The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) has awarded the 2024’s prize in Humanities and Social Science to academician and social scientist Mahmood Kooria. 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.
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.”
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.
