Ajam Media Collective

For Ajam's latest, Manar Heikal explores the history of her illustrious community - the Iranians of Cairo:

"You won’t find much about them in textbooks. There are no heritage signs, no archives, no plaques.

Our story was something quieter. More intimate."

Read it here:
ajammc.com/2025/09/28/i...

Reconstructing a Persian Past: Contemporary Uses and Misuses of the Cyrus Cylinder in Iranian Nationalist Discourse - Ajam Media Collective Although the Cyrus Cylinder is over 2,500 years old, much of the discourse surrounding its function has emerged only in the past century. While nationalists believe the cylinder to be a symbol of huma...

"Pahlavi’s attempt to restore dignity to his throne has spawned a tradition of romanticizing ancient Persia in order to deflect attention from contemporary struggles."

ajammc.com/2013/06/06/r...

Come and submit your work to our new initiative, Unexpected Persianate! More details below

Ferdowsi's Legacy: Examining Persian Nationalist Myths of the Shahnameh - Ajam Media Collective A tribute to Ajam Media Collective’s name and inspiration, this post was written by Ajam’s editors, Alex Shams, Rustin Zarkar, and Beeta Baghoolizadeh. Photographs by Preethi Nallu originally publishe...

"While there is no doubt the Shahnameh has helped conserve the rich cultural heritage of the Iranian peoples, many nation-states have propagated misconceptions about the Shahnameh.

Myths have attained the status of legend, despite their falsehood."

ajammc.com/2013/01/17/f...

Call for Submissions: The Unexpected Persianate - Ajam Media Collective What is the most unexpected place where you’ve encountered the Persianate? Have you ever noticed a family tradition, neighborhood landmark, a debate, a photograph, a song, or a casual turn of phrase t...

What is the most unexpected place where you’ve encountered the Persianate?

We want to hear about it!

The Association for the Study of Persianate Societies and Ajam invite submissions for our new article series: The Unexpected Persianate:

ajammc.com/2025/08/11/c...

Selling the Silk Road: How Gentrification is Reshaping Uzbekistan's Historic Cities - Ajam Media Collective The historic city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan was once a living, breathing city. Now it is rapidly becoming something else. State-led gentrification is reshaping its ancient quarters. Family-run bathhouses...

What happens when an ancient Silk Road city becomes a gentrified tourist mecca?

Gulnoza Usmonova writes about how government-led heritage restoration has transformed her hometown Bukhara, Uzbekistan and displaced locals who once brought life to its streets:

ajammc.com/2025/08/05/g...

Confused yet?

Let us help you make sense of this with our recent article:

"The Battle Over Iran's Flag"

ajammc.com/2025/07/09/b...

In any disaster, always look for the people helping:

Afghan #mutualAid networks have rapidly emerged in recent weeks to support deportees dropped at the border, amid a mass deportation drive that has expelled half a million #Afghans from #Iran. I explore the past&present of these grassroots solidarity networks for @ajammc.bsky.social

Solidarity at the Border: Afghan Mutual Aid Networks Mobilize Amid Mass Deportation - Ajam Media Collective Amid the wave of expulsions from Iran, Afghans have mobilized mutual aid to support deportees. These networks fill a crucial need and highlight the foundational role that grassroots solidarity plays i...

Ajam's latest article explores how Afghan mutual aid networks have activated across the country to support deportees - serving a crucial role in the unfolding humanitarian crisis:

ajammc.com/2025/07/22/a...

The Battle Over Iran's Flag - Ajam Media Collective Each Iranian flag signifies a specific history and ideology, representing the political divides of the 90 million Iranians in Iran and 5 million Iranians in diaspora. At recent protests, many members ...

Our latest article is an exploration of Iran's many flags and what they mean:

"Each Iranian flag signifies a specific history, representing the political divides of the 90 million Iranians in Iran and 5 million in diaspora.

So why do they provoke such strong emotions?"

ajammc.com/2025/07/09/b...

