{"id":44,"date":"2026-10-11T21:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T00:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.pej-mps.org\/?p=44"},"modified":"2026-10-11T21:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T00:05:12","slug":"ancient-india-and-iran-trust-announces-michaelmas-2026-lectures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.pej-mps.org\/?p=44","title":{"rendered":"Ancient India and Iran Trust Announces Michaelmas 2026 Lectures"},"content":{"rendered":"The Ancient India and Iran Trust in Cambridge has announced four public lectures for Michaelmas Term 2026. The programme brings together research on Sasanian credit institutions, the Mongol conquest of Khwarazm, Zoroastrian heritage in Pakistan, and the water infrastructure of Mughal Delhi.<br \/><br \/>All four lectures will take place in person at 23 Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge, beginning at 5.30 pm, with refreshments from 5 pm. All are welcome.<br \/><br \/>23 October \u2014 Aleksander Engeskaug, SOAS University of London <br \/>&#8220;Moneylending and Credit Institutions in Sasanian and Early Islamic Iran&#8221;<br \/><br \/>Drawing on legal and documentary sources, Engeskaug will examine borrowing and credit in the late antique Iranian world. Particular attention will be given to evidence for lending by religious institutions and communal funds. For readers working with Middle Persian literature, the lecture offers an opportunity to connect discussions of loans and interest with the social and economic settings in which these texts were produced.<br \/><br \/>13 November \u2014 Marc Czarnuszewicz, University of Cambridge<br \/>&#8220;The Mongol Destruction of Khwarazm: New Manuscript Evidence&#8221;<br \/><br \/>Czarnuszewicz will investigate how previously unexamined manuscripts complicate familiar accounts of the Mongol conquest. The lecture considers evidence for the survival of intellectual activity and institutions in Khwarazm, asking how manuscript witnesses should be read alongside historical narratives of destruction.<br \/><br \/>27 November \u2014 Meherwan Patel, Ancient India and Iran Trust  <br \/>&#8220;With Hinnells in Karachi: Voices, Images and the Legacy of Zoroastrianism in Pakistan&#8221;<br \/><br \/>This lecture and multimedia presentation will bring John Hinnells\u2019s photographs and recordings into conversation with contemporary Zoroastrian life in Pakistan. Drawing on archival discoveries and his own experience within the community, Patel will explore continuity, change, memory and the responsibility of preserving a vulnerable religious heritage.<br \/><br \/>4 December \u2014 Iqtedar Alam, University of Cambridge  <br \/>&#8220;Nahr wa Shahr: Mapping the Mughal Waterscape of Shahjahanabad&#8221;<br \/><br \/>Alam will explore the Royal Canal and its role in shaping the Mughal capital\u2019s fort, walled city, gardens and agricultural surroundings. The presentation approaches water infrastructure as an integral part of the historical landscape and the organisation of imperial urban space.<br \/><br \/>Together, the lectures highlight the value of bringing textual, manuscript, visual and landscape evidence into dialogue.<br \/><br \/>For further information and programme updates, visit the [Ancient India and Iran Trust\u2019s events page](https:\/\/www.indiran.org\/whats-on\/).","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ancient India and Iran Trust in Cambridge has announced four public lectures for Michaelmas Term 2026. The programme brings together research on Sasanian credit institutions, the Mongol conquest of Khwarazm, Zoroastrian heritage in Pakistan, and the water infrastructure of Mughal Delhi. All four lectures will take place in person at 23 Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.pej-mps.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.pej-mps.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.pej-mps.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.pej-mps.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.pej-mps.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.pej-mps.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45,"href":"http:\/\/blog.pej-mps.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/45"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.pej-mps.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.pej-mps.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.pej-mps.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}