Ladan Niayesh

Ladan Niayesh is a Professor of Early Modern Studies at the Université de Paris and a former Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Nizami Ganjavi Centre (2021-22). Her work focuses on 16th- and 17th-century English travels to Muscovy and Persia, analyzing intersections of race, empire, and transcultural diplomacy.

Research Projects:

• Models of Race and Empire in Early English Accounts of Russians and Tatars (Cambridge University Press, under contract): Examines English Muscovy Company journeys during Ivan the Terrible’s reign, linking local Russian/Tatar experiences to England’s imperial ambitions.
• An Elizabethan Soldier in Safavid Persia (co-edited, Hakluyt Society): Edits Anthony Sherley’s diplomatic missions to Shah Abbas I, exploring Safavid-European geopolitical dynamics.

Collaborations: Works with Dr. Kurosh Meshkat (British Library) and Prof. Alasdair MacDonald (University of Groningen). Her research highlights transcultural exchanges at the Ottoman Empire’s margins.