Dr Renu Modi
India- Africa: Migration, Heritages, and Memory Spaces across the Western Indian Ocean
Abstract
Since antiquity, the transoceanic connections between western India and East Africa have forged pathways for bi-directional movement of people, objects and ideas. The economic, social, and cultural integration resulting from interactions over longue dureé, has engendered a trail of ‘memory spaces,’ which have been explored through migration trajectories, monsoon winds, and the trade of material goods, such as textiles. This study focuses on the migration patterns of the Sidis—primarily as slaves—from East Africa to India, as well as the migration of Indian labourers, artisans, agriculturists, traders, and soldiers during the British colonial period. My work provides a gendered perspective on the circular migration histories of primarily Indian migrants and draws from a wide range of sources, including academic literature, archival records, material representations (such as artifacts and photographs), museum exhibitions, oral histories, music and dance forms, and biographies of Indian immigrants.
Adopting a ‘pelagic’ view of history, my presentation will traverse the Western Indian Ocean World (IOW), exploring the 'tropes of memory' spaces embedded in the migration histories of Asians and Africans, from the littoral and hinterland regions of the Swahili Coast and parts of India, respectively.
I conclude that recent reconfigurations in the nature of mobility across the Ocean and the discourse surrounding it have displaced 'people' from the narrative. To re-centre human experiences, it is crucial to revive thinking about the Ocean as a memory space.