Tehran is not just "LA with minarets": Against cliches of Third World cities on the brink of disaster - Ajam Media Collective Ignoring Tehran's remarkable urban transformation over the last three decades leaves us with a simplistic, reductionist vision of this Middle Eastern metropolis. By ignoring the hard work being done b...

"Tehran over the last 30 years has undergone a remarkable and exciting urban transformation, with city officials, cultural venues, and grassroots organizations helping build a city that defies cliches."

ajammc.com/2019/01/14/t...

'Unity of the Revolutionary Rifles': 1970s Iranian Leftist Posters in Solidarity with Palestine - Ajam Media Collective In 1970s Iran, revolutionary movements that opposed the authoritarian rule of the US-backed Shah championed the Palestinian cause. Solidarity posters from the time reveal how different movements recog...

"Iranian militants saw support for Palestinians as a way of furthering their own struggle against the Shah.

They emphasized these connections in posters intended to provoke popular support and solidarity."

ajammc.com/2023/11/22/i...

Latin Lies: The Lost History of Arabic Script Experimentation in Turkic Languages - Ajam Media Collective Is it possible to adapt the Arabic script to Turkic languages’ sounds? Why are so many of these languages written in Latin or Cyrillic script today? Over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries, ide...

"Contemporary examples abound of Turkic languages that continue to use the Arabic script.

Far from marginal groups, these communities account for tens of millions of people."

ajammc.com/2024/02/11/l...

Narrating Parsi History in Karachi: Untold Stories of Zoroastrianism from the Coast of Sindh - Ajam Media Collective Karachi’s Zoroastrian community draws its visual vocabulary and cultural ancestry from Gujarat, India, and not from Iran, because the community traces its origins through the Parsi migrations of the Q...

For Ajam's latest, Veera Rustomji explores how the Parsi community of Karachi narrates its history - and how new archaeological evidence of Sasanian presence on Sindh's shores could reshape how the community understands the history of Zoroastrianism in South Asia:

ajammc.com/2025/05/23/p...

Join us Tuesday for a panel in collaboration with the Association for Persianate Studies about “The Unexpected Persianate”!

The Poster Arts of May Day: International Worker's Day in Revolutionary Iran - Ajam Media Collective During the Iranian Revolution, International Worker’s Day became an ideological battleground as competing political organizations— secular and religious— organized their constituents and articulated t...

"Visual ephemera related to May Day 1979 in Iran are testaments to the pluralistic nature of the early years of the Revolution."

ajammc.com/2013/05/01/m...

Pretty in Pastel: A Century of Petunias in Afghanistan - Ajam Media Collective The billowing clouds of pastel blooms that extend across the photographic archive of modern Afghanistan speak to more than just a redeeming cultural quirk in the face of tragic national history. They ...

In almost every major body of 20th century photography from Afghanistan, telltale clouds of pale petunia blossoms make an appearance at the margins.

What can the humble petunia tell us about gardening, beauty, and aesthetics in Afghanistan?

ajammc.com/2025/04/18/p...

Pretty in Pastel: A Century of Petunias in Afghanistan - Ajam Media Collective The billowing clouds of pastel blooms that extend across the photographic archive of modern Afghanistan speak to more than just a redeeming cultural quirk in the face of tragic national history. They ...

In our latest article, Nicolas Roth explores the pictorial record of petunias in Afghanistan - and how these flowers became a mainstay of horticultural practices across the country:

ajammc.com/2025/04/18/p...

How did Iran's environment shape histories of labour, revolution, and empire? Listen to the latest
@ajammc.bsky.social podcast, featuring James Gustafson discussing his new I.B. Tauris book 'The Lion and the Sun'. 👇

Ajam Podcast #47: Towards An Environmental History of Modern Iran - Ajam Media Collective In this episode, Belle interviews James Gustafson, Associate Professor of History at Indiana State University, about his new book. In The Lion and the Sun (and our podcast episode), Gustafson presents...

***new podcast episode!*** @bcheves.bsky.social interviews @jamesgustafson.bsky.social about his new book, The Lion and the Sun: Environmental History and the Formation of Modern Iran (I.B. Tauris, 2025). Learn more and listen here: ajammc.com/2025/04/07/a...

