Since its establishment in 2014, the Alagil chair has been collaborating with researchers, affiliates and students to build up archives of primary materials in the field of Arabia Asia studies. In view of providing access to many important but hitherto neglected indigenous sources in the field, the chair digitized many manuscripts and documents in private hands, mosque libraries, institutions and other unnoticed locations in various regions of Arabia and Asia. Unsurprisingly, we found rich troves of history in such places that lay out of the way of the global arteries of major cities and jet routes but were once historically connected to distant regions through the sea and across the deserts and mountain passes. We also conduct ethnographic field research, collect materials and record inscriptions in tombs monuments and mosques.
We collaborated with local historians, students, descendants of important scholarly families, religious notables, institutions and diasporas who engaged as interlocutors of transregional connections in Arabia Asia matrix. Thus, we attempt to build regional capacity by enabling local enthusiasts and scholars to develop archives, equipment, skill and academic credentials. Such approaches are necessary as the wealth of materials produced through centuries of Arabia Asia interactions was not well captured by the colonial administration and as such do not largely show up in the major metropolitan archives.
During the past years, we covered important places in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Southern Arabia and Hejaz. The Maluku region was one of the important places were Tiar Hatta concentrated his archival project in Indonesia basing three historical locations; Ternate, Ambon and Geser. While the Ternate was an important place where Arab and Chinese traders met largely, Ambon was the Dutch base for the Spice Islands. The Seram island also hosts diverse migrants including Arabs, Chinese and Bugis diasporic communities and provides rich sources for understanding the Arabia Asia connections.
In India, Dr. Abdul Jaleel has been working with Arab communities of Malabar for last few years. Visiting old settlements of the community in Calicut, Kannur Ponnani, and Chavakkad, he could identify important private libraries and collections owned by Arab migrants, educational institutions and mosques. He has digitized significant manuscripts and sources from the Qadi houses of Calicut as well as from notable scholarly families of Hadramis, Makhdumis and Bukharis in the region. Our collections from the region pertain to history, biography, family genealogy, and their connections across the Indian Ocean.
In Yemen, we have been able to build collaborations with the Tarim Centre for Research and Publishing, whose director Abdul Rahman Balfaqih was able to digitize many important sources found in the region of Hadramawt. Digital copies of the rich and rare materials found in the region are an important cultural safeguard against continuing turmoil in the country. We have digitized important historical and religious sources collected from families and institutions and also some of these have been published by the Tarim Centre. Dr. Rian Thum and Dr. Huda Abdul Ghafour Amin Kashgary have been researching diasporic Turkistani communities that stretch through South Asia into Xinjiang in China. They have been conducting interviews with elderly members of the community, as well as collecting documents relating to endowments in Saudi Arabia and Xinjiang, property, biography and family history.