro areas that came of exchanges and the global economic legacies of circulations in culture, economy, shape the vision of the past, the present to define much of the modern scholarship order. The ‘monsoon winds’ established life-style and languages. and the future of a considerable part of the about this region – the Bay of Bengal can and connected the dominant trade routes However, porous borders and circular global population. Moreover, the increasing be seen as the nodal crossroad and the and shaped migratory trends till the onset migrations slowly turned into isolationism importance of borders, borderlands and cultural hub for a network of exchanges of colonial intervention and consequent and rigidly monitored frontiers in post-colonial trans-border studies in academic discussions1 and contacts of diverse kinds. introduction of steamship navigation. Asia, with the emergence of decolonized has often laid more emphasis on mainland In the new millennium, the Bay has emerged European trading settlements, experiments geopolitical territories, the dominance of ‘barbed-wire borders’ rather than on maritime as a significant subject of debate in popular and ambitions, left a trace of Portuguese, nation-centric visions and inward-looking borders, shared maritime heritages, and the as well as academic discourses, particularly Dutch, Danish, French, British and other policies for most of the states around the hydroscapes of bordering regions, pointing with rising sea levels, and attention to maritime presences. A successive period of colonial rim of the Bay. Borderlands and borderseas to another lacuna that our focus on the Bay trajectories in policy approaches of different intrusion and governance both separated and were divided into South and Southeast Asian of Bengal region aims to fill.2 Asian states in and around the region. This united communities, commodities, cultures states, a binary conception that became Continued overleaf 30 Recentering the Bay of Bengal The Focus Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea

Continued from previous page Besides migrations and connections, the history of the Bay of Bengal is also a history of natural calamities and catastrophes, of A new phase of Bay of unkind weather conditions and of tragic disruptions that mark the social and political Bengal studies: economic history of maritime borderlands and islands. and cultural contexts beyond The 2004 tsunami, for example, acts as a geopolitical strategy watershed in the history of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in terms of conservation This Focus section of The Newsletter has policies, development of mass tourism, threats been inspired by the need to emphasize the to vulnerable ecologies, and to the coastal spaces and trajectories between the two livelihoods of fishermen and informal settlers. macro areas of South and Southeast Asia, The contributions in this Focus remind strongly embedded in popular imagination us that the northern Bay, spreading from and academic discourses. Transcending the unique ecological reality of the Bengal methodological nationalism, it focuses on Delta seamlessly into the Indian Ocean, is transnational and transregional movements, a space that challenges established notions practices and institutions that connect people, of water, land, soil and sea. Whereas histories and knowledge across the Bay. disciplines at the service of the Empire, For example, present-day impermeable such as cartography and oceanography, borders and nationalist rhetoric in countries like have striven to separate navigable sea from Burma and Bangladesh are better understood taxable land, the Bengal Delta defies these if compared to a long history of exchanges binary notions through its tidal landscape, and colonial connections between the historical its ubiquitous ponds, swamps and wetlands, province of united Bengal and British Burma. its métissage of salt and fresh waters, and its Above: The Conflagration Contrary to the dominant discourse in of Dalla, on the Rangoon cyclical reshaping of sandbars, flooded soil, contemporary Myanmar, which strives to River. From Series 1 of temporarily emerged land, and submerged identify members of the Rohingya community ‘Views taken at or near coastlines. Studying the nature and the Rangoon, and Combined as 'Bengalis' or foreign infiltrators, making way operations in the Birman human course around the Bay of Bengal, with for a tragic humanitarian crisis, nineteenth and Empire’, by Lieutenant its fluid and moving relation between water early-twentieth century histories of the Bay Joseph Moore. and land, can help us to shift conventional Description: Plate 17: of Bengal demonstrate that the two regions moonlit river view, with paradigms surrounding land-water visions, were linked through common movements of smoke rising from fire on a starting point to secure the future of resistance, intellectually constructed pan-Asian the right horizon, near coastal cities in a world of rising waters. sentiments, but also mutually influenced by pagodas, seen from the The backwaters of the Bengal Delta, with river in the foreground anti-colonial political activists. where ships and boats their forbidding wilderness, thick forests, Whereas mainstream popular discourses are mooring or rowing, merciless salinity and natural impediments, depict the Bay of Bengal as a strategic some figures on them discouraging settlement and cultivation, spotting the fire. Year: area both at the convergence of two geo- 1826. Hand-coloured opened up to the markets and routes of the Bay political blocks (ASEAN and SAARC) and at aquatint with etching. of Bengal and the greater Indian Ocean long the confluence of two competing maritime before the coming of European sea voyagers. Left: Ganges Delta. powers (India and China), this special Focus JPL space images. This pre-European cosmopolitanism of trade considers not only the high politics but also This image was taken across the Bay was not only made of traffic the everyday lives of the Bay of Bengal from the Space Shuttle and exchanges between Malacca, Sumatra, on January 13, 1997. by gathering perspectives from historical, Image credit: NASA/JPL Borneo, the Persian Gulf, Bengal and the anthropological, sociological, literary and /UCSD/JSC Coromandel Coast, Sri Lanka and Malabar; multidisciplinary research. but also of raids of pirates and fortune-hunters. The nine contributions by scholars from This inter-littoral world of trade, of spices and different disciplines and areas of expertise fabrics, sugar and silk, sandalwood and muslin, are based on the discussions held at a preceded the advent of the big European day-long intensive roundtable session at prominent outcome of which was the big boost Cosmopolitan connections, overseas trading corporations. It is from this the 11th International Convention of Asia to the organization of the Indian Navy and liquid borders, and time period that our contributors retrace the Scholars (ICAS) in Leiden, on 18 July 2019. naval installations. China’s rise as a potential steps of the social, cultural, economic and The roundtable titled ‘The Bay of Bengal: global power had already been spectacular endangered livelihoods political history of the Bay of Bengal. Perspectives across Disciplines’, was in different ways by then. In 2013, China Looking at the history of communication, divided into four different thematic clusters announced the One Belt One Road (OBOR, now transportation and connectivity across the (‘Cosmopolitan Connections’, ‘Contested better known as BRI, Belt and Road Initiative) Bay, our contributors highlight a past of In this Focus Heritages: Arts and Politics’, ‘Liquid Migration project that would connect the Mediterranean movements and mobilities populated by elite The articles of the Indian historians and Solid Borders’ and ‘Environment and to the Pacific through a network of overland travelers, nationalist intellectuals, colonial Sonali Mishra and Smarika Nawani look at Littoral Ecologies’) and featured fifteen roads, pipelines, economic corridors and also proto-tourists, and upper-class locals. the early-colonial life of port cities around the participants from different parts of the globe, maritime routes. Though we are not discussing However, migration in the modern and early- Bay and their importance in studying power along with an enthusiastic international Chinese or Indian foreign policies and modern Bay was also populated by subaltern dynamics, but also religious networks, and audience. The discussions consciously looked strategies in this Focus, it is indeed significant people and marginalized communities, by cultural etiquette. Sonali Mishra points out beyond the mainstream geopolitical debates that China’s Maritime Silk Road (MSR) plans laborers and pilgrims. This long history of that neutrality regulated the trade regime of that dominate the mediatized discourse to traverse the Bay of Bengal, implying the subaltern migration connects the past to the the cosmopolitan port of Masulipatnam, where around the eastern Indian Ocean. The possibility of significantly impacting bilateral present. For example, some of the contributors Europeans, Asians and several indigenous participants focused instead on historicizing, relations, economies and communities. follow the history of migration and resettlement merchants collaborated. Their opportunities contextualizing and problematizing the flows While the BRI is much larger in scale, of indentured laborers and post-Partition transcended normative categories based of people, ideas, livelihood and traditions. vision and economic prowess, India’s LEP, refugees from mainland South Asia to the on caste, religion, ethnicity and political The presenters analyzed travel narratives, later renamed as Act East Policy (AEP), has Andaman Islands. belonging. She argues that this relative entangled histories, material culture and gained ground through its benign and non- maritime heritage across the Bay. Rich in assertive approach both within the region and ethnographic detail, some of the papers further to the east. Partly as a joint attempt discussed the local variants of environmental to counter Chinese assertiveness in their activism and ecological histories, the maritime borderseas, India and Indonesia disruptions of coastal livelihoods, and the are strengthening their ties, from economic, experiences of disconnection, forced migration diplomatic and military angles. Their maritime and displacement, which also constitute partnership unfolds in the Bay of Bengal and the living fabric of the Bay of Bengal. in the Andaman Sea, with regular bilateral Critically responding to an idealized and naval exercises, with the Indian endeavor to often romanticized focus on flows and assist and access ports in Aceh, and with the connections around the Indian Ocean, expanding trading opportunities between the participants underlined the instances Sumatra and Port Blair. Similar diplomatic of inequality and power struggles that endeavors are equally at play between India dictate connectivity or lack thereof within and other states around the rim of the Bay. the Bay of Bengal region. The extent of this east-looking influence may In the new millennium, the rise of China be reverberated in the transformation of the and India as emerging global powers and rhetoric of ‘Asia-Pacific’ region into ‘Indo- the restructuring of their respective foreign Pacific’, introducing the concept of ‘extended policies have steered and influenced regional neighborhood’ and claiming larger inclusivity geopolitical interactions in Asia, thus leading of maritime and territorial spaces. Interestingly, to the emergence of the Bay of Bengal as a India has not joined the grand vision of the BRI, significant subject of research in the larger and yet the Bay of Bengal region remains the realm of Indian Ocean studies. India’s Look converging ground of India’s Look/Act East East Policy (LEP), introduced in the 1990s Policies, and China’s ambitious MSR projects. led to a rediscovery of its historic ties with its Drawing in the participation of many located eastern Asian neighbors and reintegration ‘outside’ its periphery, like the USA and Japan, with a primarily maritime Southeast Asia. these contemporary dynamics enhance There was also a shift of policy orientation geopolitical complexities and increase global Above: A 1650 map by Jan Jansson of ‘sinus gangeticus’, or the Bay of Bengal. Titled Sinus Gangeticus, from the territorial to the maritime, the most attention for this waterscape. vulgo Golfo de Bengala nova descriptio, printed in Amsterdam: Apud. I. Ianssonium, 1657. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 Recentering the Bay of Bengal 31 Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea The Focus

freedom in the complex socio-political milieu instances of disconnections, disruptions, and of the region, requires us to re-evaluate the unequal mobilities within and across the Bay. parameters to understand the pre-modern Available scholarship on the region has state in South Asia. Smarika Nawami’s already established that the Bay was never contribution focuses instead on the Portuguese a static region, nor an impenetrable web presence around the Bay, which provided of political boundaries, but interactions and long-lasting cultural and linguistic influences, power dynamics across the Bay in different and on the town of Mylapore, a cultural heart time-periods played out in multifarious of Catholic Christians for locals, Portuguese manners. Thus, the colonial port city and Eurasians. Both articles highlight examples connections of Calcutta, Penang, Singapore, of cosmopolitanism and inclusive living of Rangoon and Colombo, gave way to different communities in two different ports. Chittagong, Sittwe, Hambantota, The essence of similar co-existence continued and Colombo, connecting the eastern section into the colonial phase, particularly in the port of the ‘String of Pearls’ in the contemporary cities around the rim of the Bay, like Penang, politico-economic order. The increasing interest Singapore, Calcutta, Madras, Akyab, of the nations-states in the maritime resources Rangoon, and Colombo.3 of the region has added another dimension With the territorial establishment of the to the competition and collaboration, adding East India Company and the Dutch VOC in to the vulnerability of marginal people and South and Southeast Asia, trajectories and delicate ecosystems. At an important juncture interactions across the Bay of Bengal took a of history, when we are moving beyond different shape. Mikko Toivanen’s contribution strictures and demarcations of Area Studies, looks at specific transport nodes at Singapore, this platform provides us with an opportunity Penang, Calcutta and Galle, extending to to explore transregional issues, cosmopolitan Batavia in the Dutch East Indies. Following Above: A Calvinist Church in Batavia. 1806. From "A Voyage to Cochin China, in the years 1792, linkages and heritage, communities and the introduction of the steamship in the and 1793” by Sir John Barrow, page 221. cultural traditions. It also attempts to address region, these points were closely connected the concerns of a post-disciplinary academia, by overlapping circuits of trans-colonial elite San Rebellion), the Chittagong Armory Raid Partition-induced displacement, she argues encouraging inter-disciplinary research and travelers seeking leisure, convalescence, (1930-1931) in Bangladesh, and the Malabar that statist vocabulary permeates the settler influencing future pedagogical frameworks. healthier climates, and sightseeing. Their /Moplah Rebellion of southern India, in this women’s speech. These primarily English words Keeping in view the significance of the experiences are embedded in a colonial view, can emerge as connected histories of – for example, riot, border slip, dole, colony, region and tremendous possibilities of reinvention and re-appropriation of local the Indian Ocean. Sanjukta Dasgupta offers a etc. – entered the unlettered Bangla-speaking research, we aim to establish a long-lasting spaces and local histories as culturally precious reflection on Bengali travel accounts women’s vocabulary because of the experience network of scholars from diverse disciplines ‘European’. This created walls between the of Burma, with particular reference to the of forced migration from East Pakistan and across the humanities and social sciences. colonial (and local) elites and the subaltern experiences and perceptions of Indumadhab resettlement in the Andaman Islands. Sprouting from the fruitful discussions at the local population on the one hand, but Mallik, and Sarala Debi Chaudhurani, who Equally resulting from extensive fieldwork, roundtable sessions during ICAS 11, this Focus also fashioned and reproduced replicas of demonstrate diverse, complex and layered the contribution co-authored by Philipp in The Newsletter is the first concrete step in European-styled living in certain locales. approaches to the idea of Asia, determined Zehmisch and Ruhi Deol looks at the this direction. We have been receiving further Linking ancient and modern sites of by their own class sensibilities and specific subsistence livelihoods of farmers, fishers, and expression of interest from different scholars interaction across the Bay, Himanshu Prabha social and political interests. Their response forest villagers in post-Tsunami Andamans. and institutions, and our network is expanding Ray’s article explores the stratified history of to visiting Burma and their comparisons The Tsunami exacerbated a shift in India’s quite rapidly, suggesting a very promising coastal shrines. Prior to the development of between the self and the ‘other’ was to a large state policies, from commercial exploitation future for the studies of the Bay of Bengal oceanography and the making of nautical extent shaped by internalized Orientalist to the conservation of resources. As in other as both a physical region and a conceptual charts, sailing vessels largely depended assumptions. Their views, however, are also a parts of the globe, the conservation paradigm framework. on coastal shrines and structures that result of the contemporary nationalist rhetoric has created new vulnerabilities, especially connected the coast with communities and Pan-Asian discourse. While they shared an related to human activity in marine and forest Jayati Bhattacharya, Senior Lecturer, living inland, while functioning as visible understated, yet tangible antagonism towards ecosystems. Their article reveals the ways in South Asian Studies Programme, coastal markers and recipients of devotion. the British, they had also internalized much which aspects of the conservation discourse National University of Singapore [email protected] For example, a lighthouse was built in 1887 of the racial and civilizational categories of impact local perceptions of environmental on top of the Mahishasuramardini cave the colonial gaze through which British rulers change in the Andamans. The authors argue Carola Erika Lorea, Research Fellow, at the Mahabalipuram temple complex established cultural and political hegemony. that the 2004 Tsunami functioned as a Asia Research Institute, National University on the Tamil coast in proximity to an older Bengali refugees and Burmese early “revelatory shock” for the island population. of Singapore [email protected] seventh century structure that had possibly settlers live side by side on the Andaman Accompanied by the increasingly popular served the same function. These coastal Islands, an emblematic site of the entangled conservation paradigm and the rapid rise of structures were religious spaces maintained national histories of India and Burma in the tourism in the Andamans, the event of the by communities who lived close to them. Their heart of the Bay of Bengal. Geographically Tsunami triggered both ecological awareness Notes distribution constitutes an important and yet and geologically closer to Burma, the Andaman as well as debates on the vulnerability of the 1 Some exemplary works in this field are: van underestimated mapping of the economic, and Nicobar Islands became an Indian island ecosystem and its populace. In some Schendel, W. 2005. The Bengal Borderland: social and religious life across the Bay. Union Territory in 1956, although disputed respects, local migrants and settlers internalize Beyond State and Nation in South Asia. The contributions of Sanjukta Dasgupta sovereignty on some of the islands continued these vulnerabilities; in others, they develop Anthem Press; Scott, J. 2009. The Art of and of Maitrii Victoriano Aung Thwin explore until 1986. Two of our contributions, both rich contextual ways to cope, respond, or adapt to Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History connections and parallelisms between British in ethnographic material, are dedicated to their changing environment. of Upland Southeast Asia. Yale University India and British Burma. Maitrii’s article the contemporary history of the Andaman Climate change and the rising sea levels of Press; van Schendel, W. & de Maaker, E. highlights the need to contextualize key Islands through anthropological perspectives. the Anthropocene are problematically evident 2014. Special issue on ‘Asian Borderlands’, events of national history, such as the 1930- Raka Banerjee explores the intersection of in the Sunderbans, the largest delta and in Journal of Borderland Studies 29(1). 1932 Burma Rebellion, in a transnationalist gender and migration in the language and the estuarine mangrove forest of the world, shared 2 Some exceptions that do address these perspective that embeds local resistance oral histories of the Bengali refugee women between the southern coast of West Bengal concepts are, for instance, Ray, H.P. 1994. The Winds of Change: Buddhism and the movements within the larger scenario of settlers on the Andamans. In a considerable (India) and Bangladesh. Calynn Dowler’s Maritime Links of Early South Asia. Oxford rebellions and insurgency across the Bay. departure from existing approaches in piece explores the Sundarbans as a changing University Press; Ray, H.P. & Chandra, S. The Burma Rebellion (later called the Saya understanding the gendered experience of waterscape, with particular attention to how (eds) 2013. The Sea, Identity and History: the meaning of water in the Bengal delta is From the Bay of Bengal to the South shifting as a result of intersecting socio-natural China Sea. ISEAS Publishing; Ray, H.P. transformations. A focus on the materiality of 2015. Beyond Trade: Cultural Roots of the Bay of Bengal – its rivers, sea, estuaries, etc. India’s Ocean. Aryan Books International; – and on the everyday ways in which coastal Bhattacharyya, D. 2018. Empire and communities engage with water, can challenge Ecology in the Bengal Delta: The Making of Calcutta. Cambridge University Press. some of the flattening assumptions of global 3 For a broad view of connectivity across climate change discourse, allowing for a more the Bay in the colonial period, see nuanced understanding of human-nonhuman Bhattacharya, J. 2019. ‘Connectivity agency and the meaning of water for the Across Colonial Bay of Bengal in the 19th ritual life of the delta. and 20th Centuries’, in Ludden, D. (ed.) Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History. Oxford University Press. The relevance and future 4 For some groundbreaking work in this direction of research, see Bose, S. 2006. avenues of Bay of Bengal A Hundred Horizons: The Indian Ocean studies in the Age of Global Empire. Harvard University Press; Bose, S. & Manjapra, K. The articles in this Focus contribute to the (eds) 2010. Cosmopolitan Thought Zones: understanding of the history, the socio-cultural South Asia and the Global Circulation of ecologies, and the geopolitical interactions Ideas. Palgrave Macmillan; Mukherjee, R. across the Bay, by adding complexity and (ed.) 2013. Oceans Connect: Reflections texture to the public discourse around the on Water Worlds across Time and Space. strategic importance of the Bay of Bengal. Primus Books; Amrith, S.S. 2013. Crossing Inspired by and indebted to the recent the Bay of Bengal: The Furies of Nature and academic scholarship on the historical the Fortunes of Migrants. Harvard University Press; Laffan, M. (ed.) 2017. Belonging Across connections of the Bay,4 which is dominated the Bay of Bengal: Religious Rites, Colonial by arguments of continuity and circularity Migrations, National Rights. Bloomsbury; of interactions throughout history, our Acri, A., Blench, R. & Landmann, A. (eds) Above: Currents in the Bay of Bengal. From ‘The Bay of Bengal Pilot: A nautical directory’. contributors also seek to de-romanticize 2017. Spirits and Ships: Cultural Transfers Compiled by James F. Imray. London, 1879. Page 341. notions of transnational flows, and bring up in Early Monsoon Asia. ISEAS Publishing. 32 Recentering the Bay of Bengal The Focus Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea

diasporic merchants, due to its textile- producing hinterland and suitable political and economic infrastructure. The climate of Masulipatnam was ostensibly unfavourable and the Europeans in particular were European private trade susceptible to the adverse environment. However, they settled there undeterred, to partake in the highly profitable trade, in Masulipatnam by making suitable adaptations. Ecology and hinterland Among the ecological disadvantages Intercultural dynamics in a pre-modern cosmopolitan hub of Masulipatnam, was its vulnerability to cyclones. For instance, in October 1679, a fierce cyclone hit the port with violent winds, and the sea submerged half the town causing Sonali Mishra Masulipatnam represented the hub of a metropolitan port complex of the great loss of life and property. The Dutch and the English warehouses suffered heavy seventeenth century Northern Coromandel conglomerate of ports and damage, and about 20,000 inhabitants production centres. At the crux of the Coromandel textile trade, this port drowned.1 Masulipatnam’s hostile environment manifested bad air and inadequate drinking in the Bay of Bengal fed a lion’s share of the pre-modern and early modern water, which was brackish and saline, and a Indian Ocean trade, which, at its zenith, linked Europe, Africa, West Asia, stifling city layout. Sea-water flowed inland during high tides and when combined with South Asia, the Indonesian Archipelago and the Far East. As yet relatively rains, inundated the port. The result was a under-researched, European private trade in this port complex offers permanent large swampy area with stagnant water, a foul stench and high humidity. This interesting insights into the prevalent socio-political ethos of the region. was partly remedied by the construction of two bridges by Mir Abdullah Baqir, a Persian administrator cum merchant magnate. A contemporary traveller, John Fryer, an English physician, noted that Masulipatnam had no rain from November to May, during which, “the Land-Breezes….torment them with a suffocating Heat; so that the Birds of the Air as they fly, often drop down dead, the wind coming as hot as the Steam from an Oven, by the reflecting of the Sun upon the Sands, which are hurled about the Marshes.”2 He further described that the relief from the rains, however, brought intolerable insects and diseases with it. These considerations were especially prejudicial to the Europeans, and in the initial years at least, the mortality rate among them was considerably high. Many of them preferred country residences in the adjoining pleasant surroundings of Madapollam, Narsapur, Navarazpuram, Petapuli, Divi etc., as retreats during the particularly bad months at Masulipatnam. About three miles into the countryside, Fryer described a better environment, where one could obtain ‘infallible cures’ for the diseases prevalent in Masulipatnam. These inland towns and villages were the preferred sanatoriums of the Europeans, with many trees, fruit orchards and gardens, rendering them very agreeable for residential purposes. They had elite residences of English agents like Christopher Hatton, Richard Mohun, Nathaniel Cholmley, Edward Winter, the nefarious private trader, Robert Fleetwood, another English agent who amassed great wealth through private trade, a Dutchman, Turner, and local elite such as the mentioned ship-owning Persian merchant Mir Abdullah Baqir. As shall be seen, ecological adaptations were not the only ones ‘Masulipatam des Villes Capitales et des Residences’. Coloured engraving by Johann Christoph Nabholtz (1752-97) the Europeans successfully established. of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, dated sometime between 1770 and 1800. These inland towns were also subordinate feeder ports and inland textile weaving centres in the vicinity of Masulipatnam. rchival material and contemporary socio-political milieu of the region, which Masulipatnam attracted a host of diverse An example was Petapuli, one of the first travelogues reveal that this cosmo- would perhaps require a revaluation of the indigenous and foreign merchants, both settlements of the English in the region. It is Apolitan port, then under the reign parameters of the pre-modern state in South itinerant and emigrant. The European interesting to note that the Company’s agents of the Persian Qutb Shahis of Golconda, Asia. contemporary sources offer rich empirical at Fort St. George were disinclined towards was neutral in its trade, open to Europeans Pre-modern littoral India was dotted with data on this port and its environs, and a abandoning their establishments at Petapuli (Portuguese, English, Dutch, French, several ports of importance, which gained deeper analysis allows one to investigate and Madapollam, likely because of their Danes), Asians (Persians, Arabs, Pathans, greater significance with the advent of the the prevalent socio-cultural, economic concerns regarding the extensive private trade Chinese, Armenians, Achehnese, Malays, English and the Dutch trading companies. and political matrix of the region that the they derived from there, apart from many Siamese, Burmese, Javanese, Peguans, It was during the early seventeenth century Europeans encountered, and the ethos of other advantages, including textile production etc.) and several indigenous merchants of that Masulipatnam, situated on the Krishna- the age, giving a better understanding of the and ship building facilities. the subcontinent (Tamils, Chulias, Telugus, Godavari delta, emerged as the prime port pre-modern state and society in southern Klings, Kannadas, Indian Muslims, etc.), who of the kingdom of Golconda, supported by India. An enquiry into the adaptations of were either diasporic residents, communities, a conglomerate of subordinate ports, inland the Europeans in the region is very useful to The English Company agents, or itinerant merchants in the port towns and production centres. It became understand the mechanisms through which and its environs. Collaborations and conflicts well embedded not only as a sub-regional the ‘outsiders’ converted a situation of several in the Coromandel among these entities often transcended economic unit of the Coromandel Coast, disadvantages with respect to finances, local The early beginnings of the English normative social and political categories, but a very significant port of the entire knowledge and experience, language, climate Company were rather tentative and such as place of origin, lineage, religious Indian Ocean trading system of the 17th and cultural differences, into inconceivable dismal, while the Dutch had better fortunes. affiliations, caste, occupation or ‘nationality’, century. Coromandel cotton textiles were the advantages. This, in turn, elucidates the The English East India Company began its as well as their access to economic and backbone of the Indian Ocean trade during indigenous socio-cultural, economic and operations in 1611, and English private trade, political opportunities, which was not this time. They had a flourishing demand in political systems and processes of the region, against the Company’s rules, was evident entirely exclusive. Furthermore, a blurring of the Indonesian archipelago, the Spice Islands, as they operated in said period, which could from the very beginning. As early as 1624, boundaries between political, administrative and had also developed a burgeoning westward allow such momentous transitions to occur. the agents were ordered that private trade and commercial functions, not merely among market to the Persian Gulf and Red Sea areas. Masulipatnam was not naturally well was to be “rigorously suppressed”.3 Private the ruling elite but also Europeans and local Further, the Dutch and the English opened up endowed as a favourable port; rather it trade had several disadvantages for the indigenous mercantile communities, points Europe, as well, as a very lucrative market for had many disadvantages. Despite these, English Company, but its implications were to relative freedom and flux in the complex Coromandel textiles. it attracted a multitude of indigenous and far more complex. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 Recentering the Bay of Bengal 33 Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea The Focus

