Ula Zeir

Thesis title: The Resettlement of the Syrian Ismaʿilis in Salamiyya in the mid-Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Syria

Qualifications

PHD in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.

Thesis title: 

  • The Resettlement of the Syrian Ismaʿilis in Salamiyya in the mid-Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Syria

Turkish Language Course, Language Centre (Dil Merkezi), Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.

MSc in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.                                                  

Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities, the Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS), London, UK.

BA in English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Al-Baath University, Hims, Syria.

 

Responsibilities & affiliations

Aug. 2015- present: Content Specialist/Arabic Language and Gulf History, The British Library, London, UK.

Dec. 2016- Jan 2019: Guest Lecturer, the Ismaili Centre Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

Nov. 2016- Jun. 2017: Arabic Language Consultant, Department of English and Creative Writing, University of Chichester, Chichester, UK. 

2006- 2015 One to one Arabic teacher.   

Mar. - Dec. 2011: Independent Researcher at the Prime Ministry State Archives (Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri), Istanbul, Turkey.

Dec. 2009- Aug. 2010: Researcher at the Department of Community Relations (DCR), the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, UK. 

Undergraduate teaching

Sep. 2018 and Sep. 2019: Guest Speaker, Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.

  • Course: Modern Middle Eastern History A- Domestic Transformation and International Challenges.

Nov 2016- June 2017: Arabic Language Consultant, University of Chichester, Chichester, UK.

  • Duties: provide an online academic support to one of the PhD candidates working on Emirati poetry, at the Department of English and Creative Writing. In particular I worked with the student on editing the Arabic language sections and refining the transliterations of a number of Nabati compositions in her thesis.

Sep. 2012- Mar. 2015 Undergraduate Tutor, Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.

Courses:

  • Modern Middle Eastern History: Emergence and Encounters.
  • Modern Middle Eastern History B: Post War Independence and Conflict.

Current research interests

Research interests: the Social and Cultural History of Bilad al-Sham (Greater Syria); Isma'ili History; Ottoman History; Archival Research; the Social and Cultural History of the Middle East; Gulf Studies; Folk Music; Oral History; Arabic Poetry; and Sufism. Current research topic: My thesis focuses on the resettlement of the Syrian Ismailis in the city of Salamiyya in 19th century Ottoman Syria. The project widely benefits of the Ottoman archival materials.

Nov. 2023: Presentation, ‘Sources of Gulf History in the India Office Records Held by the British Library’, Course Title: Critical Study on Sources of History of Arabian Gulf, Department of History and Islamic Civilization, Sharjah University, the United Arab Emirates

Aug. 2023: Presentation, 'Spotlights of the Life of Isma'ilis in Ottoman Syria between the 16th and 18th Centuries'. IIS Alumni Association European Chapter Group Annual General Meeting, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, Aga Khan Centre, London, UK. (https://www.iis.ac.uk/news/2023/august/european-iis-alumni-agm-focuses-on-migration-refugees-and-muslim-diaspora/

Jun. 2019: Presentation, 'The Relation between the Ismailis of Salamiyya and their Neighbouring Tribes in 19th Century Ottoman Syria: Speaking the Neighbour’s Language'. Cambridge Graduate Middle East Conference 2019: Languages of Legitimation in the Middle East. https://www.woolf.cam.ac.uk/blog/languages-of-legitimation-in-the-middle-east

Apr. 2019: Presentation, 'Gulf History: from the Annals of the British Library to the Digital Universe'. IMES Seminar Series, Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, the University of Edinburgh, UK. https://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/islamic-middle-eastern/events/imes-seminar-series-spring-2019/imes-research-seminar-zeir-190401

Dec. 2018-Jan 2019: Presentation, 'The History of Salamiyya and the Ismailis from Early Islam to the end of Mamluk Period'. The History of Syrian Ismailis Lecture Series. The Ismaili Centre, Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the UAE.

Dec 2018: Presentation, 'Kharita: Letter Dispatching at the Court of Amir Abdul Rahman Khan, Amir of Afghanistan'. Central Asian Seminar Group Meeting, Institute of Archaeology, UCL, London, UK. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/events/2018/dec/central-asian-seminar-group-meeting-2018

Aug. 2017:  Presentations at the summer school on 'Reading and analysing Ottoman manuscript sources', organised by the Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB), The French Institute of the Near East (IFPO)… et al, Beirut, Lebanon.

Jul. 2017: Presentation, 'The Syrian Ismailis under Sultan Abdülmecid I: A Voyage to Salamiyya- Majidabad', BRISMES 2017, Panel 5G 'Movement and Migration in the Ottoman Empire II', Edinburgh, UK. (http://www.brismes.ac.uk/conference/sessions/panel-5g/)   

Dec. 2016-Jan. 2017: Presentation, 'Exploring the Ottoman Account of the Trials of the Syrian Ismailis at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century: Causes & Consequences'. The History of Syrian Ismailis Lecture Series. The Ismaili Centre, Al-Ain, Dubai & Abu Dhabi, UAE.

