Deepthi Murali

lol thank you

I said this and then promptly disappeared for a month. 😅

European Epitaphs at Udayagiri Fort: Military Service and Faith in Eighteenth-Century Travancore — Deepthi Murali Latin and Tamil epitaphs at Udayagiri Fort document European military service in the Travancore state through iconography, text, and material form.

Cannons, kettledrums, crosses, and Tamil inscriptions—carved in stone at Udayagiri Fort.
New post on European military epitaphs and what they tell us about service and sovereignty in 18th-c. Travancore.

www.deepthimurali.com/kerala/2026/2/the-epitaph-of-de-lannoy-in-eighteenth-century-travancore

Happy holidays everyone! Early declaration of one of my 2026 resolutions … being that I will post more over here. So question for y’all - what do we talk about on here mostly? #academics #history

Next Tuesday, on the 250th anniversary of her birth, the search for Jane Austen begins.

Join @annefertig.bsky.social on a journey to find the Jane you only thought you knew.

Follow "Finding Jane Austen" on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Had a short but amazing visit to Chicago for the #SSHA conference. @rrchnm.bsky.social had a full panel on mapping for the public put together by our wonderful PhD student Alexandra Miller. Also met my dissertation committee members & friends from the PhD program. And did the Chriskindl market run!

Had a wonderful conference panel experience at #NCABS2025 in Montreal. We talked about textiles in the Indian Ocean World broadly and de-centering Europe in the discussion of British empire material culture. (Also tried poutine for the first time!) #arthistory #histoty #textiles

Connecting Threads: Indian Madras and Afro-Caribbean Consumers YouTube video by Omohundro Institute

Check out @deepthimurali.bsky.social's recent appearance on the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture Digital Projects Coffeehouse where she presented "Connecting Threads: Indian Madras and Afro-Caribbean Consumers"

youtu.be/whi8KY3Vwdg?...

"Unless we stand continually over them with rods in our hands...": Intimidating Indian Textile Workers in 17th Century — Deepthi Murali In the autumn of 1675, the East India Company’s Agent and Council at Fort St. George drafted a letter brimming with frustration. The calicoes from Madras, they complained, had grown “ much thinner...

I wrote about "disciplining" of "deceitful" Indian textile workers in the 17th century. And about the use of morality and affective language as ways of ordering colonial trade. www.deepthimurali.com/textiles-tal... #indianhistory #textilehistory #britishempire #history

Did you know the area of Chintadripet in Chennai was founded by Tamil weavers? — Deepthi Murali If you’ve ever driven past the narrow lanes of Chintadripet in central Chennai — now lined with hardware shops, workshops, and temples — you’re passing through what was once one of the earliest planne...

A rare glimpse into the lives of 18th century weavers: a father, 2 sons, & 2 grandsons all weavers, around the First Carnatic War.
And how the brothers “Narryn” & “Chinnatomby” founded the Chintadripet region of Chennai India: www.deepthimurali.com/all-about-te... #chennai #textilehistory #madras

Tomorrow! We’ll journey from South Asia to the Caribbean to explore the colorful world of the textile trade by Connecting Threads with @deepthimurali.bsky.social. Register to join us!

The @jimambuske.bsky.social will be moderating!

Speaking at @oieahc.bsky.social Digital Coffeehouse series tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct 14, 12pm EST) about my project Connecting Threads: Fashioning Madras in the Caribbean. I am talking about 18th-19th century Indian textiles & Caribbean dress/identity. Sign-up: omohundro.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/o...

Stones of Memory: Two Sati Stones at the Archaeological Museum in Thrissur — Deepthi Murali Preliminary look at the two Sati Stones (in the Virakkal tradition) at the Thrissur Archeological Museum in Kerala

Wrote a brief intro about the 2 Sati Stones at the Archaeological Museum in Thrissur, Kerala. Curious to see how this tradition developed on the Malabar Coast. In other parts of peninsular India they became quite elaborate in narrative structure. www.deepthimurali.com/kerala/2025/... #art #kerala

Can’t wait!

OI Digital Projects Coffeehouse - OIEAHC Begun in winter 2021 as a way of bringing people together virtually while the pandemic kept us apart physically, the OI Coffeehouse has proven a valuable online gathering place for many in the early A...

The @oieahc.bsky.social Digital Projects Coffeehouse Series returns October 14th!

We're kicking things off with @deepthimurali.bsky.social, co-director of Connecting Threads: Fashioning Madras in India and the Caribbean

Sign up now to join the conversation.

oieahc.wm.edu/events-overv...

Talking about Indian textiles, colonialism and 18th-19th century dress and identity in India and the Caribbean. Friday. Online and in-person at @georgemasonu.bsky.social

Smuggling Tea and Handkerchiefs? — Deepthi Murali A snippet from aboard the British East India Company ship in 1712.

Getting back into the habit of blogging about research. Here’s a rather random account of tea and handkerchief smuggling on board an East Indiaman. Doors were broken. www.deepthimurali.com/thieves-in-t... #history #eastindiacompany #tea

Thank you for letting me be part of the episode. It was fun!

"One of many!"

How did the East India Company get its start on the Indian sub-continent? Contributing expert @deepthimurali.bsky.social of George Mason University takes us back to the reign of Elizabeth I in this clip from Episode 16: The Tea.

Connecting Threads Fashioning Madras in India and the Caribbean

The #NEHfunded @deepthimurali.bsky.social 's Connecting Threads project focused on the global history of fashion. It connects small museums & archives to places with larger collections through a queryable database connectingthreads.co.uk

Our NEH grant for the Connecting Threads project was terminated along with many others. With little pomp and no warning. Also not sure if we will ever have any grants to apply for at the NEH. This is a big hit on grants-based, collaborative and digital humanities research in the US.

The Dept of Art, Art History & Visual Studies at Duke University is hiring an Analyst, IT - Digital Humanities Specialist. Position works primarily with fac/staff/students in our Digital Art History and Visual Culture Research Lab and related programs. Posting: careers.duke.edu/job/Durham-A...

Postdoctoral position in critical caste studies at the university of Chicago- still accepting applications!

apply.interfolio.com/157701

We end the semester with presentations on nationalism in Bengali plays, materiality of Partition, and some well-deserved samosas and pani puri. #teachinghistory

Thanks to Dr. Neilesh Bose for putting together this colloquium at University of Victoria (BC). This was such a productive experience. I finally shared research I have been sitting on, on these beautiful ivory tankards from Travancore. Tankard featured: early 20th century at Napier Museum, Kerala.

I also made the mistake of thinking that’s academia. 🫢

Slowly posting about Connecting Threads project launch/symposium at V&A Museum last month. This is a digital public history project and the website is now live at: connectingthreads.co.uk The whole day was incredible! #connectingthreads #academicsky #digitalhistory #indianhistory #caribbeanhistory

At University of Victoria for the Global South Asia Colloquium. We discussed Indian Ocean World history and book projects for two very productive days. Thanks to Prof. Neilesh Bose for putting this together and the CAPI team for being wonderful hosts.

Victoria BC has the loveliest little Chinatown. The Fan Tan Alley has a little museum on the history of Chinese-Canadians. It’s the second oldest Chinatown in North America and the oldest in Canada.