Digitization, Translation, and Historical Research on the Early Modern Indian Ocean World
Date: Tuesday, 2 December 2025
Time: 10-12 CET
Location: online
👉 register now to participate (Zoom link will be sent by e-mail the day before the event).
For a long time, critical editing and translation have been crucial for improving access to historical records. Selected historical records are transcribed, supplemented with editorial notes, and published as source publications. In recent years, the accessibility of Dutch historical records for the study of the early modern Indian Ocean has increased rapidly, thanks to digitization and online databases.
Source publications themselves have also evolved over time. Once limited to printed volumes, many are now made available as open-access books or searchable digital formats. Today, transcription technologies (e.g. Transkribus or Loghi) and translation tools (e.g. DeepL or Claude) are making handwritten archives even more accessible.
GLOBALISE is a digital infrastructure project aiming to make the Dutch East India Company archives more accessible. It builds upon the long-standing RGP (Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën) series. This roundtable opens up discussions on how digital tools and AI are transforming historical research. Speakers will reflect on changes in source editing, contextualization and translation, and what it means to open up the archives – for researchers, the general public, and communities affected by colonial histories.
Program
Introduction: Matthias van Rossum, GLOBALISE project leader
Chair: Manjusha Kuruppath, GLOBALISE team lead historical contextualization
Speakers:
Asawari Luthra, guest researcher GLOBALISE
Jos Gommans, Leiden University
Lennart Bes, Leiden University
Mahmood Kooria, University of Edinburgh
Norifumi Daito, Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo
Tristan Mostert, Linschoten Vereeniging and the Atlas of Mutual Heritage
Please register to participate. The Zoom link will be circulated by e-mail shortly before the event.
