Teaching John Ovington's A Voyage to Surat in the Year 1689 in the AP World History Course Peggy J. Martin Del Rio High School Del Rio, Texas John Ovington, "A Voyage to Surat in the Year 1689," in Sources of World History II, 2nd ed., ed. Mark A. Kishlansky (New York, Wadsworth-Thompson, 1999) p. 108. With its strong emphasis on commercial and cultural interactions, the Advanced Placement World History course is enriched by student exposure to the accounts of traders and travelers. From the 15th to the 18th centuries, Indian Ocean trade provided the stage for a rich drama of commercial and cultural interchanges. The Indian Ocean tale weaves together encounters among South Asians, East Asians, Islamic peoples, Africans, and Europeans, and thus provides an ideal opportunity to emphasize both emerging globalization and contacts between many cultures. One account of such interactions is provided in "The City of Surat and Its Inhabitants," an excerpt from John Ovington's A Voyage to Surat in the Year 1689. Ovington's travelogue provides students with a European trader's point of view as he confronts the world of Islam during the Mughal rule of India. Its themes and habits of mind supplement the study of the years 1450-1750. The selection fits into the greater global context by challenging students to place themselves in the position of a meeting of the Western and Islamic worlds against a backdrop of one of the world's most ancient civilizations. http://chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/d/108/whm.html --- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India