Dr. Shivan Mahendrarajah is an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS) of the United Kingdom. Shivan has traveled extensively throughout the Islamic world, from Morocco to Malaysia. He was educated at Columbia University in the City of New York, and at the University of Cambridge (Ph.D. in Middle Eastern & Islamic History). Shivan earned a diploma in Persian Studies (language and literature) from the University of Tehran (2010), and diploma in Arabic Studies from Damascus University (2008). Shivan travels regularly to Iran and the Persian Gulf. His travels to Afghanistan have been curtailed since the Taliban victory in 2021.
Shivan is the author of peer-reviewed articles on Islamic history, Sufism, Shiʿism, Wahhabism, Afghanistan, Iran, Mongol Empire, Tamerlane and his “Timurid” dynasty; on counterinsurgency, al-Qaida, and the Taliban movements of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Shivan has two academic monographs in print: The Sufi Saint of Jam: History, Religion, and Politics of a Sunni Shrine in Shiʿi Iran, and A History of Herat, from Chingiz Khan to Tamerlane. His History of Herat was translated into Persian and published in Tehran (see IBNA book review). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2021. See also Home and Publications pages.
Photo © Shivan Mahendrarajah. Taken in Bosra, Syria.
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