The Cosmos Malabaricus (COSMA) programme is a landmark international research and capacity-building initiative jointly undertaken by Kerala Council for Historical Research, Leiden University, and the National Archives of the Netherlands. Conceived under the framework of the Shared Cultural Heritage Programme of the Netherlands, COSMA represents a significant collaborative effort to rediscover, preserve, and make accessible the rich archival heritage of Kerala from the early modern period.
At the heart of the programme lies an extraordinary corpus of Dutch East India Company (VOC) records related to Malabar, spanning the period from 1643 to 1852. These records—comprising approximately 1,800 volumes—constitute one of the most extensive and detailed archival sources on Kerala’s political, socio-economic, cultural, and religious history. Despite their immense value, these materials have remained largely underutilized due to their composition in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Dutch language and script.
COSMA seeks to bridge this gap through a multi-pronged approach. The programme focuses on enhancing accessibility to these digitized archival sources by developing detailed inventories in Dutch and English, and by undertaking systematic transcription, translation, and publication of selected materials. In doing so, it aims to make these sources available not only to scholars but also to the wider public, particularly in Kerala.
A key component of COSMA is its emphasis on capacity building. The programme provides specialized training in Dutch language, palaeography, archival studies, and colonial and global history. Selected Indian researchers are trained at Leiden University, while Dutch fellows are hosted at KCHR, fostering a vibrant environment of academic exchange. Annual summer schools, workshops, and seminars further contribute to knowledge dissemination and scholarly engagement. The programme will culminate in an international conference and a series of scholarly publications in collaboration with Leiden University Press.
The archival focus of COSMA includes critical series such as correspondence between Cochin and Batavia, council proceedings, and the unique “indigenous diaries” (inheemse dagregisters), which offer unparalleled insights into the political structures, economic practices, and cultural life of Malabar’s diverse polities—from major kingdoms like Cochin and Kozhikode to smaller principalities.
The programme has already yielded significant academic outcomes. Notably, four COSMA fellows— Anjana Aby, Lija Mary Kambakkaran, Sailaja Mundakkal, and Meenu Rebecca Mathai—successfully graduated from Leiden University on 12 January 2026 with specialization in Colonial and Global History, marking a major milestone in the programme’s capacity-building mission.
Envisioned as a seven-year initiative, COSMA stands as a pioneering model of international academic collaboration. By unlocking the potential of Dutch archival records, it not only deepens our understanding of Kerala’s past but also strengthens global historical scholarship and Indo- Dutch cultural ties.