Drawing on the rich archives of the Court of Justice of Cochin, a main settlement of the Dutch East India Company, this book presents ten court cases that deal with themes of enslavement and 'enslavebility'. Offering detailed insights into interrogations and testimonies, they paint a unique picture of the complex historical realities in which processes of enslavement and relations of slavery were shaped.

Each original Dutch transcript is followed by an English translation, shedding light on the interactions between local systems of bondage and global systems of commodified slavery, and providing a new perspective on the global history of slavery.Analysing slavery in the Indian Ocean and South Asia, these case studies examine the dynamics of bondage, caste and social control, while offering a counterpoint to the traditional focus on Atlantic slavery.

Matthias van Rossum is Senior Researcher at the International Institute of Social History, The Netherlands. His main areas of interest are Global Labour History with a focus on maritime labour history, coercion in labour relations and the dynamics of labour conflicts and social relations. Matthias has published extensively on the Dutch maritime history, the history of sailors and maritime labour markets in Asia, the history of globalisation, slavery and the slave trade.

Alexander Geelen is a PhD researcher at the International Institute of Social History and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His research specialises in the regulation of mobility in the Dutch overseas empire during the 18th century, and the involvement of the VOC and WIC in local practices of forced labour.

Bram van den Hout is a Data Information Specialist and historian at the International Institute of Social History, The Netherlands, specialising in violence and slavery in the Dutch East India Company and in creating datasets from historical sources.

Merve Tosun is a Data Manager at the International Institute of Social History, The Netherlands, where she coordinates the database project 'Exploring the Slave Trade in Asia'. She is a historian of early modern colonialism and the slave trade.