Carolina Asia Center Tea & Talk Series: Samee Siddiqui: Pan-Islamism and Anti-Colonialism in the Interwar Period: The Career of Muhammad Barkatullah (1864-1927)

This talk will look at the life of an Indian Muslim figure, Muhammad Barkatullah (1864-1927), who midway through his career transitioned from being a cosmopolitan intellectual to an anti-British revolutionary. Not only was his career based almost entirely outside of British India (including the United States and Japan), he helped connect the overseas Indian nationalist network to Pan-Islamists, Pan-Asianists, the Irish Republicans and the Bolsheviks. Through the lens of this Indian revolutionary, this talk will explore anti-colonialism, Pan-Islamism, race and civilizational discourse from the late 1880s to the mid-1920s.

Samee Siddiqui is a PhD student at UNC-Chapel Hill in the History department studying Global History. Prior to moving to North Carolina, Samee worked as a journalist for Al Jazeera English (AJE) in their London and Doha offices. Samee’s MA looked at the career of a Muslim Indian revolutionary, and his PhD thesis will look at the connections between Modern Japan and the ‘Muslim World.’

Sandwiches and bubble tea will be served.