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Sovereigns of the Sea: Omani Ambition in the Age of Empire
The 7th Prof. Satish Chandra Memorial Lecture
Speaker
Who truly ruled the Indian Ocean in the age of Empire?
Based on the book Sovereigns of the Sea: Omani Ambition in the Age of Empire, this talk reimagines the Indian Ocean: not as a passive backdrop to European expansion, but rather as a dynamic political arena where Asian and Western imperial aspirations collided and converged through the long nineteenth century.
Shifting the focus from European powers to the Omani Sultans, it challenges the notion of the Ocean as an uncontested British lake. The Sultans of Oman emerge as astute players who navigated the ambitions of Europeans seeking slaves, cloves, and ivory, while staying rooted in their own cultural world. They built strategic alliances with Indian financiers and merchants, asserting their vision of sovereignty and empire.
Foregrounding these often-overlooked Asian imperial ambitions, the talk opens new ways of thinking about power, politics, and connection across the Indian Ocean—and redefines how global history is written.
About Prof. Satish Chandra
Prof. Satish Chandra (1922–2017) was one of India’s foremost historians and a towering authority on Medieval Indian history. Over a distinguished four-decade career, he taught at leading universities across the country such as Allahabad University, Aligarh Muslim University, Delhi University, Rajasthan University, and finally the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He co-founded the Centre for Historical Studies at JNU with S. Gopal, Bipin Chandra, and Romila Thapar. As Chairman of the University Grants Commission, he helped shape academic life in India. Deeply committed to intellectual exchange, he also co-founded the Society for Indian Ocean Studies in 1985. A thoughtful historian taking a Marxist approach to the field, Prof. Chandra’s work bridged eras and ideas, leaving an enduring mark on the study of India’s past.
Speaker
Seema Alavi
Seema Alavi is Professor of History at Ashoka University, India, and a leading authority on early modern and modern South Asia. Her research explores the transformation of Indo-Persian legacies under British colonial rule, combining political, intellectual, and cultural histories. A PhD from the University of Cambridge, she has taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, and Jamia Millia Islamia. Her widely acclaimed works include Muslim Cosmopolitanism in the Age of Empire (Harvard University Press), recipient of the Albert Hourani and Monsoon Book Awards, and Sovereigns of the Sea: Omani Ambition in the Age of Empire (Penguin India, 2023). Her earlier publications—Sepoys and the Company (Oxford University Press, 1995), Islam and Healing (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), and Eighteenth Century in Indian History (OUP)—are widely cited across disciplines. A two-time Fulbright Scholar and former fellow at Harvard and Cambridge, she continues to shape contemporary scholarship on South Asian cosmopolitanism and empire.
