Conclusion

Summary

The concluding chapter synthesises the findings from the previous chapters to argue for a cultural integration of the western Indian Ocean through transoceanic mobilities of Arabic learning. It explores the many historical, social, and cultural aspects of Arabic learning based on those findings. Building on recent scholarship it reflects on how transoceanic histories of Arabic learning relate to histories of maritime trade in this period. It considers the importance of locating Arabic as a ‘cosmopolitan idiom of learning’ in early modern multilingual South Asia that shared many social, cultural, and political contexts with other languages.