A. A. Bastian navigates the commercial and Christian aspirations of Euro-American trading empires in 19th century Asia, through a Water Splotch from the Bay of Bengal in Levi Savage's ship diary.
Hugging India's glistening Bay of Bengal, Euro-American ships like the Monsoon and Fire Queen carried goods and peoples to and from Calcutta, the meeting point of the British and Mughal empires. An emblem of the unique, long-distance aspirations of Euro-American traders, the ship speaks to the uneven distribution of knowledge and benefits in global supply chains. But a water-stained diary kept by one of the Monsoon's passengers, the American Mormon Levi Savage, reveals how such economic and religious missions were not all smooth sailing. Navigating these storms challenges the typical paths of European empires, exposing Asian traders’ power to attract and indirectly incentivise the construction of a European delivery network - their failure to fully foresee their rising racism and greed - and the very movements of empire.
PRESENTER: A.A. Bastian, author of 'The Other Bayonet: A New Source to Frame the Second Anglo-Burmese War' in the Journal of Burma Studies. She is a regular reviewer at the Washington Independent Review of Books.
ART: Water Splotch from the Bay of Bengal, Ship Diary of Levi Savage (1852-1853).
IMAGE: ‘Savage, Levi vol. 1, 1852'.
SOUNDS: Virlyn.
PRODUCER: Jelena Sofronijevic.

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