Description
Book SynopsisThe book focuses on the phenomenon of predation during the closing decades of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century in Indias western littoral. It attempts a material history of piracy, locating its antecedents, its social context and its ramifications at a crucial time of political transition. It considers the possibility of studying piracy through the lens of law and resistance.
Trade ReviewSubramanian's study breaks new ground in piracy and Indian Ocean studies ... her thoughtful discussion of the issues that can sur-round the use of colonial archives to reconstruct complex and often problematic phenomena should become required reading for anyone setting out to reconstruct the history of the colonial experience in the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and Pacific worlds. * Richard B. Allen, The International Journal of Maritime History *
an insightful and valuable contribution to the field of pirate studies ... [Subramanian] widens the possibilities of the field and lights the way for future studies of piracy. * Timothy Riding, History *
Table of ContentsPreface; Note on spellings and archival citations; Introduction; Chapter 1 The Setting: Littoral Society in Transition; Chapter 2 The Company at Sea: Petitions, Predation, and Reprisals 17901805; Chapter 3 Towards an Ethnography of Piracy: Musings of a Resident; Chapter 4 Docile Subjects and Subaltern Resistance: Piracy in the Age of Maritime Radicalism; Chapter 5 Piracy in Retrospect: The Challenges of a Fragmented Archive; Epilogue: Perspectives from the Littoral; Appendix; Bibliography; Index; About the Author