ألقيت المحاضرة باللغة العربية تحت عنوان: قراءة في الرواية العثمانية عن محاكمات الاسماعيليين السوريين في بدايات القرن العشرين: أسباب ونتائج

Dec. 2016: Presentation, 'A History of Syrian Ismailis’ Settlement in Syria: from the Fatimid to the Ottomans'. The History of Syrian Ismailis Lecture Series. The Ismaili Centre, Dubai, UAE.  

Mar. 2016: Presentation, 'Salamiyya a City of the Ismailis in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Ottoman Syria (1831-1918): The Farman Story', IMES Seminar Series, Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. (https://www.facebook.com/events/1653783801550053/)

Oct. 2015: Presentation, 'Salamiyya a City of the Ismailis in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Ottoman Syria (1831-1918): Thesis Outlines', IIS PhD Seminar, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, UK. (http://www.iis.ac.uk/news/phdseminar2015)

Aug. 2014: Presentation, 'The Socio-political Dimensions of Ziad Rahbani’s Works: Nazl al-Surur (Inn of Happiness) and Film Amriki Tawil (The American Motion Picture)', World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES) Conference, Ankara, Turkey.

Aug. 2023, blog 'The Use of the Term 'Qafila' in the India Office Records', the British Library-Untold Lives Blog. (https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2023/08/the-use-of-the-term-qafila-in-the-india-office-records.html)

Jan. 2023, article 'FINDING AID: IOR/G/29/2-14 GOMBROON (BANDAR ‘ABBAS) DIARIES AND CONSULTATIONS (1708-1763)' Qatar Digital Library Website. (https://www.qdl.qa/en/finding-aid-iorg292-14-gombroon-bandar-abbas-diaries-and-consultations-1708-1763)

Jul. 2022, blog 'A Historical Narrative of the Kaʿba and the Hajj Season Reflecting on the Visual Materials Found in the IOR',  the British Library-Asian and African Studies Blog. (https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2022/07/a-historical-narrative-of-the-ka%CA%BFba-and-the-hajj-season.html)

Jul. 2021, blog ‘The Term 'Shater' and its Use in the India Office Records’, the British Library-Asian and African Studies Blog. (https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2021/07/the-term-shater-and-its-use-in-the-india-office-records.html)

Jan. 2021, blog ‘The Gombroon Diaries: a Rich Source on Eighteenth Century Persia and the Persian Gulf’, the British Library-Asian and African Studies Blog. (https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2021/01/the-gombroon-diaries-a-rich-source-on-eighteenth-century-persia-and-the-persian-gulf.html)

Nov. 2019, article ‘Kharita: Royal Letter Dispatching in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan’, Qatar Digital Library Website. (https://www.qdl.qa/en/kharita-royal-letter-dispatching-nineteenth-century-afghanistan)

Aug. and Nov 2019, blogs ‘Annals of the Middle Eastern Press in the India Office Records (Parts I and II)’, the British Library-Untold Lives Blog. (https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2019/11/annals-of-middle-eastern-press-in-the-india-office-records-part-ii-1.html)

Jul. 2019, article ‘Finding Aid: Muscat Political Agency Records’, Qatar Digital Library Website. (https://www.qdl.qa/en/finding-aid-muscat-political-agency-records)

May. 2019, blog ‘Celebrating King Edward VIII’s Birthday at the Bahrain Political Agency’, the British Library-Untold Lives Blog.(https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2019/05/celebrating-king-edward-viiis-birthday-at-the-bahrain-political-agency.html)

Apr. 2019, article ‘Kharita: the Royal Art of Letter Dispatching.’ In Afghanistan, Volume II, issue 1 (April 2019), Edinburgh University Press. (https://euppublishingblog.com/2019/05/01/the-art-of-kharita-dispatching-in-the-late-19th-century-afghanistan/)

Sep. 2018, blog ‘Baghdad in British Occupation: the Story of Overprinted Stamps’, the British Library-Untold Lives Blog. (https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2018/09/baghdad-in-british-occupation-the-story-of-overprinted-stamps.html)

Nov. 2017, blog ‘Arabic or English: the Education of a Future Sultan of Muscat and Oman’, the British Library-Untold Lives Blog. (http://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2017/11/arabic-or-english-the-education-of-a-future-sultan-of-muscat-and-oman.html)

Sep. 2016, blog ‘Recruiting an Iraqi Judge in Bahrain’s Shia Court’, the British Library-Untold Lives Blog. (http://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2016/09/recruiting-an-iraqi-judge-in-bahrains-shia-court.html)

Dec. 2015, blog ‘The Ancient Mosque of Manama’, the British Library-Untold Lives Blog. (http://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2015/12/the-ancient-mosque-of-manama.html)