For one thing, English private trade often Coromandel registered a sharp increase in had important implications in the politico- enterprises with diverse groups and individuals set precedents for the English Company in the second half of the seventeenth century. economic scenario. As a result of the were also possible. Given the cosmopolitan terms of the types of commodities invested From the 1660s onwards, the Coromandel greater experience and contacts gained nature of the Masulipatnam, it seems that in and areas serviced in terms of trade. The absorbed about a third of the total invest- by the European agents in the course of the Europeans were not quite so alien to English Company did not initially engage ments of the English in India, the great bulk trading activities, they entered into lucrative the natives, many of whom were migrants in the textile trade of the Coromandel, their of which went towards the procurement arrangements with Asian merchants, ship themselves, temporary or permanent. Besides, prime interest being the procurement of of textiles. owners, and also with the local authorities. as demonstrated by the changing political spices for Europe, while selling English wares It is not insignificant to note that Europeans boundaries and ruling groups in the medieval like porcelain, broadcloth, quicksilver etc. were even farming out revenues of towns and early-modern history of the Deccan, the The English agent Methwold, around 1620, European trade and native on their personal accounts, emulating the socio-political ethos permitted flux and was reported that private traders informed him native revenue farmers. Robert Fleetwood for not quite limited by place of origin, lineage, that they tripled their investments by selling political authorities instance, an English agent at Masulipatnam, religious affiliations, caste, geography, region Masulipatnam cloth at Bantam, and doubled Trading privileges were not easily obtained had farmed out the revenues of the town of or occupation. Subrahmanyam, Rao and their profits at Siam. So, the English private by the Europeans, and required constant Virasvaram, an important textile production Shulman have shown the upward movement traders began by participating in the already negotiations. This often involved the payment supplier to Masulipatnam, in the 1670s.9 of originally non-political groups and even established eastward trade cycle, investing in of bribes and presentation of tashrifs (gifts From the 1670s in particular, the low castes, like Balija merchants, formerly goods that the natives, as well as the Dutch, of honour) to significant officials and lower Company’s affairs were particularly Sudras (lowest caste), as well as pastoralist already invested in. This way they could level functionaries to gain access to the disturbed by the private trading activities of and agrarian groups, who could become circumvent the Company’s prohibition on King, or to the relevant authority. Further, Company agents like Edward Winter, Richard Nayaks (local chieftains) in the Tamil area, private trade, particularly while freighting the maintenance of the privileges granted, as Mohun, Matthew Mainswaring and others. indicating social, political, economic and their goods on the native vessels. It was also well as the procurement of additional grants, Great irregularities had been occurring cultural mobility and dynamism.11 Changes in these initial years that the Dutch and the required that the Europeans kept amicable in the Company’s books of accounts of and adaptations seem to have been both English, following the example of the natives, relations with the rulers and important Masulipatnam, entailing detailed enquires feasible and socially accepted. Social started trading very profitably in diamonds political personages. For the Europeans, their and strict regulations. Agents like Richard categories of caste were not rigidly restrictive. from the Golconda mines. power at sea, as well as their ability to provide Mohun, who had been the Chief of the English Brahmans played diverse roles as revenue In 1620-21, Methwold sent samples of safe passage to the ships of the natives was Company at Masulipatnam at this time, farmers, accountants, astrologers, liaison and Masulipatnam cloth to the Company in their leverage. However, they could not trade were investigated for misappropriating the protocol officers/informants, at times coming England for their consideration. At this point, in a region if they were denied permission Company’s funds. directly into political power, like Madanna and the Company was exploring alternative from the local authorities. Until the 1630s the The charges against Richard Mohun Akanna, the chief ministers of the Qutb Shahi routes, strategies, and other commodities for Europeans had been largely unsuccessful in were rather serious. The agents noted that ruler. Overlaps and adaptations of roles seem England from Masulipatnam, like diamonds this endeavour, and constantly complained his misuse of the Company’s money for to have been more situational, rather than and cotton cloth, which gained popularity about the extortionist tendencies of the local his own investments and debts, resulted in restricted by caste, religion, or other identity in Europe. They were also attempting authorities. The initial trading concessions dead freight for the Company’s ships as the markers. Collaborations and conflicts often participation in the Red Sea trade from were meant only for Company trade, but Company’s investments could not be made transcended these boundaries. The socio- Masulipatnam, and envisaged profits and were frequently misused by the Europeans on time. However, he was not the only agent cultural ethos allowed for adventurers and leverage from the protection they could offer to cover their private trade as well. This indulging in private trade. In fact, most of the opportunity-seekers to aspire to accumulate to native merchants in this trade, following naturally antagonised the port authorities English agents in and around Masulipatnam, political and economic fortunes, unfettered the Portuguese example. The westward who would be deprived of their due share Madapollam, Petapuli, and other interior by their origins. Perhaps, when we talk of Surat-Persia trade of the English was also of customs duties. towns, were involved in illegal private trade. early-modern or modern South Asia, we need significant from the point of view of their Accessing the political elite for negotiating Further, the private trade of these Europeans to re-evaluate the parameters of these terms trade from the Coromandel Coast, as later, trading privileges involved a complex protocol. was often in connivance with the local to make them applicable to these highly in 1634, they were able to extract a promising The English learnt the etiquette through authorities of ports and towns. cosmopolitan and dynamic contexts. deal from the King of Golconda, in the the friendships they developed with local Private trading by Europeans did not form of the ‘Golden Farman’ - the right authorities and native merchant magnates only have negative consequences for the Sonali Mishra, Department of History, to customs-free trade in the kingdom of on account of their private trade. Apart Companies, it also facilitated commercial Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Golconda for a lump sum payment - on the from this, brahmins in their employment relations with influential local magnates University of Delhi [email protected] basis of their trade links to Persia and the served as liaison, communicating with like Mir Kamaldin, as well as officials and amity that they had with the Shah of Persia.4 their counterparts similarly employed by administrators of the ports and important The English were even entitled to a share in native authorities. Peshkashes or customary market towns and production centres, who the customs at the port of Gombroon on gifts to such influential people not only often had mercantile interests. It also entailed account of the help that they had given secured trading concessions, but had other the mutual exchange of freight services and Notes to the Persians to capture Ormuz from the implications too. In October 1674, English ‘other benefits’, which could possibly extend Portuguese in 1622.5 The Sultan of Golconda agents wrote of the expectation of gifts to using each other’s links with the port and 1 Records of Fort St. George. Diary anticipated that the favourable rapport the by Mirza Ibrahim, the ‘great governor’ of customs authorities for abatements, smooth and Consultation Book 1679-1680. 1911. English had with the Shah of Persia would Masulipatnam, who could have caused passage of goods, and other advantages. Madras: Printed by the Superintendent, foster the trade between Bandar Abbas and immense damage to the trade of the English,7 The English agents also seem to have Government Press, pp.59-60; Golconda. Further advantages would be either directly by impeding their business in extended some Company privileges and https://tinyurl.com/archive-FSG-1911 2 Fryer, J. (1909) edited and introduced by English protection to native shipping, as the area under his jurisdiction, or indirectly by services to such influential administrators- Crooke, W. 1992. A New Account of East- well as obtaining prized Persian horses and encouraging the Dutch or other competitors, cum-merchants. Consequently, through India and Persia. Being Nine Years’ Travels other rarities for himself. to the detriment of the business of the English private trade, the English agents were (1672-1681), Vol. 1. New Delhi, Madras: From 1624 until the end of the 1630s, Company. He could also injure the interests actually building a tacit nexus of relation- Asian Educational Services, p.99; the English strove to expand to suitable of the English by jeopardising their reputation ships with the native mercantile and political https://tinyurl.com/archive-crook-1992 places southwards, in the Hindu territories with the King of Golconda, which could have entities, which would have given them a better 3 Foster, W. (ed.) 1909. The English of the Nayaks of Tanjore and Gingee on resulted in the loss of their trading privileges understanding of the commercial system Factories in India 1624-1629. Oxford: the Coromandel Coast, from where they in his dominions. of the region and much firmer leverage The Clarendon Press, p.10; hoped to operate with more strength, Such expenditure on acquiring and and entrenchment. So, they could serve as https://tinyurl.com/archive-EFI-09 4 Foster, W. (ed.) 1911. The English security and liberty. They were relocating maintaining good relations in the political precious consultants on how to conduct a Factories in India 1634-1636. Oxford: due to problems faced at Masulipatnam, circles was more in the nature of investments, more a profitable business, whether on their The Clarendon Press, pp.14-21; accruing from “the abuse … being growne ensuring better trading terms to the own account or on behalf of the Company. https://tinyurl.com/archive-EFI-11 unsuferable by the evell disposicion of the Europeans. On the whole, these expenses English Company agents like Robert 5 Foster, W. (ed.) 1908. The English Governour there”. The English settlement at were insignificant compared to the profits Fleetwood, Edward Winter, Richard Mohun, Factories in India 1622-1623. Oxford: Masulipatnam was ordered to be dissolved obtained through the edge that the and Mathew Mainswaring, carried on The Clarendon Press, pp.ix,201; in 1628.6 However, the English agents Europeans got in their business. Besides, extensive private trade, in Masulipatnam, https://tinyurl.com/archive-EFI-08 realized that it was indispensable and in the prevalent politico-cultural ethos required Madapollam, and Petapuli. At least some of 6 ibid. note 3, pp.278,280-281 1630, it was re-established. such customary exchanges and courtesies, them engaged in a range of other activities 7 Records of Fort St. George. Diary and After the procurement of the Golden as integral to the local elite culture. apart from trade, which were actually Consultation Book 1672-1678. 1910. Madras: Printed by the Superintendent, Farman, from the mid-1630s, English prospects This is in stark contrast to the dealings of forbidden by the English Company. For Government Press, pp.13,22-23,33,38; began to improve. Their customs-free trade the English with local governors in the initial example, Fleetwood engaged in revenue https://tinyurl.com/archive-FSG-1910 in all Golconda ports like Masulipatnam, decades of the century, when they resented farming, though Company agents were 8 Foster, W. (ed.) 1910. The English Nizampatnam (Petapuli), and others, far the payment of bribes and peshkashes to strictly forbidden from seeking employment Factories in India 1630-1633. Oxford: exceeded the Sultan’s estimate at the time the local authorities. They even lost out on with local authorities. In doing so, he operated The Clarendon Press, pp.78-79; of granting the Golden Farman. Further, the an opportunity to gain trading concessions like the Persian merchant magnates, although https://tinyurl.com/archive-EFI-10 founding of Fort St. George at Chennai was in 1630, when they failed to get the qaul at a lower level, by combining revenue farming 9 Temple, R.C. (ed.) 1911. The Diaries a milestone for the English, as it provided [promise or consent] of the governor of in their range of activities. The chief native of Streynsham Master 1675-1680 and a fortified enclave, as well as the benefit Petapuli ratified by either the ‘great governor’ merchant of the Company at Fort St. George, other contemporary papers relating thereto, Vol. 1. London: J. Murray, p.274; of procuring excellent textiles – which or the King, resulting in its invalidity. They Kasi Viranna, was also farming out revenues https://tinyurl.com/archive-temple-11 were increasingly demanded in England – admitted that this lapse was due to their of several villages around Madras, as well as 10 Records of Fort St. George. Diary and 8 10 at reasonable rates. The benefits and ignorance of the local customs. However, of San Thomé. In that sense, revenue farming Consultation Book 1678-1679. 1911. privileges, which accrued from this settle- they gradually became better acquainted can be interpreted as a commercial enterprise, Madras: Printed by the Superintendent, ment, negotiated with the Hindu Raja of with the ways and means of obtaining rather than solely a political function. Not only Government Press, pp.76-77; Chandragiri in 1641, were immense, as time favours and maintaining them. did people with political authority use their https://tinyurl.com/archive-FSG-11a; was to prove. power to profitably delve into commercial Love, H. D. 1913. Vestiges of old Madras, By the 1650s, the English agents at enterprises, but the reverse was also possible. 1640-1800: Traced from the East India Masulipatnam were making profitable Private trade and the An interesting point that emerges is the Company's Records Preserved at Fort investments sending and receiving goods relative freedom and social mobility that St. George and the India Office, and socio-political ethos of from Other Sources. London: J. Murray, from Bantam, Pegu, Syriam, Johore, Achin, was possible in this historical period of the early-modern South Asia pp.351,351n. Europe, Persia and Gombroon. This period region, blurring boundaries between political 11 R ao, V.N. et al. 1992. Symbols of substance: also witnessed a greater scale of private trade The connections between the European and commercial functions. Privileges were court and state in Nāyaka period that was being conducted by English agents private traders and the local authorities, sought to be zealously guarded by those Tamilnadu. Delhi: Oxford University Press, and free-merchants. European trade in the especially in the interior towns and villages, who possessed them, but opportunities and pp.10,12,74; https://tinyurl.com/rao-1992 34 Recentering the Bay of Bengal The Focus Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea

from Europe, but also increasingly comprised of the mixed ‘Eurasian’ population [mestiçoes] as well as the newly converted indigenous Christian population of the Bay. Religious Rhythms of the Portuguese and quasi-religious institutions like Bishoprics and Santa Casa da Misericórdia,6 which had helped the Estado to connect with the Portuguese of the Bay, as well as different presence in the Bay of Bengal missionaries, also played an important role in furthering indirect Portuguese interests in the world of the Bay. They became the guiding light of the emerging Catholic community Smarika Nawani In the physical seascape of the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal is an enclosed around the region. It is in this context that Mylapore, a place related with the martyrdom region nestled between the ports of Nagapattinam and Aceh, historically of St. Thomas, assumed importance and lacking good harbours and anchoring spots. The hydrospace of the Bay became the radial nerve of the Bay. The small town of Mylapore 7 was also includes and connects different bodies of water, such as Coranga and known for textiles, but had no harbour. Yet, Combermere Bay, Andaman Sea, Gulf of Martaban, straits such as Cheduba, it controlled the Bay in the 16th century and beyond, as far as political, commercial as well deltas of the Krishna, Godavari, Ganga-Brahmaputra and Irrawaddy rivers, as religious aspects were concerned. The shrine and freshwater lakes like Pulicat and Chilka. Its long coastline is interrupted, of St. Thomas bonded the region’s Catholic Christians. It inspired devotion and prayers of among others, by mangrove forests in the north, and the Mergui archipelago the believers who sought protection from the and other islands to the east. Tropical cyclones periodically destroy its coastal furious winds and rough waters of the Bay.8 The testimonies of Linschoten and Nicholas habitats, yet various littoral communities resist, re-build and carry on with Pimenta record the same. Mylapore continued their socio-economic activities. Such aspects of continuity in the history of to enjoy the same aura even after it had reeled under Dutch and later French control. As late the Bay are well marked in observations and imageries of various travellers as the 19th century, Mylapore continued to who moved across it. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, such narrations be the cultural capital of Catholics in the Bay. In virtually every area where the Portuguese were often observed in the writings of Tomé Pires, Duarte Barbosa, Varthema, diaspora moved and settled, they carried their Nicholas Pimenta, Linschoten, Peter Floris, Thomas Bowrey and others. traditions and their reverence for St. Thomas, and eagerness to visit his shrine never died off. With its restrictive natural conditions for sailing and harbouring, the Bay Despite the Portuguese transitions, continuities established itself as a distinct region throughout history. in terms of religious practices carried on. Ever since the 16thcentury, the Portuguese of the Bay had been treated differently by Goa when compared to those in the formal settlements of the Estado. However, they maintained a strong affiliation with Goa. It was a question of identity for the ones who were located in the Bay. Associating with Goa provided the feeling of a community and the sense of being ‘Portuguese’. The Portuguese presence in the Bay of Bengal underwent transitions and changes which were externally conditioned, while at the same time, they maintained age- old practices which can be noticed through the ever-growing importance of Mylapore, itself a place of deeply felt transformations since at least the 16th century.

Smarika Nawani, Assistant Professor of History, Daulat Ram College, Delhi [email protected]

Notes

1 White, L. 2008. The Lusíads. Oxford University Press, pp.221-222. 2 de Barros, J. 1973. Da Ásia. Década Quarta, Parte Segunda, Livraria Sam Carlos, Lisboa, pp.450-474. 3 de Bragança Pereira, A.B. 1937. Arquivo Português Oriental, Tomo IV, História Administrativa, Vol. II,1600-1699, Parte I, Tipografia Rangel, Bastora. 4 Winius, G.D. & Vink, M.P.M. 1991. The Merchant-Warrior Pacified, Oxford View of Fort St. George by Thomas and William Daniell painted in 1797. Source: British Library, Online gallery, Open access University Press, Newitt, M. 2005. A History of Portuguese Overseas Expansion, 1400-1668, Routledge. 5 Subrahmanyam, S. 1990. Improvising Empire: Portuguese Trade and Settlement “Shadow empire” and of the city of Mylapore (also known to the far away from Goa or Malacca and difficult in the Bay of Bengal, 1500-1700, of Goa Portuguese as São Tomé de Méliapor), there is to access. From the second decade of the Oxford University Press, New Delhi. no description of the Bay or any of its ports in 17th century, the shorter ‘Brouwer route’ from 6 A document of 20th February 1614 The imagery of the Bay of Bengal and its this official document. However, a Portuguese South Africa to Java via the southern Indian reflects the connection between nomenclatures are considerably present in the diaspora thrived and was part of commercial, Ocean was often preferred when travelling to Misericórdia of Mylapore, Goa and Portuguese descriptions of the 16th century. ecclesiastical and local political networks on Southeast Asia, thereby bypassing the Bay Portugal. See de Bulhão Pato, R.A. 1880. In 1572, Luis Vaz de Camões lyrically described the coast and sometimes in the hinterland too. of Bengal. This factor also contributed to the Documentos Remettidos da India ou the region from Mylapore (in present-day Earlier, G.D. Winius had observed that the Bay relative segregation of the Bay. The contest for Livros Das Monções, Tomo III. Lisboa: Chennai and known to the Portuguese as São was a “shadow empire” of Goa, with Mylapore hegemony between the Estado and the Dutch Academia real das sciencias, p.66. 7 João de Barros qualified Mylapore in Tomé de Meliapore) to Singapore, as one of as its capital, and had credited it with being Company took place due to the importance of 1 4 the following manner: “Here many of exchanges and connections. His epic poem part of the Portuguese “informal” presence. the textile-spice trade and led to subsequent them, tired of the spoils of war, settled was a precursor to chronicler João de Barros’s Sanjay Subrahmanyam understood the Bay political retreat of the Portuguese in the 1660s. down, not only because the country was depiction of Enseada de Bengal [Bay of Bengal] as a frontier zone of the Estado.5 Studying the This led to the relocation of the Portuguese very rich and afforded great traffic, published posthumously in 1615.2 Yet another region further, different transitions can be population from settlements like Nagapattinam but chiefly to renew the memory of the important Crown-sanctioned Portuguese work, noticed between the 16th and 19thcentury, and Mylapore to safe havens like Fort St. George Apostle St. Thomas …”. Barros, Da Ásia, António Bocarro’s Livro das Plantas de Tôdas as which give it a distinct appearance in the of the English East India Company in Madras. Década Primera, Parte Primera, Livraria Fortalezas Cidades e Povoações de Estado da context of people, commerce and traditions. Sam Carlos, Lisboa, 1973, p. 303. Índia Oriental (1635),3 described the fortresses, A noticeable transition is the increasing 8 In a letter of 27/5/1846, while enumerating cities and settlements of Estado Português da movement of people around the Bay due The Portuguese of the Bay the area and functions of the Bengal Mission, it was noted that “Araccan which Índia [the Portuguese State of India]. Of all to internal and external political exigencies These historical sources can also help geographically speaking belongs to Ava the regions of the Indian Ocean, it was only in of the Estado in the 16th and 17th centuries. us to observe the changing character of and Pegu has till lately been a part of the the Bay of Bengal that the Portuguese Estado The runaway functionaries and soldiers of the Portuguese demography around the Bengal Vicariate”, and the latter was under did not have a fortress. Except for Bocarro’s the Estado chose niches, like Hooghly, as Bay. It was not only composed of run-away Mylapore. Hosten Collection, Bengal IX-X, description of the settlement of Nagapattinam their new homes in the 16th century; places functionaries and soldiers who had moved Vidyajyoti Institute of Theology, Delhi. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 Recentering the Bay of Bengal 35 Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea The Focus

but for an international body of visitors. Among its attractions were, in addition to a salubrious climate, the expansive and widely admired botanical gardens that provided an aesthetically pleasing backdrop for a pleasant Empire at leisure stroll, and the dinner parties of the beau monde of colonial Java.

