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.