This is the first dedicated book to concentrate on textiles as a major commodity, and primary indicator of status, wealth and identity in Indian Ocean regions.

List of figures Contributors Preface Ruth Barnes 1. Introduction Ruth Barnes 2. Rome and India: Early Indian cotton textiles from Berenike, Red Sea coast of Egypt John Peter Wild and Felicity Wild 3. Far-flung Fabrics: Indian textiles in ancient maritime trade Himanshu Prabha Ray 4. 'Portuguese' Carpets from Khorasan, Persia Steven Cohen 5. Textile as Commodity, Dress as Text: Swahili kanga and women's statements David Parkin 6. The kofia tradition of Zanzibar: The implicit and explicit discourse of men's head-dress in an Indian Ocean society Zulfikar Hirji 7. Ze maneva aze: Looking for patterns in Malagasy cloth Sarah Fee 8. Cosmopolitan Tastes and Indigenous Designs: Virtual cloth in a Javanese candi Mary-Louise Totton 9. Textiles of Jambi (Sumatra) and the Indian Ocean Trade Fiona Kerlogue 10. Moving between Cultures: Textiles as a Source of Innovation in Kedang, Eastern Indonesia Ruth Barnes Bibliography Index

Ruth Barnes works at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University. Her many previous publications include Dress and Gender: Making and Meaning in Cultural Contexts (co-editor); Indian Block Printed Cotton Fragments in the Kelsey Museum; Indian Block Printed Textiles in Egypt; and Weaving Patterns of Life.