Schnepel

This book is about a ’Small Island’, namely Mauritius in the southwestern Indian Ocean. It is also about a ’Large Ocean’, the Indian Ocean world-its peoples, histories and cultures. It casts light on the life of an island through what is known not only about the island itself, but also through what is known about the wider Indian Ocean world. It is also about the Indian Ocean world in that it focuses on an island, which, in many senses and dimensions, is not only a model of, but in some respects also a model for wider developments and features of relevance to the Indian Ocean world as a whole.

Burkhard Schnepel is Professor Emeritus of Social Anthropology at the Martin Luther University, Halle, Germany. His main theoretical and thematic interests are political rituals in India, especially in Orissa, and the history of the Indian Ocean world, especially Mauritius.