Mahmood Kooria Wins Infosys Prize 2024 In Humanities And Social Sciences
The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) on Thursday, November 14, announced the winners of the Infosys Prize 2024. This year’s prize in Humanities and Social Sciences has been awarded to academician and social scientist Mahmood Kooria. He is a lecturer in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh.
The award has been given for Kooria’s “truly outstanding and seminal contributions to the study of maritime Islam in a global perspective, with particular focus on Kerala in the pre-modern and early modern eras. His pioneering studies have revealed the role of Islamic law in shaping economic, political, and cultural transformations on the Indian Ocean littorals.”
Hailing from Kerala’s Malappuram, Kooria was earlier a joint research fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) and African Studies Centre (ASC), Leiden. He completed his PhD at the Leiden University Institute for History, and pursued his undergraduate and post-graduate studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Darul Huda Islamic University and the University of Calicut.
“I am completely surprised by this! I was discussing the book with Professor Bilgrami but did not know the larger picture,” Mahmood Kooria reacted to the announcement.
The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) declared the winners across six categories—Economics, Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, and Physical Sciences. Started in 2009, the Infosys Prize aims to honour the noteworthy achievements of contemporary researchers and scientists focusing on India. The prize for each category comprises a gold medal, a citation, and a prize purse of USD 100,000 (or its equivalent in INR). The event was hosted at ISF’s office in Bengaluru.
The laureates of Infosys Prize 2024 were selected by an international panel of jurors comprised of renowned scholars and experts. Over the past 15 years, the ISF has recognized groundbreaking research and scholarship that has influenced various aspects of human life. In 2024, the prize, with a new direction, decided to honour researchers under 40, emphasising the need for early recognition of exceptional talent.