Nineteenth-century Bay of Bengal The imperial imagination as a space of trans-colonial recreation The popularity of this sort of travel had various consequences for the Bay of Bengal in the imperial imagination. The act of travelling is inevitably bound up with the creation of Mikko Toivanen Historians have long appreciated the importance of bodies of water, from narratives. Travellers do this, for example, by picking out and visiting symbolic locations Fernand Braudel’s seminal work on the Mediterranean to the more recent trend within a space that, over time, come to stand in oceanic histories, whether Atlantic, Indian or Pacific. In that intellectual for something greater and more general. In the case of this kind of colonial proto-tourism, such lineage, the Bay of Bengal is long overdue its moment in the spotlight. One sights were often selected to suggest something fascinating and thus far under-researched facet of the region’s long history of about the entangled histories of empire and colonisation. To give just two examples of diverse mobilities can be found in its central role in the development of imperial such symbolically loaded sites/sights, there ideas of leisure over the course of the nineteenth century. It was a period is the memorial to Olivia Devenish, the wife of Stamford Raffles, a reproduction of which can that saw the emergence of a culture of trans-colonial recreational travel that still be found in the Bogor botanical garden continues to shape tourist discourse and practices in the area to this day. – a monument that was mentioned without fail by British visitors to Buitenzorg not so much because of its aesthetic or sentimental value but as a way to connect the space of the Invalid travellers Dutch colony to the British historical experience: to make a story. Similarly, and for the same and health resorts reasons, Dutch visitors to Ceylon liked to Perhaps the most recognisable kind of mention the VOC emblem on the gate of travel undertaken by these people was the Fort Galle, even if they only stopped at Galle phenomenon of so-called ‘invalid travel’: leisurely for a day or two on their way back to Europe. travel for the purpose of convalescence in what The prevalence of these kinds of sites were deemed to be healthier climates. There in the emerging imagery of colonial travel, is some evidence of this sort of travel forming and in published travel writing, also meant the basis of, if not quite a tourist industry, then that other, local and/or Asian stories were certainly a kind of competitive regional market simultaneously being pushed out of the picture. for travellers, where profits could be made. The cosmopolitan story of an Anglo-Dutch A contemporary piece in the Journal of the Indian Bay of Bengal, packaged in a nicely touristic, Archipelago, titled “Advice to invalids resorting entertaining narrative, was also an exclusive to Singapore”, laid out recommendations for story of a European Bay of Bengal. In that officials based in India looking for a change of narrative, as exemplified by early guidebooks scenery, including tips on the best hotels, on like the Bradshaw’s Over-Land Guide to India what to eat, on where to go for excursions and, (1858), Asian cities such as Madras were notably, on the top sights or, in the language of presented side by side with popular European the day, ‘lions’ of the city – the Chinese temples destinations such as Florence, with the same of Telok Ayer Street get a special mention.2 sets of instructions and tips, while the local In both style and content, the piece is not too cultural and environmental specificity of each dissimilar from a modern tourist guide. was smoothed out under the unstoppable Left: The waterfall While seasonal travel to the hill stations of advance of a globalising tourist discourse. on Penang Island, India, a practice that long predates European In this way, early tourism had the same 1818. One major colonisation, has been extensively studied, it is distancing and decontextualising effect on attraction for travellers making less known that this kind of health tourism also imperial culture as did the colonial sciences that a circuit around had a fundamentally regional aspect, involving have been well studied by historians, and that the Bay of Bengal. travel across the Bay and the boundaries of emerged at roughly the same point in time. Image on wikimedia individual colonies. Officials from Calcutta, The Bay of Bengal came to be incorporated courtesy Penang State Museum and and further inland, would cross over not only in a global imagery of touristic travel over the Art Gallery. to Singapore but also to Penang, with its course of the middle decades of the nineteenth famous waterfall already a noted attraction century. This imagery was cosmopolitan and in the 1850s. The Singapore Free Press wrote cross-cultural but only in a tightly defined, he promise and suitability of global I do not generally consider myself a in August 1845, just ten days after the arrival European sense, and it served to erase a range and transnational approaches to the historian of the Bay of Bengal, but my work of the first P&O steamer in the city, about the of Asian agencies and presences from European Thistory of the Bay of Bengal has recently on (trans)colonial travel in and between “large number of Strangers, many of them travellers’ conception of the region, and helped been demonstrated by the influential work British Ceylon and the Straits Settlements Invalids, which we may shortly expect to see obscure the violent underpinnings of colonial of Sunil Amrith. In an evocative passage of (Singapore, Malacca and Penang) and the the various monthly Steamers bringing to society. This despite the fact that this culture of his magisterial Crossing the Bay of Bengal, Dutch East Indies obviously draws attention our Island”.3 Similarly, just a year later, the travel and its attendant practices were also, in Amrith instructs us to consider the diversity to the mobility and interconnectedness that Colombo-based Monthly Examiner reported turn, adopted and adapted by elite and middle- of the region’s histories: have historically defined the area and its on a health resort being set up in Nuwara class Asians across the region as a veritable immediate surroundings. In the 1840s, the Eliya, Ceylon, with the rejoinder that “we may tourist industry began to emerge towards the “Picture the Bay of Bengal as an expanse starting point of my research, steam-powered yet hope to see Nuwera Ellia [sic] become a end of the century. Of course, tourism still of tropical water, still and blue in the calm of shipping created regular, fast and reliable favourite place of resort for the invalids of the continues today, in ever more overpowering the January winter or raging and turbid with connections throughout the triangle enclosing Presidencies [of India]”.4 Moreover, many would and homogenising guises, around the Bay of silt at the peak of the summer rains. Picture the Bay, with Ceylon’s Point de Galle as one continue their tour beyond the confines of the Bengal as well as globally, and it is therefore it in two dimensions on a map, overlaid with of its points, Calcutta as another and Penang British Empire to Java, then under Dutch rule. all the more crucial that its roots in a set of a web of shipping channels and telegraph and Singapore on the Malay peninsula as One example is Charles Walter Kinloch, who deeply exclusionary colonial practices and cables and inscribed with lines of distance. the third. Moreover, Dutch navy steamers explicitly positioned his 1853 travel book De power structures should not be forgotten. Now imagine the sea as a mental map; as soon latched on to this new circulation by Zieke Reiziger, as a guide for aspiring tourists, a family tree of cousins, uncles, sisters, sons establishing a monthly connection between suggesting in his preface that “…in the absence Mikko Toivanen, European connected by letters and journeys and stories Singapore and Batavia. These connections of any work whatever of the nature of a Hand University Institute … There are many ways of envisaging the were of crucial importance to mail delivery Book relative to the Straits and Java, even Bay of Bengal as a place with a history – and cargo shipments, but were also used by the crude notes of ‘De Zieke Reiziger’ or the one as rich and complex as the history of passengers. Amrith, in his work on regional Invalid Traveller, would not be without their use, Notes any national territory.”1 migrations, has studied the better part of those particularly at the present time, when through flows; but among those passengers, occupied the arrangements lately concluded with the 1 Amrith, S. 2013. Crossing the Bay of What Amrith is suggesting here is that the with rather different conceptions of travel, Peninsular and Oriental Company, the chief Bengal. Harvard University Press, p.8. Bay of Bengal, like any comparable area of were also British officials based in India and port of Java has been brought within twelve 2 ‘Advice to Invalids Resorting to cross-cultural engagement and interaction, touring the region on leave, as well as their days sailing distance of the Hooghly.”5 Singapore’, Journal of the Indian is and always has been a space with a range Dutch counterparts taking advantage of the It is apparent that travel across the Bay of Archipelago Vol.5 (1851), p.188; of meanings attached to it, playing diverse leisure of brief stays in Singapore or Galle for Bengal, in all directions, was becoming rather http://ignca.gov.in/Asi_data/51362.pdf roles in the lives of various actors. My work, brief excursions or a spot of sightseeing. In fashionable at the time; its popularity can be 3 Singapore Free Press, 14 August 1845, p.2. though in many ways very different from doing so, and borrowing freely from the culture inferred from the way that Kinloch casually 4 Monthly Examiner, 15 December 1846, p.209. Amrith’s, deals with a few of these imaginaries of tourism that was flourishing at the time in mentions running into two of his “Indian 5 Kinloch, C.W. 1953. De Zieke Reiziger; or and associations connected to the region, Europe – from the Alps to the Rhine and to the friends” in Buitenzorg (Bogor) on Java, without Rambles in Java and the Straits in 1852 6 specifically in the (trans)imperial imagination British Lake District – these travellers created registering so much as a hint of surprise. by a Bengal Civilian. London: Simpkin, of the British and the Dutch around the a kind of colonial proto-tourism with the Bay Indeed, Buitenzorg was a favoured destination Marshall and Co., Preface. middle of the nineteenth century. of Bengal at its heart. not only for the Dutch elites of Batavia, 6 Ibid Kinloch, p.46. 36 Recentering the Bay of Bengal The Focus Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea

start with briefly highlighting the con- (present Chennai). It is dedicated to Our tribution of James Rennell (1742-1830) as Blessed Mother Mary, the ‘Star of the Sea’ who Ihe surveyed and mapped the river Ganga is said to have saved a Portuguese merchant in Bengal under the aegis of the East India vessel sailing to Colombo in Sri Lanka from Company, which had established control shipwreck. The grateful sailors built the church over eastern India in the 18th century and had as a mark of their reverence. occupied Penang in the Straits of Malacca The notion of a deity saving her devotees in 1786. In the 19th century, a hydrographic from shipwreck goes back to an even earlier survey of the Indian coastal areas was period along the east coast. The goddess undertaken and in 1878 Clements R. Markham, Tara is featured prominently in the monastic Secretary of the Royal Geographic Society establishment at Ratnagiri in present day published in one volume the history of British Odisha. It was in Odisha that the major Indian marine surveys. What was the nature expansion of Buddhism took place from the of sailing networks prior to the establishment 5th to 13th centuries and the stupendous of colonies in eastern India and the Malay monastic complexes of Ratnagiri, Udayagiri peninsula by the East India Company? The and Lalitagiri were constructed in the hill methodology adopted here is to focus on the ranges of Jajpur district. Two standing images deep history of coastal shrines and to trace of as.t.amahābhaya (the goddess as saviour) transformations and continuities along the Tara saving her devotees from the eight perils, east coast of India and other sites across the including shipwreck, were found at Ratnagiri. Bay of Bengal dating from the beginning of One of these is in Patna Museum, while the the Common Era, to highlight the multiple other is preserved at Ratnagiri itself. ways in which shrines provided anchorage In addition to the setting up of churches, to sailing groups prior to the development of the entry of Europeans in the Bay of Bengal oceanography and the nautical charts of the led to the demarcation of space for graves 19th century. Also of interest is the changing and tombs and many cemeteries still survive nature of sailing networks as a result of the along the east coast. One of these is the introduction of new technologies and the Cemetery of Dinamardinga at the town increasing mechanisation of ships. of Balasore in Odisha. Another cemetery James Rennell, considered the father is inside the fort at Sadras, 15 km south of oceanography, was the first to take of Mahabalipuram, which was built by the advantage of the development of the Dutch in 1648. The Dutch lost Sadras to the chronometer towards the end of the 18th British after the siege of 1780, though they century, which made it possible to collect regained control for a short time from 1818 information on ocean currents on a wide scale. to 1854. The nineteen graves at Sadras In 1760 he secured a place as a midshipman date from 1620 to 1769. on the frigate America and sailed for Madras Another example of European heritage on the southeast coast of India. After six is evident in the case of Tranquebar years of meritorious service and having (Tharangambadi), a small fishing town on made charts not only of the Tamil coast, but the coast of Tamil Nadu, which was a Danish also of the Nicobar Islands, Malacca and trading colony from 1620 to 1845, when it northwest Borneo, Rennell left the British navy was sold to the British. The first Protestant in 1763. The following year he had procured a church was founded in Tranquebar in 1707, Anchoring commission as Surveyor-General of the East and the core of the settlement was fort India Company's dominions in Bengal and in Dansborg, locally known as the Danish fort the autumn of 1764, he commenced work on (fig.2). The Danish East India Company was surveying the river Ganga. The innumerable established in Copenhagen in 1616 and a streams of the Ganga delta intersected each mission was sent to India with Admiral Ove maritime other in a maze, and only one of the streams, Gjedde (1594-1660). He signed a treaty with namely the Candana, which flowed from the king of Tanjore (Thanjavur), after which the Padma to the Bay of Bengal through the fort was established. However, what is the Harinaghata estuary, was navigable overlooked in the process is the pre-European throughout the year. Between 1764 and 1772, settlement at the same location, and the crossings Rennell explored for the East India Company complex relationship between the trading the lower reaches of the Ganga, in what post and the kings of Tanjore to whom the is at present known as the Sunderbans, in Danes paid tribute. For example, a Masilamani search of the shortest route from Baratala Nathar temple to Shiva, dating from the Coastal heritage of the or Channel Creek to the river Padma. early 14th century, still stands in Tranquebar After his return to England, in 1778, Rennell and continues to be in worship by the local Bay of Bengal spent his time on study and research. In 1779, communities (fig.3). The temple would have he published the Bengal Atlas comprising been a major centre coterminous with the several large-scale maps of Bengal based on his presence of the Danes in the 17th century fieldwork. He then started work on the Memoir since the Tanjore court patronised Himanshu Prabha Ray The objective of this essay is to highlight of a Map of Hindoostan, a purely geographical the devadasis [female dancers] serving at the important role of coastal architecture work. Without a doubt, hydrographic surveys temples not only in Tanjore and Tranquebar, and scientific mapping initiated attempts to but also in larger towns such as Tiruvarur, in fostering maritime connectivity and tame rivers and control the coastal areas of forty kilometres southwest of Tranquebar. to bring coastal monuments on the east Bengal by the East India Company. This was Thus, Tranquebar was a part of the cultural different from strategies adopted by other network of Tanjore and its ruling elite. The coast of India into dialogue with those European Companies who had established example of the Tanjore court sponsoring located across the Bay of Bengal for a enclaves in India in the 16th and 17th centuries, ritual performances at temples is indicative as examined in the next section. of the social role of the Hindu temples holistic understanding of maritime cultural and the participation of the political elite heritage both in the past, as well as its in sponsoring a range of activities, as European architecture along discussed in a longer study that examines continued significance in the present. the importance of the coastal shrine in the east coast of India sailing networks in the ancient period.1 The demarcation of sea spaces may be With the entry of the European trading understood through intellectual traditions companies in the Bay of Bengal, new forms Pre-European maritime of writing, but more importantly through of architecture developed along the east coast of the subcontinent comprising not only networks across the an active engagement with the nature port cities, such as Calcutta and Madras, but also churches, forts and cemeteries. For Bay of Bengal of coastal installations that physically example, the Portuguese had established It is apparent that the maritime landscape circumscribed the seafaring world and their settlement at Bandel in the 1530s in was by no means the result of only European the vicinity of Satgaon on the river Hooghly, initiative, and this is further corroborated by framed interactions of several travelling the principal distributary of the Ganga. A the history of the town of Nagapattinam, 35 groups. The presence of coastal shrines monastery and church were built at Bandel km south of Tranquebar. Tamil tradition refers in 1599 dedicated to Our Lady of the Happy to the semi-legendary saint Shahul Hamid of affiliated to Christianity, Islam, Hinduism Voyage who saved her worshippers from Nagore, whose 16th century shrine is situated and Buddhism are indicative of the shipwreck. The church was burnt down during a few kilometres to the north of Nagapattinam. the Mughal siege of 1632, but the image was The site had several benefactors all of whom shared cultural traditions that spread saved and still adorns the renovated church contributed to structural additions to the shrine, across the Bay of Bengal. (fig. 1). The mast of a ship was dedicated including Maraikayar ship-owners, Nayak rulers, to the church in 1655 by the captain of a as also the Dutch East India Company. In the Fig. 1 (above): Portuguese ship who survived a storm due 11th and 12th centuries, the King of Srivijaya Replica of Our Lady to the grace of the Virgin Mary. Another 16th (Sumatra) and Chinese patrons made donations of the Happy Voyage century church was built by the Portuguese to the Buddhist temple at Nagapattinam. This at Bandel church built further south along the Tamil coast at trans-oceanic mobility should not be seen as by the Portuguese. Velankanni, about 300 km south of Madras an isolated event, but as a continuation of a The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 Recentering the Bay of Bengal 37 Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea The Focus

long cultural process across maritime routes seasons in the 1960s and 1970s. It yielded cylindrical in shape with a flat base. Five such than as a simple return journey between connecting the southeast coast of India to remains from the 2nd century BCE to 6th stone burial urns with one-line inscriptions in two coastal centres. This was due to winds Sumatra, Vietnam and China, that had roots in century CE. A Buddhist vihara, Buddhapada Pyu were excavated 70m south of the Payagyi and currents, but also had to do with the the 1st millennium BCE. These Iron Age networks and temples from the 4th and 5th centuries Stupa, outside the northwest walls of the city at sale of commodities on board: triangular underwent changes around the 2nd /1st century CE, as well as a small bronze image of the Sri Ksetra, indicating names of Sanskritic origin trade typically exported cargoes to places BCE as Buddhist monastic centres came to be Buddha, were unearthed during excavations. of elite groups using the urns for royal burials. where they were needed without necessarily established. Temples affiliated to Buddhism This brief overview shows the presence of The Khin Ba mound is a part of the cluster of importing goods from the same place; continued along the Tamil coast well into the Buddhist monastic sites all along the east three stupas, many stepped burial terraces, city rather, chains of circulation were established 16th century. It would be useful at this stage coast from the 3rd century BCE onward. It walls and moats. These stupas are considered in order to rectify trade imbalances and to shift focus and to trace the beginnings of may be mentioned that Amaravati was the some of the earliest Buddhist monuments in the draw profit from regional demand. Buddhist monastic centres on the east coast and largest and longest lasting Buddhist site on country and date from the middle of the first Two island groups that are important indicate their linkages with those across the sea. the Andhra coast, which continued to be millennium CE. An outstanding find inside the for this discussion are the Andaman and In the coastal region of Andhra the presence revered by pilgrims from across the seas from brick-lined relic chamber was a manuscript of Nicobar Islands located between India, of Buddhist structures clearly coincides with the 300 BCE well into the 13th century CE. These twenty gold leaves in the form of a palm-leaf Myanmar and Sumatra. The Andaman Islands 3rd century BCE Mauryan period; indicators Buddhist sites not only received donations manuscript inscribed with excerpts from eight show less compelling evidence of linguistic of contact include Asokan inscriptions in the from the local elite such as the raja or king, Canonical texts. The sandstone slabs covering contact with Malay or other Southeast Asian Kurnool district, and a fragmentary pillar but also from a wider community of lay the relic chamber were carved in low relief and speech communities, though morphological inscription at Amaravati. Current evidence devotees across the seas. showed an ‘Andhra style’ stupa with five tiers of similarities between Nicobarese and Malayo- shows that the extant architectural components chhatras or umbrella-like structures. Clearly the Polynesian languages have been pointed of the early Amaravati stupa in the Krishna enshrinement of relics shared several features out by scholars. Archaeological research valley mostly date from the post-Maurya period The lower Irrawaddy valley in the two regions of coastal Andhra and the conducted on the Andamans has investigated (ca. 200-100 BCE). The stupa was enlarged The oldest surviving examples of Pali in the Irrawaddy valley, though practices varied in the nature and extent of contact between the around 50 BCE and the railing was gradually world were inscribed on gold and silver and other parts of the subcontinent, such as coastal Andaman archipelago and the neighbouring constructed between 50 BCE and 250 CE. The placed in the Khin Ba relic chamber at Sri Ksetra Odisha. Subsequent research has focussed regions, even though the islanders have been bulk of the sculptural pieces also date from this located along the Irrawaddy river that flows on identification of Pyu inscription (inventory represented as hostile to outsiders in historical period. Contemporaries of the Amaravati stupa north to south in present Myanmar. The site is number PYU040) held at the Hanthawaddy accounts. Rigorous archaeological research are other Buddhist sites such as Jaggayyapeta, described as an important Pyu settlement; the Archaeological Museum in Bago, Burma, has shown that the Andaman Islanders were Vaddamanu and Garikapadu, which were also term Pyu being used to define a population and its possible links to the Andhra region. hunter-gatherers who nonetheless made established or enlarged about the same time. group with shared characteristics including Another region of interest is the west coast of the ceramics and kept domestic pigs. They Along the Krishna river, the Kesanapalli stupa funerary customs. Inscriptions from the valley Malay peninsula dotted with caves and shrines appear in textual sources from around the was built in the plateau area and the Bhattiprolu in Prakrit, Pali and Pyu originate from the 3rd to affiliated with both Hinduism and Buddhism. 2nd century CE and radiocarbon dating stupa near the mouth of the river Krishna and 13th centuries CE. It is suggested that the sizes Did these ancient coastal temples have conducted at the large limestone cave known also perhaps the Ghantasala stupa in the of bricks used at Sri Ksetra match those known relevance in the 17th and 18th centuries, after as the Hava Beel Cave on Baratang Island deltaic region. 140 early (300 BCE-300 CE) from early sites in Andhra and date from the the entry of the Europeans in the Bay of Bengal? would seem to confirm that the islands may historic sites in Andhra are known, concentrated 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. 4th and 5th have been occupied from the early centuries along river valleys and the coast. century Buddhist and Hindu artefacts have been of the Common Era onward. Further south, a major Buddhist site on the found in the burial terraces around Sri Ksetra, The coastal temples These links were altered around the Tamil coast was that of Pallavaniswaram at including Buddhist clay sealings and Visnu The temples on the east coast of India 16th and 17th centuries as maritime networks Kaveripumpattinam, which was excavated by images. Around the middle of the 1st millennium were often referred to as pagodas by shifted with the entry of Europeans in the the Archaeological Survey of India over several CE, pottery urns gave way to large stone urns, European sailors and provided an easy Indian Ocean, and with developments of means of identification of regional centres. ship-building technology. It was in the Mahabalipuram, 55 km south of Madras, was 1860s that regular cargo services entered Fig. 2 (right): Danish known by seamen as the Seven Pagodas; the the ocean with the establishment of the fort at Tarangambadi Sun temple at Konarak on the Orissa coast liner companies. The all-weather steam constructed in 1620 by was called the Black Pagoda. Interestingly vessel was larger, faster, safer and more Naval Col. Ove Geddy another temple site referred to in sailors’ reliable than indigenous craft on long-haul with the permission accounts is the White Pagoda, or the temple coastal and trans-oceanic voyages. This of King Raghunath of Jagannatha in Puri, Odisha and the Chinese resulted in the indigenous sailing craft Nayakkar of Thanjavur. The fort consists of two pagoda at Nagapattinam on the Tamil coast. being driven to short-haul marginal and levels. The lower level All these temples were monumental structures feeder routes. Reduced demand for cargo was used as godown, dating from the 9th to 14th centuries CE. Their carrying meant reduction in the number prison and resting construction at strategically chosen locations of vessels being constructed and the area for soldiers while made them easily visible to sailors, merchants closure of traditional boat-building yards. the upper floor was and travellers, when approaching the coast. The skilled manpower required for manning the residence of the The 13th century sun temple at Konarak, on these mechanised vessels could no governor and priests. the shores of the Bay of Bengal, faces the rising longer be provided by the littoral sailing sun. This temple is a monumental representation communities, and this led to the marginal- of the sun god Surya’s chariot; its 24 wheels are isation of coastal groups to traditional decorated with symbolic designs, and it is led by fishing activities. These operations are now a team of six horses. While secondary writings in turn being threatened by mechanisation, refer to Tamil merchant guilds and Arab and the introduction of commercial fishing Persian merchants in the 13th century, much less and coastal degradation. is known about the participation of the Odisha The engagement of the British East India coast in Bay of Bengal’s maritime networks. Company with the countries of the Indian Mahabalipuram is located on the River Palar, Ocean was of a different order from that which joins the sea at Sadras, about 50 km of its predecessors. The establishment of to the north. The site comprises rock-cut cave colonies in South and Southeast Asia resulted temples, nine monolithic shrines known locally in the introduction of new disciplines, which as rathas, three structural temples referred to as had far-reaching implications for the cultural Shore temples, and several rock-cut images that identity of the sea and the communities dot the area along the coast. Human activity in who navigated across it. The 19th century the area started in the Iron Age and continued thus raised a different set of issues with well into the present. Several European the colonisation of large parts of South travellers, such as William Chambers who visited and Southeast Asia. Micro-studies across Mahabalipuram in 1772 and 1776, refer to local disciplines are critical to an understanding memory that mentions several temples on the of the dynamic nature of trans-oceanic coast, some of which are described as having exchanges as well as the diverse communities been swallowed by the sea. Another traveller, involved in these networks. It is nevertheless J.W. Coombes, stated that the pagodas once judicious to include large swathes of time stood on the edge of the shore, and their copper to appreciate the transformations and domes reflected sunlight and served as nautical continuities that characterised trans-oceanic landmarks. There is also evidence of a lighthouse cultural interactions. Coastal architecture on the rocks behind the temples and caves. The and heritage is admired for its aesthetics, so-called Chinese Pagoda at Nagapattinam no but more importantly there is a need to longer survives as it was demolished by French research the monuments within their larger Fig. 3 (above): 14th Jesuits in the 19th century to make way for a cultural networks and links across the seas. century Siva temple college building (fig.4). How do these coastal This deeper history is essential not only on the sea coast at structures inform us about the nature of sailing for the protection and preservation Tharangambadi, across the Bay of Bengal? of maritime heritage, but more so for which continues to be a holistic understanding of sea spaces. worshipped by local communities. Trans-oceanic maritime Himanshu Prabha Ray, Fig. 4 (right): The Research Fellow, Oxford Centre Jesuit college built at connectivity: transformations for Hindu Studies, Oxford Nagapattinam after Maritime connectivity is traditionally demolition of the discussed as a network of shipping routes, Notes Buddhist temple in each linking two or more coastal landing the 19th century. The places. Scholars have argued that before 1 Ray, H.P. 2020 (forthcoming) Coastal building is at present the invention of the steamship, maritime Shrines and Maritime Networks in India used as District Court. navigation was practiced as a circuit rather and Southeast Asia. Routledge. 38 Recentering the Bay of Bengal The Focus Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea

Resistance narratives along the Bay of Bengal border-zones and the expansion of Myanmar's rebellion geography

Maitrii Aung-Thwin In his celebrated book The Glass Palace, Amitav Ghosh writes of the connected lives and experiences of families that tie the main characters to the lands surrounding the Bay of Bengal and the broader Indian Ocean zone during the last century. When read through the experiences of its more prominent characters, the novel highlights how the bonds of family, commerce, and politics stretched across South and Southeast Asia, linking people to places via circuits across borders and the waterways that bridge monsoon Asia.

