Mongol Connections: Art, Aesthetics, and Technologies
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10 Nov
12 Nov
2025
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Islamic Aesthetics
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Sussan Babaie
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Image: The Courtauld Bag, Mosul, Iraq (Ilkhanid dynasty, 1256–1353) 1300–30, Brass, hammered, chased and inlaid with silver and gold. The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld
These lectures consider the extraordinary disruptions caused by the sudden arrival of the Mongol hordes which was especially devastating to the Muslim world for the Mongols put an end to the caliphate in Baghdad. The world-scale ambitions of the Mongols, set in motion by the chief of all Mongol tribes Temüjin, known as Chinggis Khaan (Genghis Khan) (r. 1206-27), led to the establishment of the largest contiguous land empire in history. Focusing on the Ilkhanate in today Iran and Iraq (1256-1335), we consider the artistic and cultural world that emerged from encounters between the nomadic steppe peoples and those of the settled populations with whom they formed independent polities and produced spectacular arts.
Session I: From the Steppe to the Palace: Introduction to the Mongols in Islamic West Asia
Session II: Mongol world view, statecraft and Perso-Islamic representations of kingship The World History of Rahid al-Din and The Shahnama (book of kings)
Session III: Conceptualising Bling! From cloth of gold to horse trappings in gold Court ceremonies and costumes
Session IV: Tented Luxury, Mobile Palaces, and Monumental Architecture
Session V: Object stories: The Courtauld Bag and the role of the Khatuns (Mongol royal women)
Session VI: Mongol Legacy: Blue and White and the first Global Brand
In-person Lecture with Live Streaming on ZOOM.
Lectures in this series will be recorded and made available for 24 hours via a secure Zoom link on a scheduled date, subject to scholar consent due to the nature of ongoing research.
P.S: The Zoom link to join the lecture will be shared 24 hours prior to the talk.
Duration -
November 10, 11, 12, 2025
Timing: Tea: 6:00 PM | Lecture: 6:30 - 8:30 PM IST
Fees
Rs. 3,000 (For student discounts registrations kindly email info@jp-india.org)
Register
Sussan Babaie
Sussan Babaie is Professor of the Arts of Iran and Islam at The Courtauld, University of London. A graphic designer by training (BA, Tehran University), she earned her PhD in Art History from IFA, New York University. Among her publications is Isfahan and Its Palaces (2008). She is currently working collaboratively on several projects focusing on the arts across trans-Asian networks: co-editor and author of Cultural History of Asian Art, six-volume series (Bloomsbury); co-curator of the Royal Academy of Art exhibition on Arts of the Great Mongol State (Spring 2027); and lead scholar on Mongol Connections, a traveling seminar supported by Connecting Art Histories grant from Getty.