Testimonies of Enslavement
Sources on Slavery from the Indian Ocean World
Matthias van Rossum author Alexander Geelen author Bram van den Hout author Merve Tosun author
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published:25th Aug '22
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
A unique collection of translated court cases from the Court of Justice of Cochin that sheds new light on the experiences, interrogations and testimonies of the enslaved in the Indian Ocean world during European colonial expansion.
Drawing on the rich archives of the Court of Justice of Cochin, a main settlement of the Dutch East India Company, this book presents ten court cases that deal with themes of enslavement and ‘enslavebility’. Offering detailed insights into interrogations and testimonies, they paint a unique picture of the complex historical realities in which processes of enslavement and relations of slavery were shaped. Each original Dutch transcript is followed by an English translation, shedding light on the interactions between local systems of bondage and global systems of commodified slavery, and providing a new perspective on the global history of slavery.Analysing slavery in the Indian Ocean and South Asia, these case studies examine the dynamics of bondage, caste and social control, while offering a counterpoint to the traditional focus on Atlantic slavery.
The volume is a great first step to rehabilitate the past of enslaved subjects and the conditions that shaped their lives. This collection of source materials will be of great interest to students and scholars of global slavery, legal history, South Asian studies, and the growing field of Indian Ocean social and cultural histories. * Cultural and Social History: The Journal of the Social History Society *
These rich testimonies provide a unique insight into the neglected experiences of slaves and bonded labourers in the Indian Ocean world. The introduction presents a challenging new agenda for comparative research on the history of global slavery. * Nigel Worden, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Cape Town, South Africa *
Matthias van Rossum is an excellent global historian. He focuses on the Indian Ocean, but has an eye on global slaveries. He starts from a micro-historical perspective, which always brings new insights into global history, offering analyses of Cochin in India, caste and slavery, as well as his own source-based category, "enslavable." Outstanding! * Michael Zeuske, Professor of History, Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, Germany *
Matthias van Rossum -- one of the very best historians of the Dutch overseas empire -- has collected rich and dramatic sources in Testimonies of Enslavement to illuminate the global history of slavery in new and exciting ways. * Marcus Rediker, Distinguished Professor of History, University of Pittsburgh, USA *
ISBN: 9781350201644
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
328 pages