In issue 9, BCDSS Principal Investigator Julia A.B. Hegewald explores the changing position of the Jaina religious community in the south Indian State of Karnataka in premodern times. From the early fifth century onwards, the
influence of the Jainas in the region had consistently increased. This situation changed significantly during the middle of the twelfth century.
In issue 10, BCDSS Investigator Dorothea Heuschert-Laage examines Slavery in Eighteenth Century Mongolia. She investigates moments of transition in which people were forced into dependency, or had to change from one relationship of asymmetrical dependency to another. It is argued that these transitions were backed by state law, but were rooted in practices which predated the establishment of the Qing dynasty (1636–1911).