Above: British forces arrival in Mandalay 1885, photo by Willoughby Wallace. Centre right: U Ottama with prison uniform. Far right: Surya Sen before 1934. All images in the public domain on Wikimedia.

riting about a Burmese temple the waters stretching from the southeastern in north Calcutta, Ghosh relates coast of India, to the western coasts of Whow the temple became a place for Bangladesh-Myanmar, and down the western intellectual framework for understanding this by local politicians, the connections to Bengal's displaced, overseas communities – Gujaratis, coastlines of Thailand and Malaysia as event to its fullest extent. While classic studies anti-colonial activities were entrenched; Bengalis, Tamils, Sikhs, Eurasians – who grew ‘a region’ in its own right.2 applied comparative approaches that expanded legal and ethnographic assertions were up or had spent much of their lives in Burma, Viewing the history of Myanmar within the how the rebellion could be conceptualized within made to create a rebellion topography that but had to flee during World War II. The temple context of the Bay of Bengal has been useful, a regional and global perspective, connecting stretched across the north-eastern and eastern had become a place to gather, celebrate especially in the study of early-modern trade, the series of peasant uprisings in the Irrawaddy coastlines of the Bay of Bengal. Burmese holidays, and to speak in Burmese, religion, and migration to the Arakan region. river delta region to the histories of Madras, It would not be the first time that Bengal which was for many, their mother tongue. In fact, much of Burma’s colonial history might Calcutta, Chittagong, and the Andaman was used as a reference to understand Ghosh’s Calcutta was in some ways more be better understood as a chapter in the Islands reveals the potential that the Bay of rebellion in British Burma. Authorities in connected to Rangoon than it was to Delhi, broader history of Bay of Bengal connections Bengal model offers to Burma Studies. The Rangoon also attempted to connect the 1930 as result of the characters’ life experiences with Burma. The establishment of British Burma Rebellion of 1930-1932 erupted in the Chittagong Armoury Raid to revolutionaries in and movement across the Bay of Bengal. authority over India and neighboring territories rice paddy fields of the Irrawaddy river delta Bengal and Burma. Burma’s most celebrated alongside and across the Bay is one moment region at the height of the worldwide depression ‘political monk’, U Ottama, was also linked to that provides insight into these connections. and the maturing of anti-colonial nationalism sympathetic political groups in British India Bay of Bengal as a region British India’s creation of British Burma in the throughout the British Indian world. Galvanized and other parts of Asia. Viewed from this late 19th and early 20th centuries amplified by a mixture of socio-economic, cultural, angle, there is much room to consider how in its own right pre-existing ties across the Bay but introduced and political grievances, rural rice cultivators, anti-colonial movements and sentiments in For Ghosh, Burma is a place of reference new linkages that altered the intensity of that political monks, and grassroots activists took British Burma were associated with groups and for the book’s main protagonists who move interaction. Cultural, financial, transport, their frustration out on colonial infrastructure conversations beyond its borders. While the beyond its borders, circulating across the educational, legal and penal infrastructure and local representatives of the colonial state. Burma Rebellion of 1930 is almost exclusively Bay of Bengal, but remain emotionally, produced the means to support exchanges and Officials at the time regarded the series of examined within the context of Myanmar’s psychologically, and culturally connected networks across Madras, Bengal, the Andaman uprisings as a political movement aimed at national history, exploring how it was viewed to it despite settling in different locales Islands and Burma Province. At the same time overthrowing the British and resurrecting the by, and connected to, overseas communities and despite official borders. Read from this this very same infrastructure inspired acts of now defunct Burmese monarchy, which had in Calcutta, Chittagong, and the Andaman angle, Ghosh’s The Glass Palace captures resistance and empowerment that sought to been dismantled following the annexation Islands – where convicted rebels were sent the essence of what scholars refer to as weaken the connections across the Bay of of the kingdom in 1885. By 1930, rumors – is one key thrust of future research. ‘inter-Asian referencing’ and provides Bengal border-zone. circulated that a prophesized min-laung readers with a more nuanced understanding (or pretender king) had returned to reassert the Maitrii Aung-Thwin, Associate Professor, of how we might understand what being country's sovereignty and restore Buddhism, Comparative Asian Studies Program/Asia ‘Southeast Asian’ or ‘Burmese’ entails. Creating a rebellion compelling many to believe that the alleged Research Institute/Department of History, The promotion of inter-Asian referencing leader of the rebellion, a former healer and National University of Singapore. and the revival of interest in the connections topography grassroots activist named Saya San, would [email protected] between (and across) South and Southeast Resistance to the establishment of these protect them from harm via his magical Asia is a welcome return for scholars in the infrastructural systems is one way to trace incantations, charms and protective tattoos. Notes field. Scholars have long recognized the the interconnections across the Bay. Rather As local police forces were unable to cope with enduring interaction between the two regions than treating the histories of the Burma the size and breadth of the outbreak, Rangoon 1 Hall, K.R. 2010. ‘Ports of Trade, Maritime and the renewed attention towards the Bay of Rebellion (later called the Saya San Rebellion authorities requested military support from Diasporas, and Networks of Trade and Bengal reminds us of the continuity of broader of 1930-1932), the Chittagong Armoury across the Bay in order to restore order. Special Cultural Integration in the Bay of Bengal interconnectedness.1 At the same time, Raid (1930-1931) in Bangladesh, and the counter-insurgency legislation and emergency Region of the Indian Ocean: c. 1300- inter-Asian perspectives have also attempted Malabar/Moplah Rebellion (1921) of southern powers provided the Burma government with 1500’, Journal of the Economic and Social to transcend the regional distinctions that India within the context of their respective the rationale to arrest and prosecute detainees History of the Orient 53(1-2). earlier area-studies approaches might have national histories, we might take them as under the jurisdiction of special tribunals. 2 Amrith, S.S. 2013. Crossing the Bay of Bengal: the Furies of Nature and the sustained. Just as scholars of borders and part of a connected history of the Indian At first, local authorities were convinced Fortunes of Migrants. Harvard University borderlands have shifted attention to those Ocean, the Bay, and the infrastructure that that a Revolutionary Bengali Party had radical- Press. 3 terrestrial spaces within and alongside nation linked border-zone communities. ized student groups in Rangoon and added 3 Anderson, C. 2013. ‘The Age of Revolution boundaries, the adoption of the Bay of Bengal The Burma Rebellion of 1930-1932, provides local nationalists to a broader network of in the Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, and as a unit of study achieves something similar a case example of how the Bay of Bengal revolutionaries that stretched across the Bay South China Sea: A Maritime Perspective’, by allowing scholars to re-conceptualize might serve as a more appropriate spatial and of Bengal. While this narrative was contested International Review of Social History 58. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 Recentering the Bay of Bengal 39 Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea The Focus

reflected in the literature of the time, for instance Saraladebi Chaudhurani: in the novels of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and in the works of Rabindranath Tagore, as Burma and ‘Greater India’ well as in a number of travelogues and memoirs A prominent political activist and campaigner published in literary journals. for women’s rights, Rabindranath Tagore’s Writing travel By the early twentieth century, travel-writing niece Saraladebi Chaudhurani’s (1872-1945) had developed into an accepted genre of trip took place nearly thirty years later. Unlike Bengali literature and had a ready market Indumadhab, her intended destination was in the numerous literary journals of the time. Rangoon itself, where she had been invited to Indumadhab and Saraladebi’s accounts of the provincial Hindu Conference in Burma in across the their experiences in Burma had a didactic 1931.4 The account of her experiences was later purpose of informing and educating the reading published in a serialised form in the prestigious public about the neighbouring land. However, Bengali journal Bharatvarsha, between 1931 in this endeavour they had to engage with a and 1932. Bay of Bengal readership who were not entirely unacquainted In her role as the leader of the Hindu with the country. Hence their accounts also Mahasabha she hoped to spread ‘the dream’ served to reiterate or controvert commonly-held of ‘Greater India’. While her days were taken assumptions and beliefs. Their writings reveal up by the conference, she arranged to meet Bengali accounts of Burma a range of often-contradictory influences: a wide range of Burmese political leaders in Orientalist assumptions, together with concepts the evenings. Among them were pro-Indian in the early 20th century of anti-colonial universalism, cosmopolitanism nationalists who opposed the separation of and internationalism and the notion of ‘Greater Burma from India – a topic that was at that India’, which stressed India’s civilizational time hotly debated in Burma. Other leaders influence and colonizing presence in other were opposed to Indian presence in Burma. Sanjukta Das Gupta Asian lands in the ‘golden’ days of the past. In fact, in the previous year in 1930, anti-Indian riots had taken place in Rangoon – a major change from the years when Indumadhab had Indumadhab Mallick: Burma, visited the city. Saraladebi considered the anti- Indian sentiment to be a betrayal of the cultural India’s closest neighbour dues that the Burmese owed to India. Believing A philosopher, physicist, botanist, lawyer, that the Burmese were indebted to India for physician, inventor and social reformer, their religion and civilization, Saraladebi was Indumadhab Mallick (1869-1917) travelled to deeply disturbed to hear the popular Burmese China in 1904. Rangoon was the first port of argument that Buddhism came to Burma from call across the Bay of Bengal. He devotes two Sri Lanka, rather than from India, and that chapters to Burma – the first entitled ‘Rangoon’ the Burmese people were Aryans from Tibet. and the second, ‘History and customs of Burma’ Saraladebi subscribed to the ‘Greater India’ – in his travelogue Chin Bhraman [Voyage to concept that had become popular among a China], published in 1911. section of the Bengali intelligentsia of the time. Burmese people, he asserts, were the “closest Buddhism, she argued, played a civilizational neighbours and relatives of India”.3 As the ship role in Burma and had turned the Burmese approached Rangoon he observed that all the into a peaceful people. sampans that gathered around the ship, were Nonetheless, contemporary India, Saraladebi manned by Muslim lascars from Chittagong and opined, had a lot to learn from Burma. Once that no Burmese could be seen among them. converted, the Burmese people stayed true to Neither were any Burmese to be found among their new faith, unlike Hindus in India who never the dock labourers who were all ‘Madrasis’ (i.e., valued their own religion and readily took to the South Indians). The coachmen were upcountry ways of the others. Conversion to Islam, she Muslims from India; the guards, Sikhs; traders noted, had only been possible because Hindus and shopkeepers were Muslims from Surat, lacked any firm conviction in their own beliefs. Chinese, Jews or Persians. While some of the In fact, she declared, ‘Indian religion’ in its shops seemed to be owned by Burmese women original form was today to be found in existence he was astonished by the general absence outside India, in Burma. This had been of Burmese men in any productive capacity. possible because of Burma’s traditional form Most of the Burmese men whom he encountered of education, which required the novice to Located across the Bay of Bengal, Burma and seemed to be “feeble” and “lifeless”. His reside in the house of a Buddhist guru. As a conclusion – which echoed British ethno- result, even the poorest peasants were literate. Bengal have a long history of religious, commercial graphic descriptions – was that Burmese and political inter-connections and migration. men were idle and averse to labour. They preferred to while away their time in pursuit Concluding remarks These connections were strengthened towards of primitive entertainment and leisure. Being The perceptions of Indumadhab and the end of the nineteenth century when Burma childlike, they had no concern for the future Saraladebi were determined by their specific and were happy to live off the labour of their educational background and social and was annexed to the British Empire in India after womenfolk. And, as a result, the women had political interests. Their response to Burma was its defeat in the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1886. an “excessively dominant” role in society. shaped as much by Orientalist assumptions, In the following chapter, Indumadhab as it was by the current nationalist rhetoric This essay traces some facets of the Bengali provides a detailed description of the history of and pan-Asian philosophies. Despite their perception of Burma during the early twentieth Burma. The city of Rangoon, he states, had been anti-British stance, they had internalized much established with five strands of the Buddha’s of the racial and civilizational categorizations century through an analysis of two travelogues hair. But the history of Burma went further back. of the British colonial rulers and expressed written by Indumadhab Mallick and Saraladebi The royal family had been established a few their implicit belief in the ‘primitiveness’ and centuries before the birth of the Buddha by a king backward propensities of Burma. Chaudhurani. These Bengali travellers exhibited belonging to the Sakya clan. The name Burma complex and multi-layered understandings was, in fact, derived from Brahma from whom Sanjukta Das Gupta, Associate Professor Buddhists and Hindus believed that the entire of History, Sapienza University of Rome. of Asia in general, and of Burma in particular. human race originated. The Burmese were all devout followers of the Buddha and Indumadhab Notes discovered that ‘Hindustan’ was considered to owards the end of the nineteenth century, who in his Presidential Address at the Burma be a sacred space and a site for pilgrimage. 1 Chattopadhay, S.K. (1936) 2010. Calcutta, the intellectual and cultural Bengali Literary Conference in 1936 described Indumadhab also discussed at length the ‘Presidential Address’, in Nayak, J.K. Tcapital of British India, became the India and Burma as “distant cousins” and incidents that led to the Anglo-Burmese wars & Bhaumik, P. (eds) Memories, images, focal point of attraction for Burmese students “religion-brothers”, who had accepted the and which culminated in the annexation of the imagination: An anthology of Bangla and who flocked there for higher education. The same spiritual ideology of Buddhist saints.1 country to British India. Although critical of Oriya writings on colonial Burma. Calcutta: Theravada Buddhist rebel monk U Ottama, for Burma, moreover, provided myriad the British role in Burma, he did not question Department of Comparative Literature, instance, studied in Calcutta for three years and opportunities for migrant labourers to earn the British arguments of the oppressions of Jadavpur University, p.34. 2 Ghosh, D. 2016. ‘Burma-Bengal it was largely through his efforts that Burmese a living, or for middle-class Bengalis in search the Burmese king towards the English traders. Crossings: Intercolonial Connections in and Bengali nationalists came to establish and of bureaucratic employment, as well as for In his view the Burmese defeat was ultimately Pre-Independence India’, Asian Studies maintain a close contact. Burmese Buddhist businessmen in search of a fortune. Not only due to the palace conspiracies and intrigues, Review 40(2):156-172. political leaders emphasized the centuries-old was it the ‘golden land’ of infinite possibilities, which he stated were inevitable in all “uncivilized 3 Indumadhab, M. (1906) 2010. ‘Cheen (economic, religious and cultural) ties that it was above all, as Devleena Ghosh points out, countries”. Yet, Burma scored above India Bhraman’ [Voyage to China], in Sen, S. (ed.) Burma had with Bengal. Anagarika Dharmapal, a space where it was possible to shatter and at least in one respect – it had never been Indumadhaber Chin Bhraman, Sarojnalinir one of the founders of the Mahabodhi Society reinvent social norms by circumventing the conquered by Muslims. Hence there had been Japane Banga Nari [Indumadhab’s Voyage in 1891, drew attention to the shared Buddhist constraints of caste and religion.2 Furthermore, no need for the purdah, which accounted for to China, Sarajnalini’s A Bengali Women pasts of Bengal and Burma. This was reiterated Burma became a political haven for Bengali the free public movement of Burmese women. in Japan]. Kolkata: Chhatim Books. by the famous Bengali professor of Indian revolutionaries, particularly those belonging Like other educated Bengalis of the time, 4 Chaudhurani, S. (1931) 1999. ‘Burma Jatra’ [Trip to Burma], in Sen, A. & Roy, U. (eds) linguistics, Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay, to the Anushilan and Jugantar groups, fleeing Indumadhab accepted uncritically the tripartite Pather Katha: Shatabdir Shondhikshone the colonial police in Bengal. Simultaneously, periodization of Indian history introduced by Bangamahilar Bhraman [Tales of the Road: it was a place of detention for Indian political James Mills, which saw the ‘Muslim period’ as Above: Illustration of the Burmese king and queen, Travels by Bengali Women at the end of found in Indumadhab’s Voyage to China. prisoners who were deported and jailed constituting the Dark Ages between the classical the 19th and beginning of the 20th century]. https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.7886/page/n35 in Burma. These varied experiences were past and British modernity. Kolkata: Stree. 40 Recentering the Bay of Bengal The Focus Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea

Changing perceptions of environmental change, vulnerability, and adaptation in the Andaman Islands

Ruhi Deol and Philipp Zehmisch

Since the 1970s, growing consciousness of the impacts of anthropogenic environ- mental degradation and climate change has led to a shift in India’s state policies, from commercial exploitation to the conservation of resources. As in other parts of the globe, the conservation paradigm has created new vulnerabilities, especially related to the subsistence livelihoods of farmers, fishers, and forest villagers. In the Andaman Islands, the impacts of human activity on both marine and forest ecosystems is more visible than on continents or ‘mainlands’, and the vagaries of climate are increasingly Off-shore fishing on an exposed reef in felt. This article reveals in which ways aspects of the conservation discourse impact Ritchie’s Archipelago. Photo by Ruhi Deol, 2016. local perceptions of environmental change in the Andamans. We argue that the 2004 Tsunami functioned as a ‘revelatory shock’ for the island population. Accompanied by the popular conservation paradigm and the rapid rise of tourism in the Andamans, was, however, not uncontested. During colonial times, scientists and administrators the event of the Tsunami triggered both ecological awareness as well as debates working in tropical regions had already on the vulnerability of the islands’ ecosystem and its populace. In some respects, started to warn of environmental and climate change – their warnings came especially local migrants and settlers internalize these vulnerabilities; in others, they develop from tropical islands where the bounded contextual ways to cope, respond, or adapt to their changing environment. optics allowed easier comprehension of the ecological impacts of colonial plantations and timber extractions. This led to what historian Richard Grove referred to as “green Circulations and flows: This heterodoxy has unequivocally altered hunting and gathering communities. Thus, imperialism”;4 protectionist ideals, which the ecology and environment of the islands. apart from drastically altering the ecological were formulated in the colonial period, legacies of Empire The British Empire constructed the Andamans landscape, the colonial will to transform continue to function as the foundation of the The Bay of Bengal is a geographically and as a permanent penal colony from 1858 ‘empty land’ and ‘unproductive’ forests into contemporary global conservation ideology. culturally diverse region. Owing to ancient onwards, using convict labour to clear large commercial resources led to displacement, Initially, both colonial and postcolonial forms of mobility and connectivity such as tracts of tropical forests, dredge swamps, habitat destruction, and near-extinction regimes paid lip service to these ideas, but the trade and periodic expansions of maritime state and to eventually create settlements for of the indigenous population.2 After India 1960s and ‘70s heralded the rise of a global power, the region embodies an intersection rehabilitated prisoners. The colonial project gained Independence in 1947, the exploitation conservationist agenda that could not be of multiple movements of ideas, peoples, and gained another dimension with the formation of of both environment and people continued entirely ignored. The Andaman Islands came goods. These movements intensified during the the Andaman and Nicobar Forest Department in similar ways. Refugee settlers from East to be gradually recognised as a bio-diversity age of imperialism and colonialism, despite the in 1883, which aimed to capitalise on the Bengal, repatriates from Sri Lanka and Burma, hotspot with a high degree of endemism; Bay being (and remaining till today) a highly huge potential of forestry. Timber extraction and landless communities from all over the a hotspot that was, however, environmentally volatile region. Located in a level 5 seismic zone, and export, especially of valuable hardwood Indian subcontinent were settled through degraded as a result of a century and a at the edge of the Pacific Ring of Fire, and in species like Andaman Padauk, formed the main rehabilitation and colonization schemes. In half of resource exploitation without regard a region of high cyclonic activity subject to commercial activity for more than a century this process, roughly 5000 families of Bengali for conservation. Massive deforestation, El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, to follow. Andaman timber, among many settlers were cast as “agricultural pioneers”.3 infrastructure development, and the needs the populations living in and around it are other uses, adorned Buckingham Palace and Characteristic of a specific, localised form of of a constant flow of settlers and migrants exposed to various natural hazards. formed the ‘wooden backbone’ of the Indian settler colonialism, indigenous communities created enormous visible impacts on the As the only large archipelago in the railway network. The increasing demands of the and multiple species were still considered as islands’ ecology: the loss of multiple species; Bay, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Empire, and the two World Wars in between, “wilderness”, and subordinated to settlement the introduction of invasive species; soil are especially susceptible to climatic and meant that felling increased exponentially, priorities. By and large, development continues erosion; damage to littoral, coral reef, and geological stressors. In recent history, they without any thought to scientific management to follow a land-oriented imagination and mangrove ecosystems; and the overall have experienced a devastating earthquake or conservation. Between 1858 and 1951, the practice fashioned by mainland policy-makers. disruption of a fragile ecological balance. followed by a Tsunami (2004), several cyclonic primary forests of the Andaman Islands were “Island vulnerability”, though a key factor in Around the turn of the millennium, conflicts storms, including the Very Severe Cyclonic decimated at a shocking pace. scientific analyses, did not always penetrate over resource management, prevalent Storms ‘Lehar’ (2013) and ‘Gaja’ (2018), and Territorial expansion into the forests also at the level of governance. across India since the inception of the Forest unprecedented coral bleaching through ENSO influenced the social composition of the islands. Department, led to pressure on policy-makers events (2010, 2016). Increasing timber extraction in the first decades to increase indigenous and environmental Lying between the Bay of Bengal and of the 20th century led to the contracting of From exploitation protection. This created a “paradigm shift” – the Andaman Sea, these islands are also a specialized migrant labour forces from the tribal in the words of an official – in the Andaman heterodox space where cultural exchange regions of central India, the so-called Ranchis.1 to conservation Forest Department, from resource exploitation processes, mobilities, and socio-economic Further, in 1925, the Karens from Burma were The settler-colonial framework influenced to conservation of the bio-diverse eco-system. activities converge. Here, assemblages of ideas, given land by the British to increase the zone policy-making processes in post-Independence Such significant changes must be regarded discourses, materials, and species from across of settlement to the Northern parts of the Andamans on various levels, principally as being heavily influenced by a landmark the Indian Ocean world and beyond, create a islands. The population of the penal colony adhering to the imperial ideology of rendering order of the Supreme Court in 2002. The order unique social and cultural landscape, containing and settlement grew in correspondence to the the environment productive through was based on a report submitted by a former multiple histories and possible futures. decline in numbers of the Islands’ indigenous subjugation and exploitation. This ideology bureaucrat, Shekhar Singh, who had conducted The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 Recentering the Bay of Bengal 41 Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea The Focus

