University of Dayton eCommons Honors Theses University Honors Program Spring 4-2015 Practical Cosmopolitans: The Diversity of a Changing Indian Ocean, 1500-1750 Jordan Seitz University of Dayton Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/uhp_theses Part of the History Commons eCommons Citation Seitz, Jordan, "Practical Cosmopolitans: The Diversity of a Changing Indian Ocean, 1500-1750" (2015). Honors Theses. 57. https://ecommons.udayton.edu/uhp_theses/57 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the University Honors Program at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of eCommons. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. Practical Cosmopolitans: The Diversity of a Changing Indian Ocean, 1500-1750 Honors Thesis Jordan Seitz Department: History Advisor: Haimanti Roy, Ph.D. April 2015 Practical Cosmopolitans: The Diversity of a Changing Indian Ocean, 1500-1750 Honors Thesis Jordan Seitz Department: History Advisor: Haimanti Roy, Ph.D. April 2015 Abstract The Indian Ocean has served as a catalyst for trade throughout history, connecting multiple cultural and geographical spheres. My goal was to dissect the ways in which social and cultural norms were impacted by the large amount of diversity found within Indian Ocean port cities between 1500 and 1800. Specifically, I chose to investigate the possibility of the creation of a virtue of diversity, similar to the concept of Cosmopolitanism. In this case, this would mean a variety of people who differ in cultural, ethnicity, and religion sharing mutual respect within a particular space. Among the factors which shaped these changing values, I explored the impact of changing European influence and the ways in which it both fit and broke this mould.