ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the patterns and processes of intercultural exchange that came about as a result of the encounters between the Europeans and the local peoples of the Indian Ocean World. It explores the Indian Ocean World system's connection with the Global Atlantic. The cross-cultural encounters resulting from Europe's maritime expansion in the Western Hemisphere and in the Afro-Eurasian world, brought not only highly desired trade goods to the continent, but it also significantly influenced the intellectual life there. Japan was not the only place where the Dutch actively challenged the Portuguese trade dominance. It was, in fact, part of their global strategy to confront the centers of Iberian commerce not only in maritime Asia, but throughout the Atlantic World, including Europe, the Americas, and Africa. The British East India Company became, by the 1830s, the most powerful entity in Asia. The British East India Company's success was also, to some degree, dependent on the financial backing of wealthy Indians.
