Essays
The Prison of Empire
In 1915, a 20-year-old named Vartuhi Kalantar was unjustly jailed in Istanbul for promoting Armenian independence. Her prison memoir, the first by a woman in the Middle East and a fascinating window into the dying days of the Ottoman Empire, has now been translated into English.
The Other Side of the Coin
Nearly 200 years ago, an East India Company agent in Central Asia started collecting ancient coins. Now kept in the British Museum, they reveal a time when Afghanistan was wealthy, cosmopolitan and culturally confident.
The Arabs of Hyderabad
From royal guards to entrepreneurs and wrestlers, Hyderabad’s Yemeni-origin community has navigated the collapse of princely rule, the violence of 1948 and life in independent India, preserving its identity and reinventing itself in a changing city.
How Ibrahim Rugova’s Literary Training Shaped His Political Philosophy
Ibrahim Rugova, who led Kosovo’s nonviolent resistance and ascended to the country’s presidency after independence, died 20 years ago. Before that, he was a literary scholar. That little-known first act was crucial to his worldview and, ultimately, his approach to politics.
The Lost Consciousness of Pre-Islamic Arabic Poetry
A century ago, a vital debate was ignited over the authenticity of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry. Among the many reasons to accept the antiquity of much of this body of verse is the distinct mindset it reveals, in which humans stand fully within the natural world.
The Living Fragments of Al-Andalus
A growing movement in Spain’s Andalusia argues that everyday gestures and half-remembered prayers are the unwritten remnants of Muslim Iberia, and an answer to the far right’s narratives about national identity.
The Origin Stories of Bosnian Tattoos Are Only Skin-Deep
Generations of Catholic women in Bosnia sported intricate tattoos on their hands, chests and even faces. But the apocryphal tales that they were designed to keep Christian maidens safe from Ottoman advances miss the rich history of girlhood, creativity and community that are actually at their heart.