Fahad Ahmad Bishara is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Virginia. He received his Ph.D. in History from Duke University, North Carolina in 2012 and holds an M.A. in Arab Gulf Studies from the University of Exeter. His research, in the fields of legal history and the history of capitalism, has been supported by the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies. He was also previously a Prize Fellow in Economics, History and Politics at the Center for History and Economics at Harvard University, Massachusetts.

'… essential reading for anyone interested in the Indian Ocean world, Islam, economic life, and of course, the law.' Johan Mathew, H-IslamInAfrica

• Prologue; 1. Life and debt; 2. Inscribing obligation; 3. Paper routes; Interlude; 4. Translating transactions; 5. Making Africa Indian; 6. Muslim mortgages; 7. Capital moves; 8. Unravelling obligation; Epilogue.

Fahad Ahmad Bishara is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Virginia. He received his Ph.D. in History from Duke University, North Carolina in 2012 and holds an M.A. in Arab Gulf Studies from the University of Exeter. His research, in the fields of legal history and the history of capitalism, has been supported by the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies. He was also previously a Prize Fellow in Economics, History and Politics at the Center for History and Economics at Harvard University, Massachusetts.

'… essential reading for anyone interested in the Indian Ocean world, Islam, economic life, and of course, the law.' Johan Mathew, H-IslamInAfrica

• Prologue; 1. Life and debt; 2. Inscribing obligation; 3. Paper routes; Interlude; 4. Translating transactions; 5. Making Africa Indian; 6. Muslim mortgages; 7. Capital moves; 8. Unravelling obligation; Epilogue.

Fahad Ahmad Bishara is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Virginia. He received his Ph.D. in History from Duke University, North Carolina in 2012 and holds an M.A. in Arab Gulf Studies from the University of Exeter. His research, in the fields of legal history and the history of capitalism, has been supported by the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies. He was also previously a Prize Fellow in Economics, History and Politics at the Center for History and Economics at Harvard University, Massachusetts.

'… essential reading for anyone interested in the Indian Ocean world, Islam, economic life, and of course, the law.' Johan Mathew, H-IslamInAfrica

• Prologue; 1. Life and debt; 2. Inscribing obligation; 3. Paper routes; Interlude; 4. Translating transactions; 5. Making Africa Indian; 6. Muslim mortgages; 7. Capital moves; 8. Unravelling obligation; Epilogue.