Lija Mary Kambakkaran Joseph is currently one of the four Cosmos Malabaricus Fellows of Colonial and Global History at the Universiteit Leiden. As a part of her fellowship, which is broadly concerned on decolonisation of Dutch Archives, she is currently learning medieval Dutch and Palaeography, in order to use the rich and rather under-explored archives of the VOC. She also holds a Master’s degree from JNU, New Delhi, a place which shaped her love for research and pursuit of knowledge.

Current Research:

I am currently working on colonial appropriation of caste, social hierarchy and stratification in Pre-Modern Malabar. I am curious of about the makings of caste and penetration of caste and social divisions into Abrahamic Religions in the region. My research also explores the gendered and intersection of caste-based slavery [slaafbaarheid] and the legal pluralism under colonial regimes. Additionally, I look at how sectarian divisions penetrated into arts and other forms of cultural expression.

Areas of Study:

Colonialism, Caste, Slavery, Culture, Archives