fishing, and now tourism, is supplemented by gardening, share-cropping, daily wage labour, and high-value plantations. Collective forms of organization centred on livelihoods, such as fishermen’s associations or farmer collectives, have emerged and gained power. In some cases, they have challenged authoritarian rulings regarding environmental governance, such as the declaration of a marine national park and no-take zones without community consultation or participation. Further, actors have entered electoral politics on rights-based platforms, to represent their communities’ interests. Forms of resistance have also emerged, circumventing administrative dominion through so-called ‘black markets’ for agricultural inputs, or decisions to collectively encroach forest land for subsistence activities and high-value plantations. There is no denying that the State has played, and continues to play, a crucial role in the lives of the settlers. One can observe both collaboration and conflict between the two. Being a Union Territory, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are governed directly by the Central Government in New Delhi, which result in more intrusive, and sometimes ignorant and alienating, decisions. The State’s settlement, development, and economic policies have impacted the indigenous islanders deeply, a fact that is gaining recognition amongst the local settler population as well. Battling environmental change and the Migrant farmer in his field, yielding uneven growth. Photo by Ruhi Deol, 2016. vulnerabilities it produces can be regarded as deeply linked with social justice concerns, and must involve the participation of all a seven-week long survey about the condition common periodization into ‘before’ and ‘after’ occupants, can be interpreted to function as the affected communities, including the of the ecology and the state of protection of the in local memory and ecological consciousness. an attack in defence of an ‘empowered forest’. indigenous populations. This needs to be indigenous islanders. The order included, among Environmental change, occurring for decades, On the other hand, the Andaman Trunk a concerted effort, and foster exchange others: a ban on logging of naturally-grown is now more evident, and climate change, Road has not been closed, in blatant between different entities: governments trees, with some exceptions for plantation wood interpreted by some as being caused by the ignorance of the Supreme Court order, and all their citizens, islands and mainland, and bona fide use by the local population; a Tsunami but by most as having escalated since, citing its economic and development benefits. inland and coastal communities, scholars ban on timber export to the Indian mainland; has entered local discourse. Amongst others, Running through the tribal reserve of the and practitioners. Circulations and flows, the closure of the Andaman Trunk Road perceptions include the decrease in rainfall, Jarawa, this road continues to be used in perceptions of the environment, as well as leading through the reserve of the indigenous leading to drought and falling water tables, a order to exploit the Jarawa and their land, vulnerabilities and modes of adaptation community of the Jarawa; stopping sand corresponding increase in heavy rainfall events, in part through illegal poaching and hunting, discussed here show similarities and con- mining from beaches; the removal of post-1978 causing soil erosion, and a rise in both land and encroachments, barter of illicit goods, and tiguities with wider transoceanic and global encroachers of forest land; and the reduction sea surface temperatures. Farmers, fishers, so-called ‘’ ‘human safaris’, which implies that realities. The incubation of a Bay of Bengal of immigration from mainland India. Though and forest dwellers have started to link climate tourists travel through the reserve in buses or network presents one possibility to foster in parts problematic and still contested, this change to other environmental hazards and vans hoping to spot some Jarawa ‘in the wild’. such collaboration by sharing knowledge and order had long-standing consequences for the the idea of ecological balance (or imbalance) The selective aspects of the conservation research across methodological, semantic, forest and marine environments as well as the has gained ground. paradigm adopted here seem to be furthering and physical borders. islanders themselves. It has helped the forests certain interests at the expense of both the visibly regenerate in the last two decades. settlers and the indigenous population. Ruhi Deol, Department of Geography, However, by redefining the institutional agenda New vulnerabilities and Further, farmers and fishers are facing and Rachel Carson Center for Environment of the Forest Department, it has also made livelihood issues due to decreasing yields and Society, LMU Munich. thousands of workers redundant, increased modes of adaptation and catch. As policies often do not provide conflicts with local businessmen, and imposed Changing policies and perceptions of the them with enough inputs, these communities, Philipp Zehmisch, Lahore University of Management Sciences. harsh measures on so-called encroachers environment impact migrants and settlers’ especially in the most popular tourist islands and poachers. understanding of their own vulnerabilities, of the Andamans, are shifting en masse into too. Forest villagers feel they are rendered the tourist business. However, the state-led socially vulnerable through the very discourse agenda of promoting tourism as a panacea for Notes Local perceptions of of conservation. Stricter enforcement of forest economic development produces unintended laws since the 2002 Supreme Court Order and unwanted side effects. Apart from 1 Zehmisch, P.2016. ‘The Invisible Architects environmental change purport to protect the indigenous communities instabilities of the global tourism industry and of Andaman: Manifestations of Aboriginal This shift in policies was accompanied by and the environment, but also vilify the the world market, mass tourism causes air and Migration from Ranchi’, in Heidemann, F. & Zehmisch, P. (eds) Manifestations of the rise of tourism in the Andamans in the 1980s settler communities. Many settlers have for water pollution, waste problems, as well as History: Time, Space and Community in and ‘90s. According to the Andaman Tourism decades used forest and marine resources for rising prices for commodities and real estate. the Andaman Islands. New Delhi: Primus, Department’s website, the number of tourists subsistence activities such as hunting, fishing, Amongst these myriad vulnerabilities, one pp.122-138. visiting has increased from 10,000 in 1980 to gathering, and utilizing forest produce for can identify modes of adaption on the part of 2 Pandya, V. 2009. In the Forest: Visual almost 500,000 in 2017. The conservationist construction, etc.7 Labelling land occupied the local communities. A standard response and Material Worlds of Andamanese agenda was strengthened through reports ‘with impunity’ by several generations of is to diversify livelihood strategies. Revenue History (1858–2006). Lanham/Plymouth: and plans by environmental organizations migrants as ‘encroachment’ and evicting the generated through traditional agriculture and University Press of America; Sen, S. 2010. and academics suggesting the promotion of Savagery and Colonialism in the Indian sustainable ecotourism and development. Ocean: Power, Pleasure and the Andaman Beyond government policies, the shrinking Islanders. Routledge. 3 Sen, U. 2011. ‘Dissident Memories: resources and space available to the dwindling Exploring Bengali Refugee Narratives in indigenous communities became part of local the Andaman Islands’, in Panikos, P. & discourse through journalistic and civil society Virdee, P. (eds) Refugees and the End of endeavours. Further, interactions with tourists, Empire – Imperial Collapse and Forced service providers and government servants Migration in the Twentieth Century. moulded local perceptions of environmental Palgrave Macmillan, pp.219-44. change. Consequently, the need to conserve the 4 Grove, R. 1995. Green Imperialism: Islands’ fragile marine and forest ecosystems Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens came to be slowly internalised by the populace.5 and The Origins of Environmentalism, 1600–1860. Cambridge University Press. Empirical evidence from our fieldwork 5 Chandi, M., Deol, R. & Shetty, R.S. 2012. with local communities reveals that the 2004 ‘Socioeconomic Monitoring for Coastal Boxing Day Tsunami, which devastated not Managers of South Asia: Field Trials and only wide parts of the Bay of Bengal, but also Baseline Surveys, Havelock and Neil the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, functioned Islands, Rani Jhansi Marine National as a “revelatory shock”6 for the local migrant Park, Andaman Islands’. Port Blair: ANET; and settler population. This watershed event, https://tinyurl.com/repo-chandi apart from the human dimensions of damage 6 Deol, R. 2019/2020. (forthcoming) to life and property, wrought long-term ‘Double Disaster: Impacts of the 2004 tsunami on the Andaman and and large-scale ecological destruction to Nicobar Islands of India’; http://www. mangrove and coral ecosystems, as well environmentandsociety.org/arcadia as to forests and agricultural land through 7 Zehmisch, P. 2017. Mini-India: The Politics subsidence, inundation, and salt-water of Migration and Subalternity in the intrusion. Fifteen years later, the Tsunami Pillar of the Planet, commemorating 125 years of forestry in the Islands. Photo by Philipp Zehmisch, Andaman Islands. New Delhi: Oxford remains the cataclysmic event that creates a April 2009, Chatham Island University Press. 42 Recentering the Bay of Bengal The Focus Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea

groups. The claim-making words (migration, border slip, batch, settlement) form the biggest category, followed by words for authority (commander, department, military), and words for state benefits (paddy land, plot). Words Wording lifeworlds for accommodation (camp, quarter, colony), transport (rail, ship, LCT), and organization (meeting, leadership, group) are primarily Bengali settler women in the Andaman Islands used to describe the period of waiting and being transported from camp to camp before being transported to the island. The settlers’ experiences and major life events like riot form a Raka Banerjee more conceptual category, which offers insights into the women’s subjectivity. Contemporary conditions on the island have led to the incorporation of several words, such as tourist, lodge, agent and tsunami. An analysis of the words not only narrates Partition from the settler women’s standpoint, but also firmly places them as participants in the resettlement process.

Becoming ‘settler women' The permeation of statist vocabulary into the settler women’s speech is indicative of the impact of displacement and settlement on their lives, which is not necessarily configured around a public-private division of spaces and roles. The settler women worked in the household and on the land in order to ‘settle’ on the island. They participated in public meetings about the development of the new settlements. Their lives were less restricted than their mothers’, yet, early marriage, gendered expectations of running the household, and post-marriage The Bengali settler women living in the Andaman Islands Settlers at the jetty. Photo from the collection restrictions on mobility persisted. of Dr. Swapan Biswas. Partition has been studied and narrated from in the Bay of Bengal are witnesses of a long history of a predominantly Bengal and Calcutta-centric displacements and migration. These first generation Womanspeak in perspective, with little focus on the large numbers of people rehabilitated across India. Moreover, settler women – the youngest of whom are now in their understanding identity gendered refugee experiences have found sixties – migrated with their families from East Pakistan The namasudra5 refugees were dispersed limited space within such accounts.8 Inclusion of across India as labourers for the development the voices of settler women, subsumed under the to India after the Partition of India in 1947, and arrived in of inhospitable areas. Their settlement on patriarchal family and the protectionist state, West Bengal. However, the state government unable and the Islands is part of this violent history and living in locations of cartographic and discursive the politics of rehabilitation in post-Partition oversight, can bring out complex narratives unwilling to accommodate their large numbers dispersed India. However, women’s contribution to of their negotiation with the rehabilitation the refugee population to camps across the country. Some the process is hidden and overlooked in the regime. Not only will such inclusion help in study of post-partition resettlement, because understanding women’s contributions to their of the women were born in these refugee camps as their women were not understood to be primary rehabilitation, but also in studying gender and families awaited rehabilitation. Assembled from the camps, owners of land, but simply persons ‘attached’ Partition through the intersectional lens of to the male head of the family unit. caste-class-location and formation of identities. the ‘willing’ refugees were brought to Calcutta where they The permeation of words like migration, started their journey for Andaman from Kidderpore dock. refugee, rehabilitation and settler into the Raka Banerjee, PhD Research Scholar, women’s vocabulary, and the use of the state’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai vocabulary by the women to identify themselves, [email protected] reveals the impact of the rehabilitation process on he words that have entered their back then or else we would have captured these the women’s lives. While discussing the changing vocabulary through these experiences, sights forever. It was a female elephant, very gender norms in island society, Shushila Das Notes especially in the process of settlement intelligent. There was nothing here and a few responded, “We have been freed [shadheen] T 3 in the Islands, can be a valuable resource souls were brought to such a place! (laughs)” by Indira Gandhi, even then everyone should 1 Interview with Shushila Das, Bharatpur for understanding the women’s lifeworlds. 3. The following dialogue with Probha Bawali4 have a sense of judgement … (assertively) it (No.4), Neil Island (Shaheed Dweep), dated The article presents three vignettes from demonstrates the intergenerational changes in depends on each individual as to how they 25 Jan 2019. the island, followed by a discussion on the gendered practices across locations: should conduct themselves.”6 The invocation of 2 Neil consists of five settlements. No.1: taxonomy of the settler women’s lexicon, and the state in a matter as seemingly innocuous as Lakshmanpur, No.2: Neil Kendra, No.3: finally, a note on the importance of female Raka Banerjee: So, what was the first women covering their head demonstrates the Ramnagar, No.4: Bharatpur and No.5: Sitapur. settler subjectivity in writing a gendered wedding – your wedding – on the island far-reaching impact of Partition. It exposed the 3 Interview with Shushama Roy, Bharatpur account of Partition rehabilitation. like? Was it in keeping with all Bengali settler women to the functioning of the state and (No.4), Neil Island (Shaheed Dweep), dated rituals and customs? placed them in an ‘everyday’ relationship with the 24 Jan 2019. Probha Bawali: Yes, in observance of all state. In the first vignette, we find the words boat, 4 Interview with Probha Bawali, Ramnagar Vignettes from Neil customs and rituals. We were living next to facility and mainland indicating a change in the (No.3), Neil Island (Shaheed Dweep), dated 1. Reminiscing the scarcity of resources on each other, when we were in No.1 we used subject’s location away from the mainland and 25 Jan 2019. the island during the initial years of settlement, to live next to each other in the quarter. My on to the island where they faced hardship over 5 Lower-caste population in Bengal who Shushila Das says “There was not a thing in aunt-in-law and my mother arranged the material scarcity, while simultaneously locating were the worst affected of the Partition Neil. We had to boil the seawater to make salt. marriage. I was merely 13 years old. I couldn’t the Bengali settler community’s marginal position refugees and had little or no resources to The boat service wasn’t regular. Over time these study for too long either, while living in Uttar in the island’s local economy in the present day. start over in India. 6 ibid note 1 facility improved. So much so, one needn’t Pradesh I attended school for 2-3 years. After In the second vignette, the words jetty 7 Sen, U. 2011. ‘Dissident memories: go to Port Blair in preparation for big events coming here, I wasn’t sent to school and was and LCT are used in narrating an incident of Exploring Bengali refugee narratives in the anymore. One can find everything right here. married off early. My father used to say, transporting elephants off the island, which Andaman Islands’, in Panayi, P. & Virdee, The mainlanders [mainland’er lok] have taken what’s the point in educating a dark girl! [kalo must have been a public spectacle for the P. (eds) Refugees and the End of Empire: over the market, all non-Bengalis [obangali], had meye r porashona koraye ki korbo!] (laughs) settlers; Shushama Roy chose to juxtapose Imperial Collapse and Forced Migration our settler families been proactive no one would RB: In Bangladesh, women’s lives were mostly the departure of the animals with the arrival of during the Twentieth Century. New York: have been able to take over the market!”1 restricted to the household … the settlers to the wilderness, to better express Palgrave MacMillan, pp.219-244; Sen, U. 2. The settler’s brush with the ‘wild’ comes PB: Yes the irony. The third vignette, read alongside 2017. ‘Memories of Partition’s “Forgotten out strongly in Shushama Roy’s recollection: RB: … and they would observe purdah … Shushila’s assertion, indicates the changing Episode”: Refugee Resettlement in the Andaman Islands’, Südasien-Chronik - “Men could not go out for fear of elephants. PB: Yes gender norms for the settler women over time, South Asia Chronicle 7, S.147-178. There were 14 elephants. The mahout’s [elephant RB: … did that change while in the camp or where women’s honour and respectability 8 Menon, R. & Bhasin, K. (1998) 2017. Borders minder] house was close to our land. The after coming here? are shown to be closely governed by the & Boundaries: Women in India’s Partition. elephants used to drag the huge trunks till the PB: It didn’t change in the camp. There were logic of the public domain. The word settler 70th Anniversary Edition. New Delhi: Kali jetty, then they would be loaded. Before we people from different places, right. After refers to a category devised by the state to for Women. Reprint, New Delhi: Women had come, we heard, that a man in No.5 2 was coming here, well, now, no one cares for set apart a group of refugees as ‘pioneering Unlimited; Butalia, U. (1998) 2017. The Other killed by the elephants and then the elephant such rules – not even in the villages. agriculturalists’ who would contribute to the Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of crossed the sea and went off to Havelock. But RB: In the camp, there must have been development of the island.7 The statist category India. New Delhi: Penguin Books. Reprint, this is something we have only heard. When many people and perhaps it wouldn’t be is used by the population to identify themselves New Delhi: Penguin Random House India; Bagchi, J. & Dasgupta, S. (2003) 2007. the elephants were to be taken away, the feisty possible to stay indoors all the time … and to assert legitimacy of claim over social, The Trauma and the Triumph: Gender and ones refused to board the LCT (light cargo PB: Even so! It’s up to the person to maintain economic and political resources. Partition in Eastern India, Vol.1. Kolkata: transport), there was one obedient elephant their dignity [jar shonman tar kache]. Even A taxonomy of the words according to their Stree. Reprint, Kolkata: Stree; Chakraborty, who went ahead and boarded the LCT and to this day, my mother – we don’t cover our meaning constructed by the settler women, P. 2018. The Refugee Woman: Partition then one by one all the elephants were guided head – but my mother still won’t give up which may or may not differ from the words’ of Bengal, Gender and the Political. New by it to board the LCT. There were no cameras covering her head. dictionary meaning, offer eight thematic Delhi: Oxford University Press. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 Recentering the Bay of Bengal 43 Connected spaces in an inter-Asian bordersea The Focus

to contribute financially. The Ganga Pūjā had been suspended entirely in the years following cyclone Aila in 2009, but fishermen helped to reinstate the festival. One of these fishermen, Mano, explained the importance of the ritual, and told me how he calls on Ganga Devi when venturing out on the river to collect his nets. Water and human- “She can give so many fish and crabs”, he explained; “She can make you rich, give you a big house, anything”. The ritual was sponsored with these hopes in mind. nonhuman agency in For Mano and others living along the river’s edge, however, Ganga Devi is not just a goddess of plenty; she is also a protective maternal figure. The fishermen I met in the Sundarbans India’s Sundarbans call on ‘Ganga Ma’ for protection on both water and land. As Mano explained to me, the earthen embankment holding back the river is fragile. The Gram Panchayat – a local village-level Calynn Dowler elected body – is responsible for embankment maintenance, but the funds allocated for embankment repair do not always reach the intended recipients. As a result, breaches are The brackish waters formed where the Ganges- frequent. When saline river water washes in, Brahmaputra river system meets the Bay of Mano and his neighbors call on Ganga Devi: “Mā! Bān˘˙cāo!” [Mother, save us]. Bengal not only sustain the world’s largest I was struck by the complex entanglements mangrove forest, they also play a critical role of human, nonhuman, and supernatural agency that animated the Ganga Pūjā I attended. in the lives of the more than 4.5 million people With these thoughts in mind, I returned home. who call the Sundarbans home. Over the past Later that night, water began falling to earth in a manner that recalled the myth of Ganga century, the mangrove forest has been partially Devi’s thundering descent from the heavens. cleared and settled, and today, more than During the storm, a bamboo Ganga Pūjā pandal 8 alongside the river was toppled. 3,500 km of earthen embankments snake across Riding my bike through thick mud along the embankment the next day, I found a group of the 54 inhabited islands of the West Bengal fishermen repairing the pandal and delicately Sundarbans, separating low-lying villages and repainting the mūrti. They were preparing the goddess for her eventual bisarjan, which refers rice paddies from vast saline rivers. Life in the to the ritual immersion of the mūrti in the river region depends upon the constant negotiation of that concludes Bengali Hindu festivals. The moment stayed with me: the figure diverse flows of water. Survival is shaped by the of a river goddess, destroyed by rain, rhythm of tides, abundant monsoon rains, and repaired only to be submerged in water once A statue of the Hindu river goddess Ganga is transported again. Anthropocene discourses that cast the seasonal replenishment of freshwater lakes, from the home of the artisan to the riverside for pūjā. Sundarbans islanders only as victims of global Sundarbans, West Bengal, India, June 2019. Photo by ponds, and aquifers. Attention to the everyday author Calynn Dowler, all rights reserved. climate change reveal little of the everyday texture of these sorts of engagements with ways in which coastal communities engage with unruly waterscapes. It is true that those who water brings diverse forms of human, natural, that water is not just a resource flowing live in the Sundarbans are affected by forces through abstract space, but a culturally beyond their own control. However, as Ganga and supernatural agencies into a common and experientially meaningful substance Pūjā demonstrates, people in the Sundarbans analytic frame, allowing for a more nuanced that constitutes the places people inhabit.6 also engage in ritual actions that temporarily Understanding the Anthropocene in the order the uncertain waterscapes in which they discussion of human-nonhuman relationships Sundarbans involves recognition of global dwell, and in so doing exert intentions and in a context of global environmental change. forces that act on the local waterscape and agencies of their own. render it unruly and precarious, as well as an awareness of how this precarity is negotiated Calynn Dowler, Anthropology locally. Below, as a brief example, I consider Department, Boston University n 2018-19, I spent 18 months researching Sundarbans are seldom incorporated. As Arne the role of religion and ritual in a precarious shifting meanings of water in the West Harms points out, when Sundarbans islanders riverine waterscape. IBengal Sundarbans. During that time, do appear, they are usually filtered through a I collected oral histories and conducted victimization frame that casts them as the Notes participant observation and semi-structured “hapless objects of nature’s whims”. Sundarbans Ganga Pūjā in the interviews with domestic water-users, islanders’ vulnerability is offered as proof of 1 Harms, A. 2015. ‘Dwelling in Loss: Sundarbans’ unruly Environment, Displacement and Memory farmers, fishers, NGO staff, and local climate change to convince skeptical audiences 1 waterscape in the Indian Ganges Delta’. Unpublished government officials. While most academic in the global north. Little attention is paid to Dissertation, Berlin: Free University; p.90. and policy discourse on the Sundarbans islanders’ own experiences and understandings In June 2019, I joined a group of fishermen 2 DeLoughrey, E.M. 2019. Allegories of the delta approaches water as either a threat of the natural world, which might diverge from for Ganga Pūjā on a riverine char 7 next to Anthropocene. Duke University Press; p.2. to be contained or a scarce resource to hegemonic Anthropocene framings. the Bidhyadhari river in the West Bengal 3 Chakrabarty, D. 2008. Provincializing be managed, I came to focus on everyday Scholars in the social sciences and Sundarbans. It was a heavy, hot day. We Europe: Postcolonial Thought and engagements with water, including its cultural humanities increasingly call for a more sweltered under a plastic tarp and listened to Historical Difference. Reissue, with a new and religious significance. My research diverse range of perspectives in work on the recitations of the Brahmin priest. Across the preface by the author. Princeton Studies explores what the waters of the Sundarbans the Anthropocene. As Elizabeth DeLoughrey Gangetic plains, the Ganges river is venerated in Culture, Power, History. Princeton mean to those who navigate them daily, argues, “Anthropocene scholarship cannot as the goddess Ganga Devi. On Ganga University Press. 4 In her discussion of ‘tidalectics’, and how changes in the waterscape are afford to overlook narratives from the global Dussehrā, festivals are held to mark the day DeLoughrey (see note 2) draws on the experienced and understood. I argue that a south, particularly from those island regions the sacred river is said to have descended from work of Barbadian poet and scholar focus on coastal communities’ engagements that have been and continue to be at the heaven to earth via the Lord Shiva’s matted Kamau Brathwaite. The concept of with water can contribute to current efforts forefront of ecologically devastating climate locks. The temporary Ganga Devi statue ‘tidalectics’ draws on island geography to ‘provincialize the Anthropocene’. change”.2 DeLoughrey points to a need to bring [mūrti] constructed for the occasion took the and the cyclical nature of tides to critique postcolonial and indigenous perspectives into shape of a beautiful young woman with hair the linear synthesizing nature of the conversation with Anthropocene scholarship, flowing past her waist. The goddess sat atop European dialectic. ‘Provincializing’ and to ground universalizing Anthropocene her vehicle, known as a makara, represented 5 Swyngedouw, E. 1999. ‘Modernity and discourses in specific contexts. Much as in Hindu mythology as a fantastical aquatic Hybridity: Nature, Regeneracionismo, and the Production of the Spanish Waterscape, the Anthropocene postcolonial studies sought to ‘provincialize’ creature in the shape of a crocodile or dolphin 3 1890-1930’, Annals of the Association of The Anthropocene looms large in the discourse of Europe, scholars today must or a combination of both. She wore a white sari American Geographers 89(3):443–65; contemporary discussions of the Sundarbans. work to ‘provincialize’ the Anthropocene. This with golden trim, flower garlands, and a gold https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/ Scientists understand the term Anthropocene demands “a multiscalar method of telescoping and fuchsia crown, evoking her status as abs/10.1111/0004-5608.00157. as the current geological age, in which human between space (planet) and place (island) in a goddess of good fortune and plentitude. 6 Orlove, B. & Caton, S.C. 2010. activity has come to shape the earth. The a dialectic or ‘tidalectic’ way to see how they For fishermen in the Sundarbans, rivers ‘Water Sustainability: Anthropological term is commonly invoked in discussions mutually inform each other”.4 are an important source of livelihood. Approaches and Prospects’, Annual of anthropogenic climate change, which Focusing on local waterscapes offers Approximately three decades ago, Ganga Review of Anthropology 39(1):401-15; scientists argue poses an existential threat to one possible way to provincialize the Pūjās became common along this stretch of https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev. low-lying coastal regions like the Sundarbans. Anthropocene. The concept of a waterscape river due to an increase in fishing for tiger anthro.012809.105045. 7 The Bengali word char refers to Such predictions should undoubtedly be taken (or water-produced landscape) can help us prawn hatchlings. In recent years, however, sandbanks/alluvium that appear and seriously, but unfortunately the Anthropocene think about how culture and power interact demand for prawn hatchlings has dropped, disappear in the shallow riverbeds of the discourses remain overwhelmingly rooted in at multiple scales over time to produce hybrid and fishing has declined. Ganga Pūjā lower Gangetic plains of deltaic Bengal. scientific communities in the global north, while socio-natures.5 Beyond this, the concept celebrations have similarly been reduced; this 8 Pandals are temporary structures, usually the perspectives of people from places like the of waterscape brings attention to the fact year the organizers struggled to get families erected for the veneration of deities. 44 The Adspace

