Indian Ocean Trade in the First Millennium <scp>c.e.</scp>: Taking the Romans out of Indo-Roman?

ABSTRACT The study of the Western Indian Ocean in the first millennium is a dynamic and exciting field, in which scholarship, especially from within the Indian Ocean region itself, is expanding rapidly. It is experiencing a period of major, but not necessarily disruptive, change, to its core questions, terminology and periodisation. This article offers an overview of the study of Roman trade with the Western Indian Ocean (sometimes termed ‘Indo-Roman studies’) from the early 2000s to the present. It examines key developments in the field, including the changing scope of analysis in terms of period, region and evidence; the impact in the field of an increasingly global focus and efforts to decolonise a subject historically deeply rooted in colonial processes; and specifically the effort to provincialise or decentre Rome in historical narratives. It then suggests directions in which the field appears to be developing and makes tentative suggestions for future work.