Knowledge of the biology of deep-sea benthic foraminifera was used to interpret the results of multivariate analyses (factor and cluster) on relative abundance data of benthic foraminifera at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 219 (southeastern Arabian Sea; 1764 m depth) in combination with carbon and oxygen isotope data. Faunal data document major changes in deep-sea ventilation and productivity over the past 5.5 Ma, including the end of the Miocene-Pliocene Indo-Pacific biogenic bloom period at ~4.0 Ma. Interestingly, there is no simple correlation between high productivity and low oxygenation. Productivity fluctuated but became overall more pulsed, whereas overall oxygenation increased. We interpret the records as a combination of local to regional fluctuations in productivity probably caused by changes in monsoonal development, particularly its seasonality, and changes in oxygenation of intermediate depth waters in the Indian Ocean caused by global changes in climate and ocean circulation. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union