Dr. Shivan Mahendrarajah, FRHistS, is a researcher at the School of History, the University of St Andrews, Scotland. Shivan has traveled throughout the Islamic world, from Morocco to Malaysia. He was educated at Columbia University in New York, and University of Cambridge (Ph.D. in Middle Eastern & Islamic History). He studied Persian at the University of Tehran (2009-10) and Arabic at Damascus University (2007-08). Shivan has traveled regularly to Afghanistan, and has been hosted by different Afghan political parties, including mujahidin and the Taliban.
Shivan is the author of peer-reviewed articles on Islamic history, Sufism, Shiʿism, Wahhabism, Afghanistan, Iran, the Mongol Empire, Tamerlane and his dynasty (“Timurids” of Central Asia and Iran); 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 recently translated into Persian. 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. Header photo: Palmyra, Syria
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