I am a historian of South Asian and Persianate art and history, and my work explores how visual culture, politics, and religion intersect in early modern South Asia. My research focuses on the Mughal Empire’s engagement with the broader Persianate and Islamic worlds through manuscript patronage, portraiture, and architecture. I am especially interested in how the dynamic visual and textual media were used to construct imperial authority and shape cultural identity.

My scholarship situates Mughal art and historiography within the larger networks that connected South Asia, Iran, and Central Asia. Through this lens, I trace how artistic and intellectual exchanges influenced political thought and helped define ideas of kingship, ethics, and metaphysics in Persian and Indo-Islamic traditions. I also examine how gender, theology, and aesthetics informed the visual language of empire. By treating the manuscript not only as an aesthetic object but as an intellectual instrument, my research seeks to illuminate how the Mughal court articulated authority, negotiated religious plurality, and mobilized Persianate literary culture in material form. My advanced Persian fluency enables me to read painter-scribe notes, colophons, and marginalia with precision, offering insights into workshop communication and the circulation of textual knowledge across Persianate and Indic networks.

Before entering academia, I founded and managed a successful international jewelry business for nearly a decade. Overseeing every aspect of the business, from design and production to logistics , financial planning and client relationships, required precise coordination, strategic thinking, and a steady command of complex operations. I bring this same clarity of focus and commitment to my work as a scholar.

I have presented my research at major national and international conferences, with upcoming talks scheduled at the Annual International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the International Medieval Congress in Leeds, United Kingdom, among others

My work also draws extensively on manuscript and codicological study. I have examined Persian, Sanskrit, and Ethiopic manuscripts in special collections around the country including at the University of Pennsylvania’s Kislak Center, Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

More broadly, my work examines the intellectual history of the early modern Atlantic world. For example, my research on Thomas Jefferson’s personal library, including his own copy of the Qur’an, allowed me to study the relationship between Enlightenment thought, Islam, and the development of religious freedom in early America. This work reflects my commitment to connecting artistic and intellectual traditions across cultures.

I have also received advanced training through the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia and the California Rare Book School at UCLA, with upcoming study at the Australian and New Zealand Rare Book School to be held at the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney.

I currently serve as an instructor of History at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, where I teach courses that engage with South Asian history, Islamic art, global cultural exchange, and American history. My teaching emphasizes close engagement with primary sources, visual literacy, and experiential learning through museum study. I also mentor undergraduate researchers and support them in developing and publicly presenting their work.

In all, my intellectual pursuits are grounded in a sustained commitment to knowledge creation and dissemination, reflecting a professional ethos centered on advancing understanding through engaged and purposeful inquiry.

EDUCATION

2020-2022: University of St. Thomas, History Department, Masters of Liberal Arts – in History

Highest Honors

Thesis: “Patronage of Knowledge Production: The Mughal Imperial Library and the Politics of Legitimizing Rule”

 2009-2019: University of St. Thomas, History Department, Bachelor of Arts in History

Academic Distinction

Honors Thesis: “Gulbadan Begum: A Study of Her Memoir and Its Contribution to Mughal Court Historiography in Relation to Abul Fazl and Badauni”

2009-2009 University of Houston Honors College, Department of History (transferred to the University of St. Thomas)

2005-2007: Lee College, Honors Program, Associate of Arts in Humanities Inducted into the Hall of Fame

LANGUAGE TRAINING

2024-Present: MTO International Persian School – Houston Center | Certificate of Completion in Persian Language Studies

2025: University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Persian Program | Persian I – Certificate of Completion