How did the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Ottoman Tanzimat reforms reshape slavery across the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and Middle East?
This talk by Behnaz Mirzai, Professor of Middle Eastern History at Brock University, examines the shared origins of Qajar Iran and the Ottoman Empire—neighboring states with parallel political and cultural structures, including similar slavery systems. It shows how enslaved Africans faced capture, transport, and major identity shifts, and how Ottoman Tanzimat reforms inspired Qajar officials and revolutionaries to pursue abolitionist policies. Through the story of Mahboob Qirvanian, an enslaved African later freed by Constitutional Revolution leaders, the talk highlights both the human experience of Africa–Asia slavery and the political changes that reshaped it.
The event ends with a screening of Prof. Mirzai’s award-winning documentary Afro-Iranian Lives.