Research Area C Patterns of Exchange (C10)
Patterns of Exchange. India’s Natural Resources in European Travel Reports from the 16th to the 18th Century
Project Leader: Axel Michaels
Project Members: Oliver Hellwig
European travel reports from the 16th to 18th century are important testimonies of early globalization. Historical research has studied the influence of the European colonialist attitude on these reports intensively, but has not created a quantifiable model describing this interaction. In addition, scholarly research was mainly concerned with the religious and social information contained in these documents. The project aimed at building a quantifiable model of transcultural exchange that is based on information about natural resources found in the travel reports. This data is correlated statistically with a timeline that describes the European interest in the Subcontinent. We expected to open up new methodological approaches for studying the transcultural exchange and to deepen our knowledge about its material aspects.