Anxious Onlookers: Qajar Iran, Tipu Sultan of Mysore and British colonial expansion, 1797-1800

The Alireza Ahmadian Lecture in Iranian and Persianate Studies presents: Anxious Onlookers: Qajar Iran, Tipu Sultan of Mysore and British colonial expansion, 1797-1800 on April 12, 2025.

Abstract

At the turn of the 19th century Qajar Iran encountered the thrust of European imperial expansion stretching from Egypt to the Caucasus to India. How did Iran respond to a call for an anti-colonial alliance by Tipu Soltan and then witness his downfall, offers a remarkable case of connected histories with long-term repercussions that relates even to the plight of today’s Iran.

Speaker

Abbas Amanat is William Graham Sumner Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University. A graduate of Alborz high school, he received his B.A. from Tehran University in 1971 and his Doctorate of Philosophy from the School of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, in 1981. He taught at Yale University between 1983 and 2021. He has written about early modern and modern history of Iran, the Middle East, the Muslim world and the Persianate world.

About the Alireza Ahmadian Lectures in Iranian and Persianate Studies: Alireza Ahmadian (1981 – 2019) was an enthusiastic researcher, a consummate socio-political analyst, and an opinion leader on foreign policy who nurtured the virtues of diplomatic dialogue and liberal democracy. Alireza was a proud and devoted UBC alumnus, supporter of UBC’s Department of Asian Studies, and beloved member of Canadian-Iranian Community. The department renamed this lecture series in his honour in 2019. Alireza’s friends in the community have provided funding to support this series, and this generous gift will see these important academic and community engagement events supported through to the end of the 2025/2026 academic year. Read More …

Should you have any questions, please contact the Department of Asian Studies at Asian.Studies@ubc.ca.