This book explores the connection between Mumbai and the Indian Ocean

In her book Empires of the Sea Pan Macmillan India maritime historian Radhika Seshan asks Does water have a history If it does how can this be traced She attempts to answer this by mapping the history of human connections with the sea drawing a particular focus on the Indian Ocean world consisting of the sea and the surrounding land We learn how these connections made trade and the exchange of knowledge possible and how empires used them to assert their supremacy over regionsHere are five facts from the book that offer fascinating insight about Bombay presentday Mumbai and its surrounding areas along the Konkan coastIndian ship on lead coin from the Satavahana Dynasty Pics CourtesyWikipediacom During the rule of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the 17th century the English faced numerous problems in Bombay First it was an island so it depended on its neighbours in the mainland for supplies Second it was a natural harbour but it had caught the attention of the Siddis a group of Abyssinians employed by the Mughal rulers to keep a check on the activities of the Marathas during the MughalMaratha conflict There was fear that the Dutch would offer their help to Shivaji to take control of Danda Rajapur and Bombay and it resulted in the Siddisrsquo actions causing a shortage of provisions in Bombay The Maratha navy was a stronger force in the 18th century While this began with Shivaji who had involved the Kolis a caste of fishermen against whom the English had made several derogatory comments the navy truly grew after Kanhoji Angreacute assumed power and became the chief Until Shivaji and Angreacute the English had believed the sea to be their domain Angreacute launched attacks on their shipping from Vijaydurg located at the entrance to Bombay harbour and the fort of Kolaba All British counterattacks failed and he remained a threat to the British in Bombay until his deathRadhika Seshan With certain cities located along the coast one of the earliest uses of the sea was in the knowledge of the produce specifically fish The knowledgekeepers of this were the fishing communities The Narali Poornima coconut full moon festival celebrated in areas along the Konkan coast is a great example of how this knowledge would then be preserved in rituals by these communities Till today Narali Poornima marks the end of monsoon and announces the time when fishermen can safely hit the seas for their catch The knowledge of navigation was often written about by the European travellers who reportedly were some of the earliest to use the sea as a means to travel to the Indian subcontinent One would navigate towards and away from the land In Marathi she explains the word for the one who possessed the knowledge of navigation was lsquotandelrsquo The methods before the compass was invented included using ldquothe stars the colour of the water and the kinds of birds and fish in different parts of the coastrdquo to get a sense of where one was headed Inscriptions in Aihole mention the Battle of Gharapuri between the Mauryans and Chalukyas that occurred on the Elephanta island mdash at the time known as Puri mdash near Mumbai It was the capital of the Konkan Mauryas and acted as an important revenue source for inland trade as well as sea trade Pulakesin II of the Chalukya kingdom who defeated the Mauryas came to be called the king whose ldquorule was bounded by the three oceansrdquo There are some inscriptions about attempts made by the Satavahana rulers from Andhra Pradesh to seize Kalyan from the Kshatrapa rulers to gain maritime controlAvailable Leading bookstores and estoresWorld Book Day Sign up for these events1 Join a trail based on CSMVSrsquos Childrenrsquos Museum publication A Mischief of Rats Check out the kidsrsquo reading corner at the Kahaani Katta under the baobab tree or the online readalong sessionsTIME 11 am AT CSMVS FortLOG ON TO csmvsmumbai2 Join reading coach Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta in a discussion with podcaster Shweta Rohira and educator Dr Swati Popat Vats about the benefits and delights of reading at a young ageTIME 5 pm AT Granth Bookstore Taj Santacruz Vile ParleLOG ON TO granthbookstore3 This 12hour online marathon will feature authors like Ramachandra Guha Romulus Whitaker and Shabnam MinwallaTIME 9 am onwardsLOG ON TO harpercollinsindia