Decolonizing Indigenous History: A Postcolonial Reading of Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies

Abstract

Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies (2008), the first volume of the Ibis Trilogy, presents a vivid literary reconstruction of the colonial encounter in India during the nineteenth century, particularly through the lens of the opium trade and the indentured labour system. This article, which narrativizes the undocumented history to demystify the myth of Eurocentric dominant discourse, explores the novel as a significant postcolonial text that reinterprets indigenous history by foregrounding the voices, experiences, and agency of marginalized communities silenced by colonial discourse. The alternative narratives of history are communicated through representations of indentured labour and the slave trade, the devastation of native industry and agricultural base, colonial exploitation of natural resources in Burma, and the thriving trade of opium in India under imperial rule. Through the interwoven narratives of peasants, coolies, zamindars, women, and sailors, Ghosh contests the Eurocentric historiography of empire and reclaims suppressed indigenous perspectives. Drawing upon postcolonial theory, this study examines how Sea of Poppies destabilizes imperial narratives, interrogates the colonial economy of opium and indenture, and offers an alternative framework for decolonizing history. The novel functions as both a literary archive and a critique of colonial modernity, illuminating the lived realities of subaltern subjects while challenging hegemonic versions of history.