The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History

by Sanjeev Sanyal

The collapse of the major Bronze Age cities around 2000 BC affected the thriving trade route between the Persian Gulf and India’s western coast. By chance, the personal correspondence of a merchant in Ur, now Iraq, has survived in the ruins of his house and provides a direct view of how business networks may have begun to break down. The merchant, a certain Ea-Nasir, seems to have imported copper ingots from Magan (i.e. Oman) via Dilmun (i.e. Bahrain) around 1900 BC. Angry letters from his customers and creditors make for amusing reading after four thousand years although those who wrote the letters were clearly not amused. Here is one example from a business associate called Nanni:31 Now when you had come, you spoke saying this, ‘I will give good ingots to Gimil-Sin.’ This you said to me when you had come. You have offered bad ingots to my messenger saying, ‘If you will take it take it, if you will not take it go away.’ Who am I that you are treating me in this manner, treating me with such contempt, and that between gentlemen such as we are.