A Study of Aromatic Woods in Seventeenth-Century India: Circulation of Aloewood and Sandalwood through Facilitating Port Cities and Trade Networks

Abstract

During the seventeenth century, various commodities carved out an economic sphere for themselves across the littoral parts of the Indian Ocean through the interconnectedness of its port cities. The present article focuses on two significant aromatic woods: aloewood and sandalwood, both plant-based materials, and locates them as “commodities” in commercial networks across the maritime space. Various port cities like Surat, Patna, Mausalipatam and Cambay, all central to the trading activities of the European companies, served as chief nodes in the grid of circulation that enabled their mobility, value addition and economic exchanges. Revisiting English factory records, Dutch East India Company documents and European travel accounts, this article explores the neglect of ephemeral objects in the material hierarchy of trading items. It also accounts for the thriving presence of these aromatic woods in the Indian Ocean maritime networks as two key materials in European trading interests and as facilitators of the early modern economy.