Cosmos Malabaricus Project

In News 

• Kerala and the Netherlands have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a project named ‘Cosmos Malabaricus’.

About Cosmos Malabaricus project 

• It is being jointly implemented by the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR), the National Archives, and the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.
• The project will be completed in six years.
• The project deals with the 18th century Dutch documents on Malabar which are considered the most extensive source of information about the period in Kerala between 1643 and 1852.
  • The material is written in classical Dutch language and is available in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Netherlands.
• As part of the project, students from Kerala would get an opportunity to pursue Master of Arts programmes at Leiden University, while those from the Netherlands would be allowed to take up an internship at the KCHR.
• In addition to student and scholar exchanges, the KCHR and Leiden University will organise a two-week summer school each year on the history of Kerala.
• Aims 
  • It aims to make the digitised Dutch archival material accessible to the majority of audiences, including international and Indian scholars and the people of Kerala.
    • It will be done through translation and publication of summaries in English.
  • It would help understand more about the political, social, economic and cultural history of Kerala.

Source:TH