Popular Sites of Prayer, Transoceanic Migration, and Cultural Diversity: Exploring the significance of keramat in Southeast Asia

AbstractKeramat is the Malay word for the graves of notable figures which are popular sites of prayer and dot the social and physical landscapes of much of Muslim Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean region as a whole. The term refers to both people as well as their burial sites. Historically, keramat drew people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. While the venerated dead also came from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, histories, and faiths, they were usually Muslim and frequently Hadrami (from the Hadramaut region in Yemen). In this paper, I view keramat as a significant site of social and cultural diversity. The study of keramat, and the transoceanic movement of the people and faith to which it is linked, may shed further light on the cultural interaction that has historically characterized the region. At the same time, the permissibility of the veneration of graves constitutes a terrain that has long been contested by Muslim scholars. As a result, the fate of this popular practice may offer insights into the complex process of Islamization in the region which began around 700 years ago. I explore two questions in particular. First, in what ways do keramat embody cultural diversity? Secondly, where do keramat stand in relation to state- and organization-driven Islam?

Download Full-text

A Contest of Status and Legitimacy in the Indian Ocean

10.1093/oso/9780199479337.003.0002 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

David Brewster

Keyword(s):

Indian Ocean ◽

International System ◽

Special Role ◽

Indian Ocean Region ◽

Major Powers ◽

Threat Perceptions ◽

Ocean Region ◽

The Status ◽

The Indian Ocean ◽

The Asymmetry

This chapter examines Indian and Chinese perspectives of each other as major powers and their respective roles in the Indian Ocean. It focuses on the following elements: (a) China’s strategic imperatives in the Indian Ocean Region, (b) India’s views on its special role in the Indian Ocean and the legitimacy of the presence of other powers, (c) China’s strategic vulnerabilities in the Indian Ocean and India’s wish to leverage those vulnerabilities, (d) the asymmetry in Indian and Chinese threat perceptions, and (d) Chinese perspectives of the status of India in the international system and India’s claims to a special role in the Indian Ocean. The chapter concludes that even if China were to take a more transparent approach to its activities, significant differences in perceptions of threat and over status and legitimacy will produce a highly competitive dynamic between them in the maritime domain.

Download Full-text

Heat and freshwater changes in the Indian Ocean region

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment ◽

10.1038/s43017-021-00192-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Caroline C. Ummenhofer ◽

Sujata A. Murty ◽

Janet Sprintall ◽

Tong Lee ◽

Nerilie J. Abram

Keyword(s):

Indian Ocean ◽

Indian Ocean Region ◽

Ocean Region ◽

The Indian Ocean

Download Full-text

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Determinant Factors of the Intra-Regional Trade Community Structures of the Indian Ocean Region

ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information ◽

10.3390/ijgi10040214 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 214

Author(s):

Lihua Yuan ◽

Xiaoqiang Chen ◽

Changqing Song ◽

Danping Cao ◽

Hong Yi

Keyword(s):

Indian Ocean ◽

Explanatory Power ◽

Community Structures ◽

Indian Ocean Region ◽

Spatiotemporal Evolution ◽

Regional Trade ◽

Determinant Factors ◽

Ocean Region ◽

The Indian Ocean ◽

The Impact

The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has become one of the main economic forces globally, and countries within the IOR have attempted to promote their intra-regional trade. This study investigates the spatiotemporal evolution of the community structures of the intra-regional trade and the impact of determinant factors on the formation of trade community structures of the IOR from 1996 to 2017 using the methods of social network analysis. Trade communities are groups of countries with measurably denser intra-trade ties but with extra-trade ties that are measurably sparser among different communities. The results show that the extent of trade integration and the trade community structures of the IOR changed from strengthening between 1996 and 2014 to weakening between 2015 and 2017. The largest explanatory power of the formation of the IOR trade community structures was the IOR countries’ economic size, indicating that market remained the strongest driver. The second-largest explanatory power was geographical proximity, suggesting that countries within the IOR engaged in intra-regional trade still tended to select geographically proximate trading partners. The third- and the fourth-largest were common civilization and regional organizational memberships, respectively. This indicates that sharing a common civilization and constructing intra-regional institutional arrangements (especially open trade policies) helped the countries within the IOR strengthen their trade communities.

Download Full-text