Kamran Djam Annual Lecture 2022: What Problems Does the Great Mongol Shahnama Pose?

After a pause due to lockdown, the Centre for Iranian Studies is delighted to invite you to the 2022 Kamran Djam Biennial Lectures at SOAS on Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 November 2022. 

Our speaker this year is Professor Robert Hillenbrand FBA, University of St. Andrews, who, will give two lectures on The Great Mongol Shahnama, a long-awaited major work on one of the most magnificent illustrated Persian manuscripts of all time, dating to 1330s. Hali Publications Ltd., the UK publishers of this splendid book, have kindly agreed to bring several advance copies of the book for your perusal before its imminent availability in the UK.

The lecture on the problems posed by the Great Mongol Shahnama, probably produced in Tabriz c.1320-1335, will open with a brief history of the manuscript in order to contextualise what follows. The body of the lecture will tackle five of the many problems posed by this challenging masterpiece.

These revolve in turn around its multiple innovations, which owe much to its colossal size; the complexities of its production process; the unprecedented number of its illustrations; its patron; and its curiously limited legacy.

Recording

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About the speaker

Professor Robert Hillenbrand FBA is one of the leading British art historians who specialises in Persian art and Islamic art in general, with research interests spanning Islamic architecture, book painting, iconography and other arts with a particular focus on Iran and on Umayyad Syria. His more than 220 publications include prize-winning books on both Islamic architecture and on Persian painting.

Programme

• Chair: Narguess Farzad
• Organiser: Centre for Iranian Studies, SOAS
• Contact email: smei@soas.ac.uk