In a seminar planned at ILKE, well-known British academic and Ottoman historian Dr. Yakoob Ahmed will take you along the story of the Rise and Fall of one of the mightiest and longest-lasting dynasties in world history, the Ottoman Empire. The speaker will debunk myths amassed around the story of this great empire including its historical significance and its importance for the present day Muslim world.

Dr. Yakoob Ahmed is a PhD graduate of the Department of Languages and Cultures, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He also graduated from the same institution with a Masters degree in Neaar and Middle East Studies with a focus on Ottoman history and Turkish politics. His research focuses are Late Ottoman History, Muslim intellectual thought in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Islamic constitutionalism, nation-state construction, ulema history of the Late Ottoman state, identity and collective memory construction.