Book review: Vijay Sakhuja and Pragya Pandey (Eds.), K. M. Panikkar and the Growth of a Maritime Consciousness in India
| Published date | 01 September 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00195561231166364 |
| Author | Anmol Mukhia |
| Date | 01 September 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Book Reviews
Vijay Sakhuja and Pragya Pandey (Eds.), K. M. Panikkar and the Growth
of a Maritime Consciousness in India, Vij Books India, Pvt. Ltd. and
Indian Council of World Affairs, 2022, xii+404 pp., `1,750 (Hardcover).
ISBN 9789393499301
If India’s perception today in maritime politics is ‘open, free, and rule-based’, this
book highlights a major connection to Ambassador K. M. Panikkar’s understand-
ing of it: the Hindu-Maritime Power, where the ‘period of Hindu supremacy in the
Indian Ocean was one of complete freedom of trade and navigation’ (p. 138).
Vijay Sakhuja and Pragya Pandey’s edited volume encapsulates a collection of
chapters, not limited to the focus on Panikkar’s understanding of India’s percep-
tion of the Indian Ocean from its historical narratives. This book comprises twenty
chapters written by scholars and practitioners in the fields of international rela-
tions and other social sciences. It is also noted that K. M. Panikkar has ‘envi-
sioned and constructed the reality much beyond his time’ (p. 256), which becomes
the central theme of this book.
According to Himanshu Prabha Ray, Panikkar noted the drawback of under-
standing India’s history from a larger perspective. Until the year 1919, the disci-
pline of history was not widely studied by the postgraduate students in India.
Since the 18th century, sea regions such as ‘Kalapani’ (Black Water) in the
Andaman region have also been forbidden for travel due to a Hindu myth that
crossing the sea may result in one’s losing cultural identity (p. 27). However,
according to Raghul V. Ranjan, Panikkar predicted the primacy of ancient India in
the Indian Ocean and its historical naval supremacy. Rajan also highlights
Panikkar’s journalistic stint at the Hindustan Times (p. 33), demonstrating that
ancient Indian naval skills and competency were far superior to European powers.
For example, the control of the sea by the Marakkars under Zamorin on the
Malabar Coast; the Maratha Navy under Kanhoji Angre on the Konkan coast; the
Chola naval supremacy along the Coromandel Coast, and so on. Patrick Bratton
contends that Panikkar’s understanding extended beyond the realist thought of
Ocean, such as Alfred T. Mahan (the US Navy ag ofcer), emphasising the
importance of domestic liberal political structures and regional organisations for
regional stability. W. Lawrence, S. Prabhakar and Vijay Sakhuja describe the stra-
tegic thinking by K. M. Panikkar, in the post-colonial India which was based on a
Constructivist-Realist perspective (p. 256). This may be one of the many reasons
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
69(3) 713–727, 2023
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