Sussan Babaie is Professor of the Arts of Iran and Islam at the Courtauld Institute. She is best known for her work on Persian and Islamic Art of the early modern period. She has written extensively on the art and architecture of the Safavid dynasty. Her talk will be held in St Columba's Church Hall, […]
The Takkiyya Mu’avin al-Mulk is a building complex in the city of Kermanshah in western Iran, dedicated to the annual commemoration of the martyrdom of Husayn ibn ʿAli at the Battle of Karbala in 680, an event of seminal significance to Shiʿi Islam. Private takkiyyas built by social elites were a phenomenon of the Qajar period, […]
The talk will focus on the American Presbyterian mission, which began in the early 1830s and began to decline with the Great Depression’s retrenchment and Reza Shah’s nationalist requirements, eventually leading to the shutting of all mission schools in 1940, except for the one which they ran for their own children, which continued until the 1978-79 […]
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE The Sasanian era (ca. 224-651 AD) was a period of unprecedented cultural, scientific and economic achievements in Iranian history. Ideologically, the Sasanian empire was founded upon the religion of Zoroastrianism, a main feature of which was the worship of the sacred Fire in dedicated fire temples. Many […]
In 1903, Lorimer was commissioned by the British Raj to compile a handbook for British diplomats and agents in the Persian Gulf region. Initially given only six months, he insisted on being granted more time to ensure the handbook was thorough. The result was the 5,000 page two-volume Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf and Central […]
At the end of the British-Soviet occupation of Iran in 1945, the Tudeh Party emerged as a prominent political entity. In a relatively short period, its members had risen from obscurity to become members of parliament, cabinet ministers, and trade union leaders. While the war against fascism waged, the British saw the Tudeh as a […]
This talk explores the response of British academia to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Crisis of 1951-54, focusing on the contribution of the Edinburgh University scholar L.P. Elwell-Sutton. Much has been written about the British scholars, such as Ann Lambton and Robert Zaehner, who were indifferent to the Iranian cause and even helped the British government devise […]
The artistic patronage of the second Qajar ruler Fath Ali Shah (r. 1797-1834) is well known. Less studied is his patronage of the major shrines within his lands, in Qom, Mashhad and Iraq. This included the building of new courtyards, the gilding of domes and iwans, and the gifting of doors inlaid with rubies and […]
This lecture is based on Professor Matthee’s book, Angels Tapping at the Wine-shop’s Door*: A History of Alcohol in the Islamic Middle East. (*from Hafez). The book debunks the myth that, since alcohol is forbidden in Islam, “good” Muslims do not drink. It argues that, rather than extraneous to Islam, alcohol is integral to the […]
David Chaffetz in his book traces the role of horses in empire building from the Danube to the Yellow River, from their early domestication in pre-history up to a bozkashi match in Kabul in 1973. His view is that, given the constant trading in horses for military or banditry purposes between Iran, Central Asia, […]
