Where Am I From? By Rukiya Shanthi
Why I Write Stories Set in Ancient Indian Ocean History
A Question on Identity
“Where are you from?” Like you, I’ve been asked this loaded question hundreds of times. My initial reactions have gone from head-scratching as a child to eyerolling as a teenager to biting my tongue as an adult. I keep the answer simple — I’m British Sri Lankan. Born in the UK to Sri Lankan immigrants, being British and Sri Lankan combine the biggest identities I grew up with. But is it really that simple?
One particular encounter sparked my curiosity when I was told that I looked East African and since then, I have been stopped on more than one occasion by Ethiopians who thought I was from their community — I had to know more!
Zooming Out
Looking at a map of Sri Lanka in the middle of the Indian Ocean, like a gateway between east and west, it’s a wonder I hadn’t connected the dots before. All you need is wind, seas and a canoe and you can create the perfect flow of people and goods. And the ancient merchants did exactly that, using the changing monsoon winds to sail back and forth over thousands of years!
Take Sri Lanka’s Kingdom of Anuradhapura (5th century BCE to 11th century CE), for example. At its height, it produced four rice harvests a year, enough to feed the people, store in granaries and export to as far as West Africa and China! Merchants from the Kingdom of Aksum — modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea — travelled to Sri Lanka during the same period, getting rich from trade between the Roman Empire and South Asia. Arabs had been trading with Sri Lanka since pre-Islamic times, calling it Serendib (origin of the word serendipity), and even the voyages of 9th century CE sailors inspired the tales of Sinbad the Sailor.
Ordinary people made the booming spice trade what it was. Think about cinnamon in English apple pie or oranges covered with cloves to stave off the smells of Tudor England. And not just spices, but all kinds of things were transported across the Indian Ocean:
· Animals and plants (where would we be without coffee and tea?!);
· Languages like Sanskrit and Arabic (which have influenced words in European languages);
· Technology of block printing and paper;
· Science like engineering, architecture and mathematics;
· Fashion, dance, music, sculpture and storytelling;
· And beliefs — Hinduism and Buddhism spread from India to South East Asia and early Islam was present in East Africa and South China.
These all moved beyond borders long before the creation of the nation state.
A Human Melting Pot
So what does all this mean for my ancestry? Even without a DNA test, the patterns of migration I’ve researched indicate that I’m a walking mishmash of Indian Ocean history, much more than the “Asian – Other” tick box on countless forms I’ve filled! Knowing this, partly explains why I feel at home in different communities and how eating various Indian Ocean foods brings a sense of the familiar.
Why Indian Ocean History Matters
What we’re not taught in schools is that migration is a huge part of human history. In fact, it is our shared histories that makes us more alike than different. As I researched my ancestry, I became inspired to write a story set in Sri Lankan history long before colonialism. Because when you look at the arc of human history, so many amazing things were happening before European colonisers arrived in the Indian Ocean. Realising this puts colonial history into context, reframing world history and why the world is the way it is.
I feel a little cheated that I hadn’t grown up knowing Indian Ocean history’s influence on the world and how it impacts our lives today. Sadly, many education systems of previously colonised Indian Ocean countries are also still focused on a nationalistic or European-centred world history.
My hope is that by writing stories set in ancient Indian Ocean history, I can entertain and teach children that our peoples have been interconnected for much longer than they’re told in class. I believe that in understanding the truth of where we come from can future generations build bridges between communities, overcoming those who seek to divide us.
Rukiya Shanthi
is an emerging children’s author and recipient of the 2025 London Writers Award. She writes immersive, historically grounded adventure stories that reimagine forgotten pasts to foster pride, curiosity, and connection across cultures and generations.
Follow her on social media:
Instagram @rukiya_shanthi
Bluesky rukiyashanthi.bsky.social X/Twitter @RukiyaShanthi