IIAS offers an annual award for the best national master’s thesis in the broad field of Asian Studies, in the Netherlands

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Thesis Prize 2020 Submission

Please submit four hard copies of the master’s thesis and a cover letter including the grade awarded and your contact details.

Submissions should be sent to: Secretariat International Institute Photography © John Osias-Eunice Photography for Asian Studies (IIAS) P.O. Box 9500 2300 RA Leiden Application deadline: 1 November 2020 The Netherlands For further information email: [email protected] The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 Preserving stories The Endangered Archives Programme 45 (EAP) is dedicated to the digitisation Report The Network of any kind of archive that is at risk of being lost forever

The Endangered We live in a world of incredible cultural diversity, which over the last century has been increasingly threatened by global capitalism. In many countries a response to this has emerged Archives Programme in a growing nationalism, an assertion of local, specific culture. But this is an equal threat to the diversity of voices, Towards a different kind of collection stories and ways of being that make up every culture. And if we cannot preserve these stories, these alternative ways of being, we will be poorer, subject to the flattening out that is Sam van Schaik the end result of both globalisation and nationalism.

The Endangered Reaching out to Buddhist families in Kathmandu and Patan, Thapa found that many were Archives Programme Left: EAP749/12/1/1 - An old wooden statue of Tangtong concerned about preserving their traditions, and There is no easy solution to this, and some Gyalpo. Tangtong Gyalpo’s face and body have been keen to have their fragile manuscripts digitised recently repainted golden, his hair black. The statue was would argue that change and development cleaned and painted in bright colours prior to the 1996 for posterity. As with other EAP projects, these are inevitable. No doubt they are, but Kalachakra initiation at Tabo monastery. The statue manuscripts were catalogued as family archives remembering is also what makes us human. was blessed and consecrated by His Holiness the Dalai rather than separated by external categories Lama at that event. On the reverse of the statue a strip And a rich memory gives us more ways of of yellow cloth covers the space inside the statue that such as genre or format. Thus the manuscript thinking about our future as well. This is the contains written prayers. The statue is unclothed. Approx holdings of these Buddhist families were belief and motivation behind the Endangered 350 mm high. The material is owned by Jigmed Thakpa recorded in a way that allows us to understand Archives Programme, which was established and has been handed down through several generations. All the materials in the archive are kept within the prayer much better what the texts meant to them. by Lisbet Rausing (Arcadia Fund) in 2004. She room of the house. In the nineteenth century, British colonial summarised the aims of the programme thus: officials in Kathmandu, such as Brian Hodgson, collected Sanskrit manuscripts “The Endangered Archives Programme or had manuscripts copied especially for captures forgotten and still not written them by local Buddhists. These manuscripts histories, often suppressed or marginalised. are now in the university libraries of Oxford It gives voice to the voiceless: it opens a and Cambridge, the British Library, and the dialogue with global humanity’s multiple Royal Asiatic Society. They are vital sources pasts. It is a library of history still waiting for understanding Buddhism, in many cases to be written.” containing the earliest Sanskrit versions of Right: EAP749/10/1/1 - A narrative thangka key Buddhist texts. Yet their original context is The Endangered Archives Programme illustrating the story of hard to establish; which families owned them, (EAP) is dedicated to the digitisation of any Drowa Zangmo. Early were they still in use, how were they acquired? 21st century. New kind of archive that is at risk of being lost Thangka commissioned Moreover, the choice of manuscripts forever. This includes manuscripts, documents, from Sonam Angdui in reflects the British collector’s own interests photographs, sound recordings, newspapers Kaza. The material is in reconstructing the history of Buddhism, owned by Meme Gatuk and magazines. A huge variety of material has Tenzing and has been rather than recording the collections of been digitised under the programme, from handed down through contemporary practitioners. ancient Arabic manuscripts to photographs several generations of The digital collections created by Shanker of the everyday life of Buddhist monks in head Buchen. All the Thapa with the support of vajracharya materials in the archive 1 Laos. How does this work? are kept within the prayer families are different: here we see the logical Individuals or teams propose projects room of the house. Image structure of family collections, and we can to EAP for funding, and if successful, work (Melong) size 790 x 555 understand the part the manuscripts play mm. Full mounted size wherever the archives are located, to survey 1365 x 900 mm. in their own practices, and their relationship and digitise them. The archives are not taken with those who rely on them for rituals. Thus away, and the digitised images or recordings in a single collection we see, for example, stay in the country where the archives are prayers to Buddhist deities, along with mantras found. Copies are sent to the British Library, to be chanted for a long life, astrological the home of the EAP, and these are shared on texts for divination, and tantric texts for the the programme's website (eap.bl.uk). Over accomplishment of enlightenment. There are seven million images and recordings are now Left: EAP790/2/15 - fewer of the famous Buddhist canonical texts available on the website, a massive and diverse Manuscript containing than in Hodgson's collections, and this reflects digital collection crossing multiple regions and the Sutra of Five which texts were (and still are) actually used in Protectors, from the fields of study. These collections are only made collection of Suprasanna the Kathmandu Valley. This gives us a different available with the consent of their custodians, Vajracharya. perspective, one more closely aligned to that of for research and greater understanding, the custodians of the manuscripts themselves. and not for commercial gain. Supporting the collections A holistic picture The Endangered Archive Programme continues to give grants to applicants on of a tradition an annual basis with a call going out every Many of the major museum and library September (eap.bl.uk/grants). For those collections in Europe are the direct result of interested in exploring the digital collections, the collecting activities of colonial explorers, Buchen consider themselves to be the spiritual of their tradition, based on the logic of their they are freely available on the programme's soldiers and administrators. As such, these descendants of the 15th century saint Tangtong own practice, rather than the categories of website (eap.bl.uk/search/site). These collections represent the interests and Gyalpo, a visionary adept in meditation who is European museum and library collections. collections are held in trust for the original prejudices of these people, rather than the also thought to have designed and constructed owners and their descendants, and offer the values and practices of the original custodians over fifty iron suspension bridges in Tibet, potential for an approach to research based of the material. This has directly affected how and to have invented the Tibetan tradition of The custodians on a greater understanding of the custodians generations of scholars have conceptualised opera known as Ache Lhamo. It is this latter The Kathmandu Valley is one of the culturally of the traditions, who have preserved and the cultures that they study. In Buddhist achievement that links him to the Buchen, who richest regions in the world. It has also been transmitted them through to the present day. traditions, for example, the study of manuscripts use art and performance to communicate the the site of massive urban development in has favoured canonical textual traditions with essentials of Buddhist teaching: the round recent decades, and was hit by a tragically Sam van Schaik, Head of the Endangered their roots in India, or the works of well-known of rebirth and the role of karma. destructive earthquake in 2015. In the medieval Archives Programme, The British Library individuals. The way that these manuscripts The collection of a single Buchen comprises period, the valley was a hub connecting the [email protected] formed part of personal or monastic collections manuscripts in the Tibetan loose leaf form Buddhist cultures of India and Tibet, and home has largely been ignored. known as pecha, containing both ritual to renowned experts in the Vajrayana, the In two projects funded by EAP between 2012 texts and stories to be used in performance. texts and practices of tantric Buddhism. These Notes and 2016, Patrick Sutherland surveyed and Alongside these are thangka paintings, used teachings have been passed down through photographed the collections of a group of to illustrate Buddhist principles, musical the centuries in family lineages of Vajrayana 1 Kominko, M. (ed.) 2015. From Dust to Buddhist ritual specialists called Buchen.2 Living instruments such as the kogpo, a six stringed teachers known as vajracharyas. These Digital: Ten Years of the Endangered in the Pin and Spiti valleys of Himachal Pradesh, wooden instrument, and statues of the families hold rich collections of manuscripts, Archives Programme. Cambridge: Open India, the Buchen are a class of Buddhist ritual Buchens’ patron saint Tangtong Gyalpo. which are now under threat from the forces of Book Publishers. 2 Sutherland, P. & Tsering, T. 2011. Disciples practitioners and storytellers whose traditions The ritual accoutrements of a Tibetan Buddhist modernisation and environmental catastrophes. of a Crazy Saint: The Buchen of Spiti. are now under threat. Recognising this, practitioner are also present, including the In 2013, Shanker Thapa, of Tribhuvan Oxford: Pitt Rivers Museum. several Buchen families worked together with metal vajra and bell, the rosary, amulet boxes University in Kathmandu, started an EAP- 3 Thapa, S. 2005. Newar Buddhism: History, Sutherland to document their manuscripts, and ritual daggers, swords and bows. Thus funded project to identify and photograph the Scholarship and Literature. Lalitpur, paintings, and other religious objects. The the Buchens’ collections offer a holistic picture manuscript collections of vajracharya families.3 Nepal: Nagarjuna Publications. 46 Humanities across Borders Street food practices in Dakar The Network Report Programme and its environs

Right: Forox-caaya. Photo by Bruno Diomaye Faye. Below: Preparation of lunches in large pots placed inside, around or in front of the restaurant. Photo by Jeanne T. F. Diouf.

Street food practices in Dakar and its environs

Bruno Diomaye Faye, Jeanne Thérèse Fatou Diouf From 5-7 July 2019, Jeanne Thérèse Fatou Diouf and Assane Kébé conducted a survey and Assane Kébé on street food in Dakar (Senegal) as part of the project Atelier Populaire: Building New Knowledge and Practices on Street Food in Saint-Louis, Senegal, led by Gaston Berger University, Saint-Louis, one of the participators in the Humanities across Borders programme at IIAS.1 On 27 October 2019, Bruno Diomaye Faye visited Saint-Louis in a similar capacity. The main objectives of this project include the creation of a resilient urban community and the organisation of an experimental school and street food festival. In this article, the authors reflect on what they encountered during their research and offer a window to the changing cultural world of ‘food’.

Delicious food across In the above exchange that lasted less ‘canteens’,2 or private garages converted On his field trip to Saint-Louis, a three than five minutes, the pride and ownership into catering spaces, or metal and wooden hour bus ride from Dakar, Bruno came across borders of the vendor comes through clearly. What kiosks on the side of the road or fixed to a a similar set-up at one of the stops along the Bruno to vendor: Are you a Moor? made Bruno ask the vendor if he was a Moor? wall. The majority of the places offer very way (Ngoumba Guéoul, 91 km from Saint- Vendor: I am a Pulaar (an ethnic group Why did the vendor respond thus? What basic facilities. Some have simple tables set Louis). It was quite a large place, with a shop, from Senegal) sir, and I am from Aere does this exchange say about the dialogues in the open air; some in full sun, while others, a refreshment bar, a fast-food restaurant, Lao. You can't read? It's nevertheless well and practices around food? Food, practice, like breakfast sellers, tie sheets together to toilets and a large courtyard. Several types written on my beautiful stove! ... I know cuisine, food preparation, food-related create a form of shelter. The makeshift nature of food were displayed on the cement and this way of preparing meat better than identity and a whole spectrum of aspects of the physical structures seems to match the tiled tables standing side by side in front the Moors. It is a job, like any other, that related to food can belong to a specific clientele consisting of commuters, workers, of the restaurant. There were people in red does not belong to any ethnic group. group and yet have the capacity to cross shoppers and other visitors. T-shirts who all seemed to belong to the same (Exchange between forox-caaya sales- both cultural and geographic borders. The food preparation facilities are usually establishment. There was also a table with man and Bruno at Ngoumba Guéoul, quite rudimentary: stainless steel, plastic and eight coffee and tea thermos cans, and a a stopover 91 km from Saint-Louis.) glass containers, spoons, dishes, a gas stove music system broadcasting Islamic songs. Spaces, flavours, sounds or coal furnace, plastic tubs for cleaning, Depending on the location and the type Forox-caaya in Wolof (pronounced a few 20-litre oil cans recycled into water of food, you encounter several types of vendors. forokh thiaya) is the shortened form of and aromas of street vending reserves and a stack of newspapers used for At markets, for example, lunch is usually prepared forokh thiaya neex dibi, which in Wolof When we started the survey on street packaging. In the middle of the day, it is also by women who have moved to the capital to literally means ‘dirty pants but delicious food in Dakar and its environs, the impressive common to find a salesman immediately next devote themselves to the restaurant business. meat’. This popular expression in Senegal number of shops alongside the busiest roads door who, after the meal, offers local sweets In residential neighbourhoods, breakfast comes from a joke about the Thiaya, immediately struck us, giving the impression and fresh juices or coffee and tea. vendors are generally local residents who set which are baggy pants typically worn by that the whole city had turned into a street These canteens and makeshift eating spaces up on a corner near their homes to offer food the Moors. The word forokh here should food market. There was a buzz of sounds, can be found near all major arteries, markets, to neighbours and passers-by. There are also not however be taken in the first degree smells, voices, languages, and colours; a rush bus and taxi terminals, schools, hospitals and a large number of migrants from sub-regions (dirty), because it can also designate of yellow-black taxis honking away, buses large companies. They are sometimes cleared (Hausa of Niger, Fulani of Guinea, Moors) who something with a fermented taste, so and the constant flow of passengers. by the municipality, which struggles to cope tend to sell meat prepared in a unique way. The delicious. Forokh thiaya is here a way On every street corner, various food outlets with the congested sidewalks, yet their physical clientele is just as diverse, ranging from bus and to explain in a joyful yet teasing way seem to compete for customers with other structures seem to fit in well with the constant taxi drivers, market and construction workers the excellent taste of this preparation. types of businesses. These places are either flow of people through the city. from nearby sites, to students and families. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 47 Report The Network

We were amazed by the growing sales daily.” Khady, another vendor was Food preparation: ideas Towards a street food trend among Senegalese to eat outdoors. of a similar opinion. Apart from fish-rice, Before the 1990s, for cultural reasons, she prepares mafé, white rice and peanut and judgements manifesto eating out was formally forbidden, as was sauce, supp-kànja, white rice and okra Breakfast is often prepared at home This survey was undertaken as part of to buy and eat food on the street. In fact, sauce, and other examples of ‘two pots’, and, if desired, warmed up just before being the HaB project, Atelier Populaire: Building it was prohibited to eat anywhere else than all Senegalese dishes. The dishes on her served to customers. However, in some places New Knowledge and Practices on Street Food in the family home, with the only exception menu reflect the clientele that she caters breakfast dishes, such as omelettes, french in Saint-Louis, Senegal, by project volunteers. being family events, such as baptisms, to. Around 5 p.m., small tables or kiosks are fries, roasted meat and fried potatoes, are This project, led by Gaston Berger University, weddings and funerals. Eating in public set up and offer ‘fataya sandwich’, ‘accra cooked in the presence of the customers. Saint-Louis, aims to create a local community was considered very ‘risky’. Growing up sandwich’ and ‘bread-thon’, which are This is part of the concept of tangana [it is of slow food activists, practitioners, consumers, with these taboos, eating on the street is still increasingly popular, especially in residential hot] and refers to the place where the food agriculturists, food processors and packers, extremely difficult for the older generation. areas. At 7 p.m., millet porridge [laax], is cooked, which is often very hot because researchers, students, and politicians, to This is not the case for the generations that millet couscous [ceere, caagiri] and also the same cramped room is used as a kitchen collectively build a fair food ecology in Saint- followed; young students, for example, dishes from sub-regions [latiéké] are served and a dining room at the same time. In some Louis. The various activities undertaken by the developed the habit because they spend in the main streets. Later in the evening, places, lunch is also prepared on the spot in volunteers of the project have helped them the whole day at school, away from home; there are many sellers of chicken, liver or large pots in front of the restaurant. see street food as a window to understanding and some woman nowadays work outdoors, grilled meat sandwiches. The way meals are prepared is an important the diverse worlds of food, people, cultures, not in their homes, and no longer have the All of us noted the fluidity of the food, matter. Abdallah, one of the stall owners, told ecologies, economies, food practices and more. time to cook like they used to. As a result vendors, origin, customers, structures, us: “Since I am Muslim, I cannot eat or sell This reflection is based on a survey and of these developments, street food has spaces and tastes. All familiar, and taken- directly what comes from Europe, because I fieldtrip, which are just the first of more to become a convenient alternative for for-granted, sights for the people who live do not know what we did to cut”. He added, follow. Another survey that has been recently modern Senegalese families. here, yet when they were asked to consider “Happiness sought in the afterlife must be completed is on the louma [weekly market] them in the context of the survey, the reflected in every profession. If the work is not in areas of central Senegal. In the near future, layers and stories of the food and people well done, one cannot gain access to salvation. there will be a second phase of investigations As many customers helped them place street food in broader We lose twice: we get tired of looking for money on louma, but in the northern areas of the perspectives. here, and tomorrow, before God, it will be a country. There is also a very special investigation as there are tastes The food served at these canteens and difficult report”. He believes that, after the in the works, which will explore ‘how Saint- Depending on the time of day, a variety other spaces is of single-origin or taste, difficult conditions of life on earth, Africans Louis eats’. These surveys are essential for of meals and tastes are served to the diverse yet not quite. The fataya sandwich is of cannot run the risk of losing salvation in the the other main objectives of the project, namely clientele. For breakfast, for example, sales- Lebanese origin. It is a much-loved choice. afterlife. That is why he does not give in to the the creation of a resilient urban community women present bowls on a table containing The sandwich is a delicious little stuffed ease of using meat that comes from Europe. and the organisation of an experimental different sauces so that they can prepare meat slipper (beef, chicken, fish, seafood) Meat should be labelled ‘halal’ to at least school and street food festival. sandwiches tailored to each individual found on West African markets. When eaten reassure the consumer. For many like Abdallah, customer. These are consumed either on- on the go, it is quickly wrapped in paper and the entire preparation chain is a very serious, Bruno Diomaye Faye, project assistant, site or taken away, wrapped in newspaper. bagged. Accra niébé, so-called in Senegal, even personal matter, especially for reasons Phd candidate at Université Gaston Arame’s table displays bowls containing Ghana and Nigeria, are doughnuts of related to Islamic (halal) precepts. Berger de Saint-Louis [email protected] mayonnaise, tuna, pea sauce, spaghetti, haricot found throughout Africa. Some of Amid the colours, smells and stories, french fries, canned meat, ndambé (local these foods have been transformed over the we could not help but notice the different Jeanne Thérèse Fatou Diouf, project bean stew), etc. He adds seasonings and years. The thick millet porridge accompanied standards of hygiene in the preparation of volunteer, student at l'Université spices (chilli, pepper, broth) to suit the by sweet curd, long consumed by peasants, food. When we brought up the issue, some Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis taste of his customers. also has a less thick variant, fondé, which of the sellers said they were in good standing [email protected] At lunchtime, most dishes are served is eaten in urban areas for dinner or as a with the State Services in charge of hygiene Assane Kébé, project volunteer, student with rice. The favourite Senegalese dish, dessert. Laax and Caagiri are very popular control, and that they had all their documents at l'Université Gaston Berger de ceebu jën (fish-rice), is cooked everywhere. for particular occasions, such as baptisms in order. They also pointed out that customers Saint-Louis [email protected] However, because of the different kinds of or the end of Ramadan. Forokh Thiaya is are generally very demanding when it comes people passing through the city and with a meat soup usually prepared and sold by to hygiene issues. Listening to their answers, people willing to try out more dishes, most Moors. The vendors walk around with an oven we wondered what meaning the Senegalese food stalls offer more than just one dish. mounted on wheels or with an aluminium and others attach to the concept of 'hygiene'. Notes Ñaari cinn [lit. two pots] refers to all dishes container carried on their head, to keep When the three of us sat down to discuss our 1 https://humanitiesacrossborders.org/ that are prepared in two separate pots: the meal warm, and paper to pack the meals experiences, it emerged that while a vendor projects/atelier-populaire one for the white rice and the other for the to go. Rice is undoubtedly the staple food will respond in terms of state services and 2 Premises of variable dimensions built sauce. Arame shared: “There are as many for lunch. For dinner, bread still occupies official papers, the customer will refer to side by side in markets or along busy tastes as there are customers. You have to a central place along with products made the cleanliness of the place, the utensils, roads and intended to accommodate prepare as much as possible to have good from cereals (couscous, porridge, etc.). or even the appearance of the vendor. businesses.

