Om Prakash, born in Delhi, India, in 1940. Ph.D. from the University of Delhi. Professor of Economic History at Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi.
Guest of the Rector (Winter 1998/99)
I am reasonably satisfied with the progress I was able to make with my work during the three month period I spent at the NIAS as a Guest of the Rector. This work consisted essentially of two parts. The first part was the collection of material for a book provisionally entitled “India and the Indian Ocean Trading Network in the Early Modern Period”. In the absence of indigenous source materials, the Algemeen Rijksarchief, The Hague, is probably the most important repository of original source materials on this theme anywhere in the world. Given the physical proximity of the Rijksarchief to Wassenaar, I was able to go to the archives fairly regularly.
The second part of my work consisted of writing four papers, delivering two lectures and attending a workshop in Germany. I expect all four papers to be published in the course of the year. Of the two lectures that I delivered, one was at the NIAS itself while the other was at the Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis.