Tag Archives: cartography

Six Pillars – Persian Maps

History and geography are the basis of all the humanities.

After falling in love with a map of Persia in Harrods, Dr Ala’i spent years researching the cartography of Iran and Persia before publishing two large volumes by Brill, on different maps of Persia from the 1400s to 1925.

Dr Ala’i was invited by Iran Heritage to give a talk in January 2011 on his extensively researched specialty, and Six Pillars interviewed him to find out more about this passion of his.

This is the whole interview, the first part of which was broadcast in January 2011 on Six Pillars to Persia, from the Resonance104.4Fm studios, London.

Six Pillars – Persian Cartography

Prior to a talk arranged by Iran Heritage, the estimable Dr Alai discusses how phonetics, fashion, social hierarchies and myth enter the world Persian cartography. With perhaps the largest personal collection of Persian maps Dr Alai has published two immense volumes on the topic both of which have been included in Brills Handbook list for the Middle East.

His talk tonight: “Special Maps of Iran” in London, is free to attend at SOAS, University of London.