Above: Canteen, an extension of the house. Photo by Jeanne T. F. Diouf. Left: One of the concrete food-stalls, Ngoumba Gueoul. Photo by Bruno Diomaye Faye. 48 The Network Report

Connections and disconnections UKNA ‘Ambivalent Infrastructures’ Xiaolan Lin symposium Dimapur, Nagaland, India 28-30 November 2019

University Delhi Center for Community Knowledge); Transnational Approaches to Infrastructure (organized by Hong Kong University Faculty of Architecture); Rethinking Himalayan Infrastructures (organized by Ambedkar University Delhi School of Global Some of the participants at the UKNA symposium. Affairs); Infrastructure in the Age of Global China (organized by NYU Shanghai); and et in Dimapur in northeastern India, this The event started on an inauspicious note The meeting started with a guided Infrastructure in the Future City (organized international symposium looked at large- that highlighted the geopolitics and remaining excursion led by the Heritage Publishing by IIAS). The papers of the absent Chinese Sscale infrastructure developments and ‘disconnections’ in Asia, which stand in stark House in Dimapur, who introduced all participants were read out loud by the their functions, meanings, and wide-ranging contrast to the discourse of ‘connections’ remaining participants to local places of panel chairs. implications for cities and their hinterlands. emphasized by governments and development interest, including a series of mushroom The symposium concluded with a The symposium’s location was appropriately banks planning infrastructure networks in domed pillars, the Rajbari ruins. The excursion roundtable session on Saturday, leading chosen; residents of this urban center who the region. Our Chinese colleagues Zhe Ren, continued with visits to some of the major most of the participants to express their until recently moved around on unpaved roads Xiaoxuan Lu and Ye Liu were promptly deported infrastructure projects around Dimapur. keen interest in publishing the papers and will soon find themselves situated on one of from Nagaland for unclear political reasons During the lunch break, the group visited the keynote speech, preferably both in the Asia’s East-West economic corridors. Dimapur (see the personal account below, entitled the Bamboo Emporium, a reserch center and form of journal articles and an edited book. was formerly a tertiary city, very much on the “An 8 hour stay in Nagaland” by Zhen Ren). retail outlet for bamboo, which also offers It was agreed that an editorial committee periphery, but this is about to change as there Another Chinese colleague, Yifei Li from New bamboo workshops and a craft museum— would be assembled to work on the are advanced plans to connect this region York University Shanghai, was notified mid- a good place to learn about the various uses production of an introductory chapter, to the rest of India and Southeast Asia. travel about the ongoing developments and of bamboo in, among others, construction, based on the papers, for an edited book. had to abort his itinerary, not making it further furniture making, foodstuffs, and textiles. The symposium was an initiative of the than Delhi. So, unfortunately, the symposium The next day, Dr Kekhrie Yhome of the IIAS’ Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA) had to take place without them, robbing Kohima Institute gave a very inspiring Xiaolan Lin, Deputy Coordinator, Urban Knowledge Network Asia and Ambedkar University Delhi’s Center for our Chinese colleagues of the opportunity opening keynote speech about the historical [email protected] Community Knowledge (CCK) and the School to present their research in person, and ‘connectedness’ and ‘disconnectedness’ of of Global Affairs (SGA). It was co-organised depriving them and the other researchers of the Northeast Indian states vis-à-vis the rest For more information about UKNA contact: with Hong Kong University’s Faculty of an intensive exchange of views and debates, of India and Asia. This was followed by five Paul Rabé, UKNA Coordinator based at Architecture, New York University Shanghai, which is, of course, one of the main purposes panels on the following topics: Experiencing the International Institute for Asian Studies, and the Kohima Institute, Nagaland, India. of conferences such as this one. Infrastructure (organized by Ambedkar Leiden, the Netherlands [email protected]

An 8-hour stay in Nagaland

Zhe Ren

n 27 November 2019, I landed at started negotiating in local languages on Dimapur Airport in Nagaland, in our behalf (Nagaland is known for its diverse Onortheastern India, to participate ethnicities and languages); they explained in UKNA’s symposium 'Ambivalent that we had an official invitation letter from Infrastructures'. There were many others the Chief Secretary of Nagaland, that the attending the conference, and the small state government had promised freedom airport was buzzing with foreigners from of activities for the participants, and that Above: Catching the night train out of across the world. We were excited to have we had a visa issued by the Indian consulate. Nagaland arrived, but that is when our strange After waiting for more than an hour, a police Right: Dimapur train station. experience began. officer informed us that they could not make a decision and that we had to go to a police station in the city. We were escorted by local Dimapur airport staff and a policeman on a scooter. Foreigners visiting three of India’s north- catch a flight the next day. Later that Dimapur station eastern states (Nagaland, Manipur, and evening, however, the local staff explained A police officer accompanied us to the Mizoram) are required to register at the local City police station we had to leave Nagaland by night train and railway station, apologizing many times in police station upon arrival. In recent years Twenty minutes later, we arrived at that the police had already arranged our English. His comment, "I am sorry to let you have it has become easier for foreigners to travel Dimapur East Police Station, which turned tickets. Perhaps they wanted to rid themselves such an experience in this corner of the world", to this region, with the exception of Pakistani, out to be just opposite our hotel. So we first of an awkward situation as soon as possible. was unforgettable. We arrived at the railway Bangladeshi, and Chinese nationals; they dropped off our luggage, and then headed The train would take us to Guwahati, the station at 20:30; a shabby train was waiting still need special permission. Therefore, as a over to the police station, accompanied by capital city of Assam state where foreigners at a platform crowded with people waiting to Chinese national living in Japan, I contacted a few Indian scholars and the local staff. can stay without registration. From there, we board. It was a disheartening sight. Two police the Indian consulate in Tokyo before travelling, Eventually, an officer returned our passports could easily reach Delhi or Kolkata. The police officers who awaited us handed us our train and they advised me of all the necessary with a smile, but it was still not certain if officers gracefully allowed us to wait in the tickets, and then took a group photo as proof documents. Then, during my layover at Kolkata we would be granted permission to stay. hotel lobby until departure time. that we had left the state. After that, the police airport, I mentioned my destination to the We excitedly talked about the history of After learning about our situation, the were so kind as to arrange a private, quiet and immigration officer, but he waved me through China and India, appreciating that, with symposium organizers were furious and comfortable place for us to rest before boarding. without comment. At this point, I was confident a history of war and many other issues, it is suggested that all participants should move to When we boarded our sleeper coach, many that all my documents were in order, and understandable that the police had to keep Assam. Realizing that this was impracticable, colleagues escorted us to our seats. It was I would have no trouble reaching Dimapur. an eye on Chinese nationals. At the same time, they looked into the possibility of holding the heartwarming, but our feelings were otherwise Upon arriving at Dimapur airport, everyone we thought, Nagaland is far away from the meeting in a town just across the Nagaland mixed; we had been expecting academic presented their passports to the airport conflict areas between China and India and border. However, this might even be more discussions at the conference and instead police, as had been instructed. All passports there are no official regulations to prohibit troubling to the police if they knew that the were confronted with an unexpected expulsion. were quickly returned to our group, except any Chinese from coming. Otherwise, surely, three Chinese nationals would be 'active' The train started moving slowly, and the police for the Chinese passports. There was no we would have been stopped at Dimapur right at the border. Moreover, although it officers waved us goodbye. Three Chinese who problem with the visa; the only problem airport, or even in Kolkata. Nevertheless, soon would only be a twenty-minute drive from did not know each other 8 hours previously, was our nationality. Having registered with after, the final decision came that we had to Dimapur, the Chinese scholars would have embarked on a journey together to a strange the police, further action was apparently leave the state within 24 hours. to travel by train from Guwahati, a further place. But that is a story for another time. required. The airport police were clearly At this time, the airport had already closed six hours away. We agreed that it was all too uncomfortable, and were not quite sure how and the only way to leave was by train or car, much and, unfortunately, we had to accept Zhe Ren, Institute of Developing Economies, to proceed. The local (symposium) staff soon so we assumed we would stay the night and that we could not attend the conference. Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 49 Report The Network

intensive university, offering bachelor’s, master’s and PhD programmes; most of them are taught in English. The master’s programme of Critical Heritage Studies of Asia and Europe Double Degree Programme is provided by the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) at the Faculty of Humanities. LIAS houses the School of Asian Studies, with well-developed programmes in ‘Critical Heritage Studies focusing on China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The research and education of the Institute relies on a dynamic synthesis of area expertise and disciplines of Asia and Europe’ in the humanities and social sciences. The one-year Leiden MA curriculum in Critical Heritage Studies of Asia and Europe (60 EC; European Credit Transfer and Elena Paskaleva Originally a concept coined by the nation-state, heritage has become the Accumulation System) includes courses in Asian Studies, Thesis and Methods, and object of intellectual reclamation by academics, activists and associations. Critical Approaches to Heritage Studies, and Institutional and non-institutional social actors in Asia and in Europe are a number of electives that focus on heritage management, specific parts of Asia, or the increasingly involved in debating the legitimacy as well as the need to study of an Asian language. The writing of ‘safeguard’ different expressions of culture. Who controls heritage? What an MA thesis forms an important part of the curriculum (15 EC). The programme examines, is the role of heritage in the constructed narratives of nationalism? How is among others, key issues, concepts, and heritage being used as a cultural practice to shape the discourses on nation- international frameworks related to the disputed distinction between tangible and building and nation-branding? If you have a special interest in heritage studies, intangible heritage. you can study Critical Heritage of Asia and Europe at Leiden University. The courses offered at Leiden University explore the genesis and working practices of international heritage administration, charters and conventions. Furthermore, the social impact of heritage themes such as diaspora, ethnicity and nationalism are debated. In this context, special attention is paid to the museum as a facilitating actor in the process of understanding and showcasing cultural identity. Prof. Michael Herzfeld is involved in the Leiden programme by giving additional guest lectures and providing tutorials to all heritage students.

National Taiwan University Both the Department of Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts and the Graduate Institute of Building Above: Young girls in hanbok in the gardens of Gyeongbokgung and Planning, College of Engineering are Palace, Seoul. partners in the Double Degree Programme. Left: Street art Seoul 2019. The Department of Anthropology, established in 1949, became the first academic institution in Taiwan to offer a full programme of anthro- pological study from undergraduate to PhD level. The Department of Anthropology offers Leiden programme of ethnic cleansing and religious persecution. Certification a two-year MA curriculum in Heritage Studies The master’s programme of Critical Heritage Although cultural heritage is legally protected, As far as certification is concerned, upon that requires 40 NTU credits plus the writing Studies of Asia and Europe was established in and its ruination in times of armed conflict successful completion of the Double Degree of a thesis. The curriculum officially leads 2013 in collaboration between the International is widely considered a war crime, most of Programme, students obtain the following to a degree of Master of Arts. Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) and the Leiden the targeted sites have been considerably diplomas and certificates: the Leiden University The Graduate Institute of Building and Institute for Area Studies (LIAS). The courses damaged and their reconstruction has MA diploma in Asian Studies and a special IIAS Planning was established as an independent allow you to explore the contested character become a complex political conundrum. certificate for completing the MA programme graduate institute in 1988. It offers a two-year of all representations of culture, the plurality Giving a voice to the different stakeholders Critical Heritage Studies of Asia and Europe, master's curriculum in Heritage Studies that of notions of heritage in Asian and European engaged in the reconstruction projects and the partner university master’s diploma and requires 39 NTU credits plus the writing of contexts, and the ways conflicting values of providing a nuanced discussion on the political a separate certificate for the Double Degree a thesis. The curriculum officially leads to indigenous and official state discourses are circumstances that led to the destruction Programme in Critical Heritage Studies of Asia a degree of Master of Science. negotiated. In the last couple of years, the of world heritage sites will be the topic of a and Europe, issued by IIAS. Within the Double Degree Programme, programme has been attracting an increasing new course to be offered within the Leiden students with a Leiden MA receive a waiver number of international students with diverse programme of Critical Heritage Studies of of NTU credits, and they can use their Leiden- academic backgrounds. Following the success Asia and Europe in the summer semester of Fees and scholarships based thesis for their MA thesis at the of the master’s programme, LIAS decided 2021. In addition, the new course will acquaint National Taiwan University. to open admission to all tracks of Asian students with the legal framework prohibiting at Leiden University Studies for the first time in the academic targeted destruction of heritage (The Hague We are very happy to announce the Yonsei University year 2019-2020. Convention, 1954; The Geneva Convention extension of the Leiden University Excellence Established in 1987, the The programme focuses in particular on Protocol, 1977, etc.) and will introduce them Scholarship (LExS) to Double Degree students Graduate School of Inter- the politics of heritage and the questions of to key concepts of critical heritage studies in from all partner institutions. Annually, national Studies is Korea’s its legitimacy. The process of heritage-making the context of transnationalism, globalisation Leiden University provides a number of LExS leading professional graduate entails various forms of conflict over the and decolonisation. scholarships that reduce the total tuition school of international studies. definition, ownership, and use of cultural to the statutory tuition fee, which is €2,143 The dynamic and rigorous curriculum attributes. These issues are widely covered in the 2020-2021 academic year. equips students with theoretical knowledge in the curriculum, which includes the Double Degree Programme In addition, all Double Degree students and practical skills necessary to excel compulsory courses Critical Approaches Following the MA degree at Leiden receive a monthly scholarship of €500 for globally, in the private and public sectors. to Heritage Studies taught by Dr Elena University, students also have the opportunity the duration of 10 months from the Inter- The Graduate School offers a two-year Paskaleva, Critical Museology taught by to pursue a Double Degree Programme, national Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS). curriculum in Heritage Studies that requires Dr Mariana C. Françozo, and a number of which is offered by Leiden University, the This scholarship is arranged upon successful 48 Korean credits, which officially leads to electives that focus on specific regions of International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) admission at Leiden University and all a degree of Master of Science. The programme Asia, and the study of Asian languages. and one of our Asian partner universities, partner universities. at the Graduate School of International Once a term, Professor Michael Herzfeld including the National Taiwan University Studies requires the Double Degree students delivers guest lectures and meets with all and Yonsei University in South Korea. to successfully attend two compulsory classes student during individual appointments. The Double Degree programme includes Partner institutions plus a series of elective courses. Students may a one-year MA course in Asian Studies (60 EC) opt for writing a thesis, based on their Leiden New Course: The Politics at Leiden University, which, upon completion, work, which will provide additional credits. of Destruction: Targeting is recognised as part of an independent two- year MA programme at one of the Asian partner For additional information regarding World Heritage universities. In this way, students from the the programme Critical Heritage Studies of Asia and Europe or the Double Heritage is always political. Targeting National Taiwan University and Yonsei University Degree Programme, please contact: world heritage sites has led to the deliberate can spend the second year of their two-year shattering of history and national identity MA at Leiden University. Vice versa, graduates Leiden University Dr Elena Paskaleva (LIAS) worldwide. Massive intentional destruction of the Leiden University MA programme do Established in 1574 Leiden University is the [email protected], or of cultural heritage has been employed a consecutive second year of heritage studies oldest university in the Netherlands. It is Dr Willem Vogelsang (IIAS) in recent decades as a dogmatic tactic at one of the partner institutions in Asia. an internationally oriented and research- [email protected] 50 The Network Announcements

Amsterdam University Press Recent titles in Asian Studies

Amsterdam University Press (AUP) has a well-established list in Asian Studies, renowned for its solid source-based publications in the history, religion, politics, migration, and culture of the peoples and states of Asia. The Asian Studies programme is strengthened by a number of book series, focusing on a special topic or an area of study. Three of the AUP Asian Studies series are published together with IIAS: 'Global Asia', 'Asian Heritages' and 'Asian Cities'.

From the Series published with IIAS:

Neighbourhoods for Future Challenges the City in Pacific Asia of Cities in Asia

Kong Chong Ho. 2019. Gregory Bracken, et al. (eds) 2019. From the IIAS Series Asian Cities From the IIAS Series Asian Cities

Neighbourhoods and the City in Pacific Asia The ten essays in this third Edited Volume of looks at local collective action and city government the IIAS Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA) responses and their impact on the community and engage with some of the most critical urban the city. By adopting a multi-sited comparative questions of the near future across Asia. These approach in studying local action in five important questions comprise socio-economic and cultural cities in East Asia (Bangkok, Hong Kong, Seoul, transitions as a result of urbanization; environmental Singapore and Taipei), the book enables comparisons challenges – especially questions of climate change, across a number of key issues confronting the city: natural disasters, and environmental justice; and heritage (Bangkok and Taipei), community involved the challenges of urban infrastructure, built form, provisioning of amenities in a number of different and new emerging types of urban settlements. contexts (Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore), place The essays demonstrate that it is increasingly making versus place marketing (Hong Kong). difficult to conceptualise the ‘urban’ as one The collaborative efforts city governments establish particular type of settlement; rather, it would be with local communities become an important way more accurate to say that the ‘urban’ characterises to address the livability of cities. a global transition – in the way we are beginning to think about settlements. https://www.iias.asia/books/neighbourhoods-city- pacific-asia https://www.iias.asia/books/future-challenges- cities-asia

From other AUP Asian Studies Series:

Scott Pacey. Michiel Baas (ed.) Stéphane Gros (ed.) Lan Anh Hoang Chui-fun Selina Ho. Victoria Eaves-Young. 2020. 2020. 2019. & Cheryll Alipio (eds.) 2019. 2019. 2019. Buddhist Responses to The Asian Migrant's Frontier Tibet. Patterns Museum Processes in Writing Japan's War Christianity in Postwar Body. Emotion, Gender of Change in the Sino- Money and Moralities in China. The Institutional in New Guinea. The Diary Taiwan. Awakening the World. and Sexuality. Tibetan Borderlands. Contemporary Asia. Regulation, Production of Tamura Yoshikazu. Series: Religion and Society Series: New Mobilities in Asia Series: Asian Borderlands Series: Transforming Asia and Consumption of the Art Series: Asian History in Asia Museums in the Greater Pearl River Delta Region. Series: Asian Visual Cultures

For the entire Asian Studies collection, please visit: https://www.aup.nl/en/academic/discipline/asian-studies The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 51 Announcements The Network

Workshop report: The Belt and Road Initiative and its Reflections

Mehdi Amineh and Willem Vogelsang

n 15 January 2020, IIAS attended a workshop at the Chinese Academy Oof Social Sciences in Beijing, in the context of the joint IIAS-CASS international research programme on China's Belt and Road Initiative. Papers under production were discussed as well as the further development of the programme.

The present research programme is entitled The Geopolitical Economy of the Belt and Road Initiative and its Reflections. It is jointly coordinated by Mehdi Amineh, Director of the Energy Programme EPA at IIAS (EPA-IIAS), IIAS Deputy Director Willem Vogelsang, and Zhang Yuyan, General Director of the CASS Institute Above: Workshop at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. of World Economics and Politics (IWEP-CASS). It is the third international research programme atmosphere, with open and encouraging of the Belt and Road Initiative; Laszlo Maracz Further development co-managed by EPA-IIAS and a CASS institute. discussions of the papers submitted by the (Amsterdam University), Evaluating the The day after the workshop, EPA-IIAS This current programme concentrates on researchers involved in the programme. Zhang Hungarian Partnership in the Chinese BRI Director Mehdi Amineh met with Director the international and transnational activities also concluded the meeting, reflecting on Project; REN Lin (IWEP), The Belt and Road Prof. WANG Yongzhong and staff of the of and responses to Chinese corporations in the papers presented and on the programme Initiative and Global Governance; SONG Jin Energy Security Division of IWEP-CASS a number of selected countries in Asia, Africa, in general. Plans for the future were discussed, (IWEP), Industrial Structural Change in China to discuss the further development of and the European Union. The programme including a proposed series of meetings during and Industry Incentives to Participate in BRI, the programme. The meeting resulted in also studies the impact of related multilateral the 12th International Convention of Asia from the Perspective of the Supply Side; plans to expand the cooperation, working institutions set up by China, the regional Scholars (ICAS 12) in 2021 in Kyoto, Japan. TIAN Xu (IWEP), Western Balkans with together on joint research on the study and global reception of such multilateral The papers that were discussed are European Characteristics or Chinese of energy supply security (oil and gas) institutions, their relationship to the activities currently being prepared for publication Characteristics?; Willem Vogelsang (IIAS), and energy transition and alternative and policies of Chinese corporations, and in a new book series and peer-reviewed BRI and Afghan-Chinese Relations: Another resources in the context of the Belt and how these institutions could alter the existing journals, including: Quagmire?; WANG Yongzhong (IWEP), Facts Road Initiative. regional and global order. More details Mehdi Amineh (IIAS and Amsterdam on China’s ODI in Belt and Road Countries; about this and the previous programmes are University), Towards Theorizing and Jeroen van Wijk (Maastricht University), Case Mehdi Amineh, available on the IIAS website at: www.iias.asia/ Conceptualization of the Belt and Road Study on the Political and Economic Impact Director of the Energy Programme programmes/energy-programme-asia Initiative; Melanie van Driel (Utrecht of Chinese Developments in Ethiopia in the EPA at IIAS (EPA-IIAS) The workshop in Beijing, which was University), China’s Statist Energy Relations Context of BRI; XU Xiujun (IWEP), The Belt opened by IWEP-CASS Director Zhang Yuyan, with Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan; and Road Initiative and Third-Party Market Willem Vogelsang, was conducted in a very lively and positive FENG Weijiang (IWEP), The Political Economy Cooperation. IIAS Deputy Director

New IIAS Programme: The Forum on Health, New Chair of Environment and Development (FORHEAD) Taiwan Studies at Leiden University and IIAS

Dr Jennifer Holdaway. Dr Táña Dluhošová.

tarting from 1 February 2020, the new Chair of Taiwan Studies at Leiden s of 1 January 2020, FORHEAD has problems in China and promote the more Jennifer Holdaway SUniversity and IIAS is occupied by moved its international base to the effective uptake of existing knowledge. It Jennifer Holdaway became an IIAS Dr Táña Dluhošová, from the Oriental Institute AInternational Institute for Asian Studies has fostered the development of a cohort fellow in January 2020. As co-director of of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, (IIAS), where FORHEAD co-director Jennifer of professionals able to work effectively on FORHEAD, she will continue to coordinate Czech Republic. She will be staying until Holdaway is now affiliated and will continue these issues from a perspective that is holistic the network and its efforts during her the end of June 2020, to teach a course in to coordinate the network and its efforts. and problem-oriented rather than narrowly affiliation with IIAS. Jennifer was formerly Taiwanese history and culture at the Leiden discipline-based or technical. Our focus is on a Program Director and the China University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS). The Forum on Health, Environment and environment and health challenges associated Representative at the Social Science She will also continue her research into Development (FORHEAD) is an interdisciplinary with rapid industrialisation, the intensification Research Council and a Senior Research Taiwanese elite families at both LIAS and network that brings together natural, medical of agriculture and urbanisation. Fellow at the University of Oxford School IIAS. Dr Dluhošová has developed several and social scientists to explore the implications of Global and Area Studies. She holds innovative, interdisciplinary methodological of environmental and social change for public a BA in Chinese Studies from Oxford approaches to the study of social change health in China and beyond. Programme focus University and a PhD in Political Science in Taiwan. Environmental and social change have FORHEAD’s work has evolved through from the City University of New York. powerful impacts on public health, but several stages from field mapping, through Her writing on environment and health The Chair of Taiwan Studies is supported interactions between natural and social the building of the network and development and on various dimensions of migration by the Department of Cross-Strait Education systems are complex and fluid. Understanding of research sites through small grants and and development has been published of the Ministry of Education of the Republic and addressing them requires diverse forms summer institutes to a focus on specific issues in journals including the China Quarterly, of China, the Faculty of Humanities of Leiden of knowledge and the engagement of multiple through working groups. the Journal of Contemporary China, University, and the International Institute actors. In China, the situation is complicated In this current phase, the focus will be on Social Science and Medicine and the for Asian Studies. See page 3 for the Call for by the sheer pace of change and by the fact distilling and disseminating the findings and International Migration Review. Applications for the Chair of Taiwan Studies that different regions and populations face experiences of the FORHEAD network through starting in September 2020. different problems as the result of their diverse additional publications and curriculum Coordinator: environmental conditions and development materials that can be used by a wide range of Jennifer Holdaway, pathways. different institutions. We will also be exploring [email protected] Since 2008, FORHEAD has sought the implications of China’s experience for Websites: to strengthen the knowledge base for other countries, particularly in the context of www.iias.asia/programmes/forhead responding to environmental and health China’s growing international engagement. www.forhead.org/en_index.html 52 The Network Research

he Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA) is an inclusive network that Tbrings together concerned scholars and practitioners engaged in collaborative IIAS Research, Urban Knowledge research and events on cities in Asia. It seeks to influence policy by contributing insights Network Asia (UKNA) that put people at the centre of urban governance and development strategies. Networks, The UKNA Secretariat is at IIAS, but the network comprises universities and planning institutions across China, India, Southeast Asia and Europe. Its current flagship project and Initiatives is the Southeast Asia Neighbourhoods Network (SEANNET).

www.ukna.asia IIAS research and other initiatives Coordinator: Paul Rabé [email protected] are carried out within a number Clusters: Asian Cities; Asian Heritages of thematic, partially overlapping research clusters in phase with contemporary Asian currents and EANNET is about research, teaching built around the notion of social and dissemination of knowledge Son Asia through the prism of the Southeast Asia agency. In addition, IIAS remains neighbourhood. The programme is supported by a grant from the Henry Neighborhoods open to other potentially significant Luce Foundation, NY (2017-2020). topics. More information: Through case study sites in six selected Network (SEANNET) cities in Southeast Asia (Mandalay, www.iias.asia Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, Surabaya), SEANNET seeks to engages the humanistic social sciences combination of participatory field-research, in a dialogue with urban stakeholders in-situ roundtables, workshops, conferences, as co-contributors of alternative knowledge publications and new forms of pedagogy IIAS research clusters about cities. This is done through a developed in collaboration with local institutions of learning. SEANNET’s second ambition is to help shape and empower Asian Cities a community of early-career scholars and This cluster deals with cities and urban practitioners working on and from Southeast cultures with their issues of flows and fluxes, Asia. SEANNET’s research teams comprise ideas and goods, and cosmopolitism and international and local scholars, students connectivity at their core, framing the existence from local universities, and civil society of vibrant ‘civil societies’ and political micro- representatives, all working together with cultures. Through an international knowledge the neighbourhood residents. network, IIAS aims to create a platform for scholars and urban practitioners focusing on www.ukna.asia/seannet Asian cities ‘in context’ and beyond traditional Coordinators: Paul Rabé western norms of knowledge. [email protected] and Rita Padawangi Singapore University of Social Sciences Asian Heritages [email protected] This cluster focuses on the uses of culture and Cluster: Asian Cities cultural heritage practices in Asia. In particular, it addresses a variety of definitions associated with cultural heritage and their implications for social agency. The cluster engages with a broad range of related concepts and issues, including the contested assertions of ‘tangible’ and ‘intangible’, concepts such as ‘authenticity’, The Forum on Health, Environment ‘national heritage’ and ‘shared heritage’, and, in general, with issues pertaining to the political and Development (FORHEAD) economy of heritage.

