The Ocean as Archive: The Indian Ocean in History and Fiction

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The Ocean as Archive: The Indian Ocean in History and Fiction

05:00 PM

January 07, 2026

The Asiatic Society, Mumbai

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The Ocean as Archive: The Indian Ocean in History and Fiction

Event

The Indian Ocean is often called the cradle of globalization.

Powered by monsoon winds, the Indian Ocean became a commercial hub resulting in a cosmopolitan world that has fascinated scholars and writers. The burgeoning research in Indian Ocean studies spans disciplines.

This conversation brings together celebrated author Amitav Ghosh whose writing often has the ocean as a central setting and Infosys Prize laureate Mahmood Kooria whose pioneering work looks at the political and cultural transformations on the Indian Ocean littoral. The session will be chaired by Akeel Bilgrami, Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University and jury chair for the Infosys Prize in Humanities.

Speakers

Akeel Bilgrami

Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University. He is the Infosys Prize Jury Chair for Humanities and Social Sciences.

Amitav Ghosh

Winner of the 2018 Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honor. In 2024, Ghosh was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contributions to literature.

Mahmood Kooria

Mahmood Kooria is Lecturer in the History of the Indian Ocean World at the University of Edinburgh. He is the recipient of the Infosys Prize 2024 in Humanities and Social Sciences.