India and the Indian Ocean: An Essay on the Influence of Sea Power on Indian History.
By: K.M. Panikkar
Published by Life Span Publishers and Distributors
ISBN: 978-81-941605-3-3
Review by: Shruti Sharma, 2nd year, Master of Arts in International Relations and Security Studies (with language specialisation)
Since ancient times, the Indian Ocean has remained a strategic area of focus for shaping global trade, cultural exchange and geopolitical strategies. Showcased by its monsoon wind patterns, it has facilitated long-distance maritime trade and connected civilisation across Afro-Eurasia long before the rise of the Atlantic and Pacific trading system. The book “India and the Indian Ocean: An Essay on the Influence of Sea Power on Indian History”, published in 1945, has tried to lay down this discourse. The book broadly interprets Indian history through the lens of maritime strategy and sea power. The author, Sardar Kavalam Madhava Panikkar, was an Indian statesman and diplomat, also famed as a professor. He has argued that India’s security lies in the Indian Ocean. The author’s work thus integrates strategic realism with a deep historical consciousness of Asia’s maritime legacy. This review is based on theme-based analysis. It covers four major themes, which include India’s historical maritime traditions and civilizational outreach. The second theme discusses the disruption of the Indian Ocean order through European imperialism. The third theme highlights British maritime dominance and India’s strategic marginalisation. The last and foremost theme talks about India’s maritime resurgence and postcolonial vision, followed by a critical analysis of the author’s work considering its strengths, limitations and contemporary relevance.
In the first theme, authors begin by deconstructing the myth that India was historically isolated. According to him, the Indian Ocean was not a boundary rather it acted as a bridge of civilisations that has enhanced trade and cultural exchange, connecting India to the wider world. The first two chapters of the book- ‘The Indian Ocean and ‘The Hindu Period in the Indian Ocean’-showcases India’s central position in an interconnected maritime order stretching from the Bab-al-Mandab in the west to the Malacca Strait in the east, respectively. The author draws upon archaeological evidence and travel accounts to demonstrate the dynamism of ancient Indian trade and navigation. The ports of Broach (at the mouth of Nerbadda) and Muziris (Cranganore in Cochin)served as major centres in early trans-oceanic commerce. He notes that long before the arrival of European sailing, Indian merchants traded with West and Southeast Asian countries, where materials were exported and imported in significant amounts. He insists that the sea was also a medium of cultural expansion. Indian culture, specifically Buddhism and Hinduism, spread eastward through maritime routes and influenced kingdoms of Cambodia, Java, including the region of Sumatra. In the author’s analyses, this maritime civilisation reflected a prolific balance between economic and cultural interaction, which enabled both material and spiritual exchange. With the decline of the Chola Empire, the maritime influence of India began to decline. Successive dynasties focused on inland security, which resulted in the loss of power at sea. The first theme, therefore, establishes the paradox of India’s maritime past, whose geography and early history were ocean-centric, but later political evolution became increasingly continental. The author uses this as a foundation for his argument that the state that forgets the sea ultimately loses their sovereignty.
The second theme elaborates on the transformation of the Indian Ocean System following the advent of European powers. The author traces how Vasco da Gama, in 1498, established an era of maritime imperialism that destroyed the autonomous Indian Ocean order. In ancient times, the ocean had been an open trade area coordinated by Arabs, Indians and Malay merchants through shared interests. The Portuguese intrusion, followed by the Dutch, French and British, replaced this cooperative framework with their authoritative monopolies. Panikkar describes this as the European conquest of the Sea routes to India, gained not through superior culture or commerce but through naval power and brutal violence by people like Afonso de Albuquerque and many others. The author argues that Europeans understood what Indian rulers failed to, that is, the mastery of the sea equated to the mastery of the land. The fight among the Indian rulers created a void, which resulted in the European capture of the coastal enclaves. He also talked about the civilizational error which was observed during the Mughal period, as they considered oceans as merely a commercial frontier. The ideas of Mughal rulers were based on the opinion of Khalif Omar, who was told by one of his generals, at the time of the conquest of Egypt, that “the sea was a huge beast which silly folk ride like worms on logs”. No Muslim should risk his life on such an unruly element without his express orders. This resulted in the neglect to build naval supremacy. Further, this theme showcases Panikkar’s strong influence from Alfred Thayer Mahan’s theory of sea. Like Mahan, he sees the ocean as an important source of political strength, but he reinterprets it through an Asian and anti-colonial lens. Panikkar has analysed how negligence on the seas gave way to colonial control, and he cautions that ignoring maritime power invites dependence and domination.
