Towards a Connected History of Equine Cultures in South Asia: Bahrī (Sea) Horses and “Horsemania” in Thirteenth-Century South India

This article explores ways that the concept of equine cultures, devel oped thus far principally in European and/or early modern and colonial contexts, might translate to premodern South Asia. As a first contribution to a history of equine matters in South Asia, it focuses on the maritime circulation of horses from the Middle East to Peninsular India in the thirteenth century, examining the dif ferent ways that this phenomenon is recorded in textual and material sources and exploring their potential for writing a new, more connected history of South Asia and the Indian Ocean world.