Dr Mahmood Kooria

Lecturer in the History of the Indian Ocean World

Contact details

Address

Street

1017, George Square 40

City
Old Town Campus
Post code
EH8 9JX

Availability

  • Fridays 3.00-4.00pm and by appointment

Biography

Background

I was born and raised in Kerala, southwest India, where I completed my undergraduate studies in History and Islamic Studies at Darul Huda Islamic Academy and the University of Calicut. Later, I moved to Delhi to pursue an M.A. in Ancient Indian History at Jawaharlal Nehru University, followed by an MPhil there in a combination of history and landscape archaeology. During my Masters, I became interested in Indian Ocean histories, a fascination that continues to intrigue me to this day. Along these lines, I completed my Ph.D. in Global History at Leiden University Institute for History in 2016.

Since completing my Ph.D., I have taught and worked in various countries and institutions, including the University of Bergen (Norway), Ashoka University (India), and the National Islamic University Jakarta (Indonesia). Additionally, I've worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), the African Studies Centre Leiden (ASCL), and the Dutch Institute in Morocco (NIMAR). My research has been funded by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), New York, and the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the Hague.

I joined the University of Edinburgh in December 2023 and my research interests are in the premodern Indian Ocean world, global history of law, Islamic (legal, intellectual or textual) cultures, matrilineal-matriarchal communities, Afro-Asian connections, and manuscript traditions.

Qualifications

BA, MA, MPhil, PhD

Undergraduate teaching

Pre-honours teaching:

Medieval Worlds: A Journey through the Middle Ages 

Global Connections since 1450

Early Modern History: A Connected World

 

Honours teaching:

Oceanic Histories and Monsoon Cultures: The Indian Ocean, 750-1750

Historical Skills and Methods II: Women in the Ocean: Gendered Travel in the Indian Ocean, 1300-1700

Postgraduate teaching

The Medieval Indian Ocean: Climates, Communities and Commodities

 

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Areas of interest for supervision

The Indian Ocean World; global history of law, Islamic (legal) history; Africa-Asia connections; matrilineal-matriarchal cultures

Project activity

Currently I study the matrilineal and matriarchal Muslim communities of the Indian Ocean littoral from East Africa to South|East Asia. For centuries, the matrilineal system served as a practical means to engage in Indian Ocean trade: men could travel as traders, sailors, and itinerants, while women controlled households and broader social spheres. This economic and social stability enabled women to have better economic and personal choices, allowing for greater freedom within and beyond marriages. While the system has waned among Hindu, Jewish, Christian, and Buddhist communities, it persists among Muslims from Southeast Asia to Southeast Africa. The matrilineal-maritime continuum not only connected millions of them but also challenged the dominant Islamic traditions. 

Past project grants

2018-2019 Transregional Junior Research Scholar Fellowship, Inter-Asia Program, Social Science Research Council (SSRC), New York, USA
2019-2023 Veni Research Grant, Dutch Research Council (NWO), the Netherlands

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