Talk by Ariane Sadjed, Institute of Iranian studies, Austrian Academy of Sciences on Bukhara and Beyond. Patterns of mobility among Persianate Jews in the 19th and early 20th centuries

Cambridge Central Asia Forum invites you to a talk by

Ariane Sadjed, Institute of Iranian studies, Austrian Academy of Sciences

on

Bukhara and Beyond. Patterns of mobility among Persianate Jews in the 19th and early 20th centuries

Date: 25 October

Time: 11am

Venue: Room S1, Alison Richard Building

Zoom registration link: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pc-ygrDssHNYlARR1yMaSAyk9A86o8ypL

Everyone is welcome.

Biography: Dr. Sadjed is Senior Researcher and Deputy Director of the Institute of Iranian Studies at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Intersecting historical and anthropological research, her research interests include the modern history of Iran, and the history of Jews in the Persianate world. Dr. Sadjed received a 5-year grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to conduct research on the Jewish communities in Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan from the late 19th century, based on sources in the countries under consideration and has published various articles on the topic.

Abstract: Jews have been living in the region of Central Asia for almost three thousand years. Since these communities are now almost gone, narratives about Jewish life in Central Asia are heavily influenced by contemporary concepts of the nation state and (religious) identity. My talk will give an overview of the modern history of Bukharan Jews: How did communities from all over Central Asia, and many other regions such as Iran, Yemen and Afghanistan come to be subsumed under the term “Bukharan”? Often considered as backwards and isolated, Bukharan Jews have a rich history that reflects the geographic connectivities and cultural diversity of Central Asia. I will highlight aspects of Jewish life in the region in regard to grave political transformations such as the Russian conquest and Soviet rule and finally, how communal memory is narrated in post-Soviet contexts inside of Uzbekistan as well as among diaspora communities.