Global Asia The Forum on Health, Environment and Asia has a long history of transnational Development (FORHEAD) is an interdisciplinary linkages with other parts of the world, thereby Inetwork that brings together natural, medical shaping the global order, as much as the world and social scientists to explore the implications at large continues to shape Asia. The Global of environmental and social change for public Asia Cluster addresses contemporary issues health in China and beyond. Also see page related to Asia’s projection into the world as well 51 of this issue. as trans-national interactions within the Asian region itself. In addition IIAS aims to help develop www.iias.asia/programmes/forhead a more evenly balanced field of Asian Studies Coordinator: Jennifer Holdaway by collaborating in trans-regional capacity [email protected] building initiatives and by working on new types Cluster: Global Asia of methodological approaches that encourage synergies and interactions between disciplines, regions and practices.

nitiated by IIAS, this programme involves Leiden University in the Netherlands, two IInstitutes at National Taiwan University in Taiwan and one at Yonsei University in South Double Degree in Korea. Discussions with other possible partners in Asia are ongoing. The programme offers Critical Heritage Studies selected students the opportunity to follow a full year study at one of the partner institutes of Asia and Europe with full credits and a double degree. The curriculum at Leiden University benefits from the contributions of Prof Michael Herzfeld (Harvard) as a guest teacher and the Senior Advisor to the Critical Heritage Studies Initiative of IIAS.

www.iias.asia/programmes/critical- heritage-studies Coordinator: Elena Paskaleva [email protected] Cluster: Asian Heritages The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 53 Research The Network

Asian Borderlands Research Network (ABRN)

Leiden Centre for Humanities across Indian Ocean Studies his network focuses particularly on the border regions Borders: Asia & Africa between South Asia, Central/East and Southeast Asia. TThe concerns are varied, ranging from migratory move- in the World ments, transformations in cultural, linguistic and religious he Leiden Centre for Indian Ocean practices, to ethnic mobilisation and conflict, marginalisation, Studies brings together people and and environmental concerns. ABRN organises a conference Tmethods to study the ‘Indian Ocean in one of these border regions every two years in co-operation World’, aiming to co-organize conferences, with a local partner. workshops and academic exchanges with The 7th ABRN conference, Borderland Futures: Technologies, institutions from the region. Together with o-funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Zones, Co-existences. will take place in Seoul, South Korea, IIAS, the Centre facilitates an inclusive and (New York, USA) this IIAS programme (2017-2021) 5-27 June 2020. global platform bringing together scholars Cfor global collaboration on humanistic education is and institutions working on connections carried out by a consortium of twenty-three leading institutes www.asianborderlands.net and comparisons across the axis of human in Asia, West Africa, Europe and the United States, and their Coordinator: Erik de Maaker interaction with an interest in scholarship local partners in Asia and Africa. Its goal is to mobilise the [email protected] that cuts across borders of places, periods development of a global consortium of universities and their Cluster: Global Asia and disciplines. local partners interested in fostering humanities-grounded education. Its substantive vision is that of an inclusive and www.iias.asia/programmes/leiden- expanded humanities. To this end, the program will initiate centre-indian-ocean-studies methodological interventions in teaching and research Cluster: Global Asia to surpass narrow disciplinary, institutional and ideological agendas. The programme facilitates border-crossing meetings, workshops and other collaborative pedagogical formats in Energy Programme its partner geographies. Jointly conducted, these events aim to shape a curricular matrix and framework for humanistic Asia (EPA) education across borders. The New Silk Road. Follow the stories on the Humanities across Borders Blog humanitiesacrossborders.org/blog he new joint research programme between IIAS-EPA China's Belt and Road and the Institute of World Politics and Economy of the www.iias.asia/hab TChinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing is entitled Initiative in Context Clusters: Global Asia; Asian Heritages The Political Economy of the Belt & Road Initiative and its Reflections. It aims to investigate the policy, policy tools, and impacts of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. By focusing on China's involvement with governments, local institutions, he International Institute for Asian and local stakeholders, it aims to examine the subsequent Studies has recently started a new responses to China’s activities from the local to the global- Tproject of interdisciplinary research Africa-Asia, geopolitical level in the following countries: Kazakhstan, aimed at the study of the Belt and Road Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Initiative of the Chinese government, with A New Axis of Hungary, the West Balkans, and Russia. special attention given to the impact of the ‘New Silk Road’ on countries, regions and Knowledge www.iias.asia/programmes/energy-programme-asia peoples outside of China. Coordinator: M. Amineh [email protected]; [email protected] www.iias.asia/programmes/newsilkroad Cluster: Global Asia Cluster: Global Asia frica-Asia, A New Axis of Knowledge’ is an inclusive transnational platform that convenes scholars, artists, ‘A intellectuals, and educators from Africa, Asia, Europe, and beyond to study, discuss, and share knowledge on the intricate connections and entanglements between the African and Asian world regions. Our aim is to contribute to the long-term establishment of an autonomous, International intellectual and academic community of individuals and institutions between two of the world’s most vibrant Convention of Asia continents. We aspire to facilitate the development of research and educational infrastructures in African and Scholars (ICAS) Asian universities, capable of delivering foundational knowledge in the two regions about one another’s cultures and societies. This exchange, we believe, is a prerequisite for a sustainable and balanced socio-economic progress of the two continents. It is also an opportunity to move ith its biennial conferences, Eleven conventions have been held since 1997 beyond the Western-originated fields of Asian and International Convention of Asia (Leiden, Berlin, Singapore, Shanghai, Kuala African area studies—something that would benefit WScholars (ICAS) is the largest Lumpur, Daejon, Honolulu, Macao, Adelaide, Asian, African and Western scholars alike. global forum for academics and civil society Chiang Mai and Leiden). exchange on Asia. Founded in 1997 at the www.africasia.org initiative of IIAS, ICAS serves as a platform ICAS 12 will be held in Kyoto, Japan, Cluster: Global Asia for scholars, social and cultural leaders, and 24-27 August 2021. institutions focusing on issues critical to Asia, and, by implication, the rest of the world. Website: www.icas.asia The ICAS biennial conferences are organised IIAS/ICAS secretariat: in cooperation with local universities, cities Paul van der Velde [email protected] and institutions and attended by scholars and other experts, institutions and publishers from 60 countries. ICAS also organises the biennial ‘ICAS Book Prize’ (IBP), which awards the most prestigious prizes in the field of Asian Studies for books and PhD theses in English, Korean, Chinese, French and German (more language editions are planned for the future). 54 The Network IIAS Fellowship

IIAS Fellowship Programme In the spotlight The International Institute for Asian Studies annually hosts a large number of visiting researchers (research fellows) who come to Leiden to work on their own individual research project. In addition, IIAS also facilitates the teaching and research by various professorial fellows as part of agreements with Dutch universities, foreign ministries and funding organisations. Meet our fellows at www.iias.asia/fellows

y research in Leiden explores Through my research I will investigate translations of The Communist the different approaches adopted by MManifesto made in Indonesia from the Indonesian translators. Which terms the 1920s to the 1960s. During these were considered entirely foreign and so tumultuous years, which saw the growth untranslatable? Which were exchanged of the Indonesian nationalist movement, for vernacular words? What role was the proclamation of the Indonesian Republic there for Javanese and Arabic terms? (1945), and the initial period of democracy Did the translations notably change and ‘Guided Democracy’ after independence between the 1920s and the 1960s? (1950-65), Marx and Engels were not only Answering these questions will show how two of the most influential Western political Indonesians mediated between Western thinkers in Indonesia, they were also the most culture and their own, and how they translated. Their Communist Manifesto was attempted to make the writings of two translated into Malay and Bahasa Indonesia nineteenth-century German philosophers in 1923, 1925, 1946 (twice), and 1948, with comprehensible in a mainly Islamic, various reprints being published until 1964. Southeast Asian country. My project is a case study in a ‘global’ Oliver These translations offer a valuable insight approach to intellectual history, which into how Indonesians engaged with Marxism seeks to understand how transnational Crawford and how this engagement evolved over time. ideologies, such as Marxism, interacted Translators frequently noted the difficulty of with existing patterns of religion and culture translating the Marx and Engels texts, due as they spread, rather than treating these to their heavy use of terms that referred to ideas as unproblematically universal. Indonesian Translations European history, society and politics, which As such, my research fits with the IIAS’s Indonesian translation of The Communist Manifesto. had no obvious Indonesian equivalents. Yet ‘Global Asia’ project’s stated goal of seeing of Marx and Engels the text itself seemed to invite translation, the circulation of ideas through Asia not Manifesto are available in the collections offering a universal schema of historical as a hegemonic transmission of ideas from of Leiden University. Leiden also has a and social development that applied to all West to East but as a dialogue, in this distinguished history as a centre for the nations, including Indonesia. Indeed, many case a dialogue between Marx and his study of Indonesian history. I look forward of the versions of the text that reached Indonesian interpreters. to contributing to the vibrant intellectual Indonesia were themselves Dutch and Leiden is the ideal place to conduct community in Leiden and furthering our English translations of the German original, this research because many of the understanding of a central strand of underlining the Manifesto’s translatability. Indonesian translations of The Communist Indonesia’s intellectual history.

y research stay at IIAS has been During my stay at IIAS, I have spent the beautiful historical fortified city Sloten incredibly enriching. While working most of my time in the IIAS office or the in the Province of Friesland, and managed Mon my doctoral research project library, writing in beautiful Leiden and The to attend the Chinese New Year celebration on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Hague. My personal favorite has been the in the northern Province of Groningen. I had a tremendous opportunity to be a Asian Library at Leiden University which I value such cultural experiences immensely, part of and benefit from the ongoing project holds an immensely rich collection of Asian for they are an essential part of living in Building the New Silk Road. China’s Belt studies, including China. The Sinology a new place and equally crucial for one’s and Road Initiative in Context at IIAS under collection of the library is one of the largest learning and growth. the guidance of Prof. Richard Griffiths, in the country with its indispensable sources, After my IIAS fellowship, I will be spending who is coordinating the project. This project books, journals, and articles on Chinese the next months in Milan, Italy, to continue aligns aptly with my research goals as Studies and several databases available working on my PhD research project. Later I analyze the BRI and its domestic political both in English and Chinese languages. this year, I also intend to visit Pakistan and implications in the participating BRI countries Besides my research, I have also enjoyed spend some time in Gwadar, Balochistan focusing on two specific aspects, namely its exploring the local culture and travelling for my research. I am thankful to the IIAS impact on the processes of democratization around the Netherlands. Other than visiting team for making my research stay and regime change in the countries involved. the major cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, intellectually stimulating and rewarding. Specifically, I take the case of Pakistan to and Haarlem, I ventured upon a road The staff and a vibrant group of fellow examine the variation as the China-Pakistan trip to a small Dutch village, Volendam, researchers have been a constant source Gul-i-Hina Economic Corridor (CPEC) is considered where I tried on the traditional Dutch of encouragement and inspiration for me. to be the flagship project of the BRI with costume and jewelry, and walked on I will cherish the time spent here in Shahzad its huge investment and infrastructure the old sea dike alongside a stretch of the Netherlands as I continue on my development. Prof. Griffiths has been colorfully painted houses. I also visited academic journey. generous enough to provide me with his time and constant feedback on my research China’s Belt and and data collection. Road Initiative The IIAS fellowship has not only enabled me to conduct my research in a conducive environment, but it also provided me with a dynamic platform to engage and connect with a relevant community of scholars. I was fortunate to participate in organizing the event for the Chinese delegation of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) only after two weeks of joining the IIAS fellows team. In this event, I presented my preliminary work on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and discussed the pertinent opportunities and challenges for Pakistan. This discussion allowed me to situate the case of Pakistan in a broader context. The old silke rout as seen from Karakorum Highway. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons. The Newsletter No. 85 Spring 2020 55 IIAS Fellowship The Network

Oliver Crawford Zoë Goodman Pralay Kanungo Translating Marx in Indian Ocean legacies Indian politics Current Fellows Indonesia 1920-1965 and uncertain futures 1 Sept 2013 – 30 June 2020 7 Oct 2019 – 7 Aug 2020 in Mombasa 1 July 2019 – 31 March 2020 Ole Birk Laursen Táña Dluhošová Indian anarchism, pacifism, Chair of Taiwan Studies Richard Griffiths and anticolonialism, 1922-1954 1 Feb – 30 June 2020 Coordinator 1 Oct 2019 – 31 July 2020 Mehdi Amineh Rocco Cestola The New Silk Road. Coordinator Sphot.a and Śabda China's Belt and Road Energy Programme Asia through Yogaśāstra Joppan George Initiative in context Cha-hsuan Liu 1 Sept 2007 – 31 Dec 2024 of Patañjali Airborne Colony 1 Oct 2018 – 31 Dec 2021 July 2018 – 31 Dec 2021 1 Nov 2019 – 30 April 2020 1 Aug 2019 – 31 May 2020 Amirbahram Arabahmadi Jennifer Holdaway Christian de Pee 1 Feb – 31 July 2020 Ying-Kit Chan Lennert Gesterkamp Coordinator The Chinese Renaissance Harry R. Caldwell and natural The Shanhaijing and sacred Forum on Health, Environment 1 Sept 2019 – 30 June 2020 Giuseppe Cappello history in twentieth-century geography in ancient China. and Development China 1 Oct 2019 – 30 Sept 2020 (FORHEAD) Roshni Sengupta The Gulzār-i h.āl by Banwālīdās: 1 Nov 2019 – 31 Oct 2021 1 Jan 2020 – 31 Dec 2021 transmission and reception 1 Aug 2019 – 31 July 2020 of an Indo-Persian text Mehkola Gomes 1 Nov 2019 – 30 April 2020 Preeti Chopra Command in copper: Manpreet K. Janeja Communities of care: writing, religion and power The aesthetics of school Gul-i-Hina Shahzad the city and its fragments in South and Southeast Asia, meals: (dis)trust, risk, China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Lisa Caviglia in colonial Bombay 300-1000 CE and uncertainty impact on regional politics 9 Feb – 30 Nov 2020 1 Sept 2019 – 30 June 2020 1 Jan – 30 June 2020 1 Oct 2019 – 31 July 2020 15 Nov 2019 – 15 May 2020

IIAS Fellowship possibilities and requirements

Apply for an IIAS fellowship

The International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) in Leiden, the Netherlands, invites outstanding researchers to apply for an IIAS fellowship to work on a relevant piece of research in the social sciences and humanities.

Combine your IIAS fellowship with two extra months of research in Paris

When applying for an IIAS Fellowship, you have the option of simultaneously submitting an application for an additional two months of research at the Collège d’études mondiales of the Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme (CEM-FMSH), in Paris, France, immediately after your stay in Leiden. Application deadlines: 1 March & 1 October

Apply for a Gonda fellowship

For promising young Indologists at the post-doctorate level it is possible to apply for funding with the J. Gonda Foundation of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) to spend three to six months doing research at IIAS. Application deadlines: 1 April & 1 October

Apply for the Chair of Taiwan Studies at Leiden University

We invite applications for the Chair of Taiwan Studies at Leiden University. The Chair provides a Professorial Fellow position of five or ten months for a visiting scholar in Taiwan Studies to teach and conduct research at Leiden University and IIAS. The Fellowship covers one or both of the two semesters September 2020–January 2021 and February-June 2021. Application deadline: 16 April 2020

Information and application forms: www.iias.asia/fellowships 56 Peabody Essex Museum A Lasting Momento: John Thomson’s The Portrait Salem MA Photographs along the River Min

Left: John Thomson, The Island Pagoda, 1873. Carbon print. Gift of the Estate of Mrs. Anthony Rives. © Peabody Essex Museum. Photography by Ken Sawyer.

Below: Luo Dan, Simple Song No. 7 (Jin Ma Wei, Lao Mu Deng Village), 2010. Inkjet print from collodion negatives. © Luo Dan, Courtesy of M97 Gallery.

A Lasting Memento John Thomson’s Photographs along the River Min

Peabody Essex Museum 1 June 2019 – 19 April 2020 photographer and watchmaker, in Singapore, his equipment but also sometimes carried where they established a studio. Thomson Thomson himself. Missionary and business Salem, Massachusetts, USA spent the next several years photographing colleagues helped facilitate introductions throughout Asia, including Cambodia, India, and provide access to unique locations so www.pem.org and Thailand. By 1866, he had joined the Royal that Thomson could make his landscapes Ethnological Society of London, was elected and portraits. The albums were printed a Fellow member of the Royal Geographic using the carbon process, which imbues Society, and styled himself as an expert on them with a rich, purplish tonality. he Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) sterile, but these photographs complicate Eastern cultures. In 1868, he established a in Salem (MA) presents a voyage into that notion and reveal the country’s studio in Hong Kong, a burgeoning center T19th-century China through one of PEM’s incredible beauty and geographic of photography and trade. For the next four Inspired by Thomson photographic treasures, John Thomson’s rare diversity”, says Sarah Kennel, former years, Thomson traveled and photographed 140 years after Thomson photographed album Foochow and the River Min. More than PEM curator and current Curator of throughout China before returning to Britain in China, his work directly inspired a series forty striking landscapes, city views, and Photography at the High Museum. “The 1872, where he remained until his death in 1921. of photographs, titled Simple Song, by portrait studies will be on view, captured by roots of China’s rapid modernization go The exhibition follows Thomson’s journey contemporary Chinese photographer Luo Thomson as he traveled in the Fujian province back to the 19th-century and are part of up the River Min, from the city of Fuzhou to Dan (b. 1968). Trained as a photojournalist, in southeast China from 1870 to 1871. These a larger history of maritime culture, trade, Nanping. Among the works on view are an Luo Dan’s work focuses on the impact of prints are complemented by a selection and globalization that are also entwined extraordinary series on the Yuen Fu monastery, modernization and globalization in China. of photographs by contemporary artist with PEM’s origin story. This exhibition tucked high up a steep, rocky ravine. A strain After seeing reproductions of Thomson’s Luo Dan, who was inspired by Thomson to affirms how photography can bring us of wistful romanticism is present, particularly work at an exhibition in Beijing, Luo taught undertake his own journey in southwest China back to another place in time and can in landscape photographs that incorporate himself the nineteenth-century wet-collodion in 2010. A Lasting Memento: John Thomson’s change the way we see the world”. a solitary figure. process through videos found on the Internet. Photographs Along the River Min is on view at He then traveled to the remote Nu River Valley PEM from 1 June 2019 through 19 April 2020. Thomson was a renowned photographer, “Thomson’s extraordinary gifts as in southwestern China, where he lived with focusing on fine art, landscape, and a photographer are evident in his and photographed the Lisu and Nu Christian From 1870 to 1871, Scottish-born architectural photos, and was often credited compositions, including his famous view ethnic minority communities for nearly two photographer John Thomson traveled 160 with being one of the first photographers to of the floating island pagoda”, says Kennel. years. Luo was especially interested in what miles up the River Min to document the area use pictures in conjunction with journalistic “You can look at these as merely beautiful he perceived as the villagers’ connection in and around the city of Fuzhou (Foochow), commentary. Foochow and the River Min is pictures, but if you unlock them a little bit to local cultural traditions. one of the most picturesque regions in China. accompanied by introductory text, presenting they tell the story of an important moment Thomson gathered eighty photographs from a pictorial journey featuring the character of economic trade, cultural exchange, “Luo’s photographs challenge people this voyage into an album titled Foochow and of the growing city of Fuzhou, the beauty and political tension”. to think about the passage of time and the River Min, which was sold by advance of the landscapes surrounding the River Min, the tension between the past and present”, subscription to the foreign residents of Fuzhou as well as Thomson’s studies of the people In order to make his negatives, Thomson says Stephanie Tung, Associate Curator — tea planters, merchants, missionaries and he encountered there. used the wet-collodion process. This required for Exhibitions and Research. “The portraits government officials — who wanted a way him to set up a large camera on a tripod and blend elements of modern life with a sense to share their experiences with friends and prepare the photographic plate on the spot of enduring timelessness, inviting you to family back home. Of the 46 copies originally Documenting Eastern culture by dipping it into light-sensitive chemicals in a reflect on notions of progress in society published, fewer than 10 survive today and Thomson is considered one of the first makeshift darkroom, putting it in a plate holder and history.” PEM is privileged to own two of them, both photographers to document East and South and making the exposure within five minutes. of which are featured in the exhibition. Asia. Born in Scotland, he learned photography He experimented with these processes while A Lasting Memento features 10 works while still in school, working as an apprentice to traveling by boat or ascending very steep hills by Luo that reflect on and reverberate “Many people have a conception of China a maker of optical and scientific instruments. In and traversing rough terrain with a coterie with the spirit and enterprise of Thomson’s as very industrialized and modern, even 1862, he joined his older brother William, also a of Chinese employees who not only hauled 19th-century project.