A Greenhouse Research Talk by Faisal Husain, Associate Professor of History, Penn State University
This talk explores how the extravagant royal hunt of the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal households was far more than a pastime. It was a theater of power, a reflection of cultural ideals, and a crucible for demonstrating dominion over nature. By unraveling these grand hunts, we uncover surprising insights into humanity’s changing relationship with the natural world and the ecosystems that shaped and were shaped by these regal escapades. Join us as we chase answers to big questions about hunting’s relationship to conservation and extinction before industrialization.
Faisal Husain (he/him) is an associate professor of history at Penn State University. His first book, Rivers of the Sultan, examined the role of the Tigris and Euphrates in the establishment of Ottoman state institutions in the Ottoman eastern borderland between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. This year, he is teaching environmental history at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar.