Spectacles of Sovereignty: Persian Shahs in Imperial Europe
- Date: 6 December 2022, 15:15–17:00
- Location: SCAS, Thunbergssalen, Linneanum, Thunbergsvägen 2, Uppsala
- Type: Seminar
- Lecturer: David Motadel, Fellow, SCAS, Associate Professor of International History, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
- Web page
- Organiser: Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS)
- Contact person: Ellen Werner
David Motadel, SCAS & London School of Economics and Political Science, gives a seminar on "Spectacles of Sovereignty: Persian Shahs in Imperial Europe". The talk will be followed by a Q&A session.
The paper will examine the great European tours of the Persian monarchs Nasir al-Din Shah (1873, 1878, and 1889) and Muzaffar al-Din Shah (1900, 1902, and 1905) in the era of high imperialism. Both monarchs were received with full pomp by emperors, kings, and statesmen in St. Petersburg, London, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Rome, Brussels, and Istanbul. A global microhistory, the study will offer a reinterpretation of the relationship between European and non-European rulers in an age of European domination. It will explore how participation in the rituals and ceremonials of a state visit – such as gift-giving, the exchange of decorations, and military spectacle –gave expression to the non-European monarchs' dynastic legitimacy and their country's sovereignty. Ultimately, it seeks to show that state visits provided non-European monarchs with a way of integrating themselves and their countries into a system of international relations that was dominated by the European powers.
This will be a hybrid event.
For more information and the webinar link, please see http://www.swedishcollegium.se/subfolders/Events.html.