The third theme explores how British naval dominance turned the Indian Ocean into a British area of dominance, w hich left India powerless in its own maritime sphere. They used bases like the Gulf of Aden, Colombo, and Singapore. Britain built a vast network which linked the Mediterranean to the Pacific. Panikkar notes that India, though geographically central to this linkage, had no control over it. Its ports and manpower served as an empire that excluded Indians from decision-making. He blamed India’s past rulers, who neglected the sea, and the Mughals saw it only as a trade route. Even the Marathas failed to sustain naval power for a long time. The were only able to sustain their power by the time of Kanhoji Angre. Therefore, he argues that this void paved the way for foreign domination and resulted in a massive blunder which threatened the sovereignty of India. His analysis of British maritime supremacy warned future generations that political freedom without control of the surrounding seas is incomplete. The Indian Ocean is not an external frontier but an extension of the nation’s body.
The final theme transforms Panikkar’s history into a strategic vision for independent India. He calls for a maritime revival to restore India’s rightful place in the Indian Ocean, which he described as the pivot of the world’s strategic balance. His anticipation of the Cold War warned India that even after the colonial rule of the British, other powers like the United States, the Soviet Union, and China would try to seek control over the region. Throughout his work, he has encouraged India to build a comprehensive naval policy that goes beyond military strength. Furthermore, it should include trade, shipbuilding, and maritime education, which would view the sea as a source of strength, wealth, and security. Panikkar envisions a navy that protects rather than dominates, promoting cooperation and regional stability—an idea that anticipates institutions like the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). The core message with which the author has concluded his book is that ‘the destiny of India will be decided on the waters of the Indian Ocean’. In contemporary times, it acts as a reminder that maritime power is vital to India’s survival and identity.
Panikkar’s book stands at the intersection of history, geography, and political philosophy, which offers a remarkable rethinking of India’s past and future through the lens of the sea. Its crucial strength lies in its conceptual originality, which showcases the shift of Indian history from a land-oriented to a maritime-focused perspective to strengthen its sovereignty and security. He transformed the Indian Ocean from a passive backdrop into an active force that has shaped civilisations, empires, and power relations across centuries. His arguments are visionary. The foresight with which he has recognised the Indian Ocean’s pivotal role in global politics has been constantly confirmed in contemporary times by analysing the current Indo-Pacific debates. Equally compelling are his abilities, which weaved together ancient maritime history and modern geopolitics into a seamless narrative, which linked cultural evolution with strategic realities. Unlike Western theories that view sea power primarily through a military lens, the author’s approach carries civilizational depth. He portrays the ocean not merely as a site of competition, but as a space of connection, exchange, and shared destiny.
His work is largely narrative and interpretive, which relies on secondary sources and moral reasoning rather than empirical research. The analysis is somewhat deterministic, attributing India’s decline mainly to maritime neglect, and overlooks the perspectives of coastal communities. The 2020 edition highlights the continued relevance of Panikkar’s warnings on foreign naval dominance and his call for indigenous maritime strength, which resonate strongly in India’s current naval strategy and foreign policy. K. M. Panikkar’s India and the Indian Ocean is a landmark in Indian geopolitical thought, combining history, philosophy, and strategy. Through its four themes, it has traced India’s maritime rise, decline, and the need for revival, which showcased how a civilisation that once shaped the Indian Ocean lost control of its waters, an insight crucial to modern sovereignty. Essential for students, scholars, and policymakers, he has emphasised that economic growth and political stability are tied to maritime power. India’s ancient prosperity relied on sea routes which linked Asia and Africa, while European naval domination eroded autonomy and turned the ocean into an imperial domain. British supremacy placed India at the empire’s centre yet denied it strategic control, which highlighted the connection between mastery of the seas and land power. Panikkar’s narrative for a maritime renaissance continues to enhance India’s current Indo-Pacific strategy. His significant message is civilizational, which states that neglecting the sea means neglecting history. The 2020 edition examines the book’s relevance as both a historical study and a guide to India’s maritime future.
