Infosys, India’s largest IT company, gives awards every year in economics, engineering, computer science, humanities and social sciences, life sciences, mathematical sciences and physical sciences. Also this year, the Infosys Science Foundation on Thursday honored 6 researchers with awards. The Foundation honored all the winners with gold medals and also presented prizes.
Arun Chandrashekhar, Professor of Economics at Stanford University, was honored. Shyam Golakota, professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, was honored. Associate Professor Siddhesh Kamat from Pune received the award in Life Sciences. Professor Neena Gupta was honored in Mathematical Sciences and Vedika Khemani was honored in Physical Sciences.
Professor Mahmood Kuria’s name also figures in this list. Professor Kuria was honored with the award in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences. At only 36 years old, he has done such work in Islam, written such books that the eyes of the entire country are on him right now.
Research on Maritime Islam
Mahmood Kuria is a professor at the University of Edinburgh. The professor has conducted research on maritime Islam. In his research, the professor investigated Maritime Islam from East Africa to the Middle East, South Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Germany. He presented to everyone the history and culture of Shafi’i Islam in the Indian Ocean. The professor has especially focused on Kerala in his research.
Professor Kuria has also written many books. Among his books, Islamic Law in Circulation: Shafi’i Texts across the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean (2022) was presented to the entire world. In this book of his, we get a complete information (Prosopography) of all the major writers and texts of Kerala. Within this, information about his life and career is available. This book is written in Arabic and Malayalam.
History created in Kerala
Mahmood Kuria has also created another record. He is the first historian of Kerala to have done in-depth research on Maritime Islam. Professor Mahmood Kuria is one of the leading scholars of Indian Ocean Islam or Maritime Islam. He has very good knowledge of Arabic and Malayalam and it would not be wrong to call him an expert in these languages.
Professor Kuria obtained a bachelor’s degree in History and Islamic Studies from Darul Huda Islamic Academy and Calicut University. He earned an M.A. and M.A. in Ancient History from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. I have done it. He also completed a PhD in Global History from Leiden University in 2016.
