Can the Oyster Speak? Pearling Empires and the Marine Environments of South India and Sri Lanka, c. 1600–1900

Abstract

During the early modern and modern periods, three of the most powerful European commercial and military powers in a globalizing and interconnected world had surprisingly deep engagements with a humble bivalve mollusc in the shallow, fertile waters between India and Sri Lanka. This chapter examines the assemblage of scientific, political, and economic ideas that the Portuguese, Dutch, and British each brought to bear on the management of people and oysters in the Gulf of Mannar. It demonstrates that the pearl fishery not only was a source of jewels and revenue but also functioned as a space through which governmental power flowed, territorial sovereignty established, and scientific knowledge produced. In doing so, the oyster is understood not as a passive creature, but a live actor in a complex system formed by the relationship between animals, humans, and the natural world.