In an Antique Land: History in the Guise of a Traveler's Tale

“The Slave of MS H.6 first stepped upon the stage of modern history in 1942. His was a brief debut, in the obscurest of theatres, and he was scarcely out of the wings before he was gone again—more a prompter’s whisper than a recognizable face in the cast.”

In the opening of his book, Ghosh establishes the focus of his book as the enslaved Indian man, Bomma, while showing how he will try to examine his life using what little evidence is available. Bomma’s relative anonymity in the midst of history’s more celebrated “cast” introduces the theme of Personal Histories within the Historical Narrative. The passage is also a clear display of Ghosh’s writing style, which makes frequent use of descriptive language and metaphors.

“Khalaf ibn Ishaq’s letter seems to open a trapdoor into a vast network of foxholes where real life continues uninterrupted.”

This quote is demonstrative of Ghosh’s goals in exploring the lives of individuals who would otherwise be anonymous within the grand historical narratives, and how the Geniza letters provide a unique opportunity to examine Personal Histories within the Historical Narrative.

“I knew nothing then about the Slave of MS H.6 except that he had given me a right to be there, a sense of entitlement.”

Here, Ghosh reveals another important aspect of his book: The personal investment he feels in discovering details about Bomma’s life. His feeling of connection to Bomma as another Indian living in Egypt prompts him to try to understand what brought Bomma to Egypt, raising the theme of The Complexities of Cultural Identity. This, in turn, leads to him investigating the Indian Ocean Trade routes.