Tanakura Bazaar: The Iranian Legacy of Beloved Japanese Soap Opera Oshin - Ajam Media Collective Across Iran, second hand shops are known by the word Tanakura, referring to vintage clothes. But how and why did this Japanese surname enter modern Persian? The answer comes from the show Oshin, which...

"In markets across Iran, Tanakura Bazaars can be found dedicated to second-hand clothes.

Tanakura is originally a Japanese word. But in Japan, the word is an uncommon family name; the Persian meaning is nowhere to be found.

So how did Tanakura become common in Iran?

ajammc.com/2021/02/16/t...

The Joys of Akitu, the Assyrian New Year - Ajam Media Collective Assyrians around the world this week marked the festival of Akitu this week, a spring holiday that commemorates the beginning of the Assyrian New Year 6767.

"The world’s approximately 1.5 million Assyrians celebrate Akitu on the first day of April (Nissan), marking the arrival of springtime just a week after their Kurdish neighbors celebrate Nowruz and a day before Iranians celebrate the picnic holiday of Sizdah Bedar."

ajammc.com/2017/04/05/t...

Happy Nowruz !! نوروز پیروز

From all of us at Ajam — As we welcome spring and the new year, check out these beautiful Nowruz stamps explained by Ben Rejali! ajammc.com/2025/03/19/n...

Ritual Matter(s): Nowruz Ceremonies of the Zoroastrian New Year in Tehran - Ajam Media Collective Perhaps the most widely known among these is the ceremonial spread called the Khan-e Nowruz or the Haft Chin. It features a variety of objects that symbolize key figures and values of Zoroastrian cosm...

"The Zoroastrian New Year coincides with the Spring Equinox. It marks not only the beginning of the calendar, but the renewal of life in its perennial struggle with death. This annual milestone is an occasion for celebration and involves ritual arrangements and acts."

ajammc.com/2016/05/26/r...

Poetry fills Tehran streets as Iranians adapt Nowruz rituals to Corona restrictions - Ajam Media Collective Under quarantine, Iranians invent new ways to celebrate the Nowruz holiday that marks the arrival of spring. Transforming their traditions, they build bonds of solidarity between neighbors and loved o...

From the archive: How Tehran celebrated Nowruz in the age of COVID

“We couldn’t believe spring arrived and yet we were stuck, unable to embrace our loved ones. We wrote poems on banners, like those we read to each other over the phone, but this time for our neighbors."

ajammc.com/2020/03/24/p...

How Nowruz is Celebrated Around the World - Ajam Media Collective The ancient festival of Nowruz marks the beginning of Spring for millions around the world. Widely referred to as Persian New Year, Nowruz is celebrated in dozens of countries in many different ways.V...

Nowruz is coming!

This week marks the arrival of Spring. Learn how this ancient festival is celebrated across the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, the Balkans, and East Africa:

ajammc.com/2018/03/21/h...

Recovering Arab Trans History: Masoud El Amaratly, the Folk Music Icon from Iraq's Marshes - Ajam Media Collective Masoud El Amaratly is an Iraqi singing legend, his voice evoking the lush marshes of southern Iraq with lament, melancholy and longing. He is not only one of Iraq's most famous singers; he is also one...

"Masoud El Amaratly is not only one of Iraq’s most famous singers; he is also one of the Arab World’s most well-known transgender icons."

ajammc.com/2023/06/26/i...

Iranians at The Gate of Happiness: The Untold History of Istanbul's Persian Community - Ajam Media Collective For centuries, the Iranians of Istanbul built lives, trade networks, and dreams in the capital of the Ottoman Empire. But today, few traces of their existence remain. A new documentary brings to life ...

"History’s path cannot be followed like a continuous thread; with the passage of time, many narratives are marginalized or forgotten.

As we reread historical narratives, their absences create a void. The story of the Iranians of Istanbul is one of these voids."

ajammc.com/2024/08/24/i...

Ajam Podcast #46: Sufi Communities in Afghanistan - Ajam Media Collective In this episode, Belle interviews Dr. Annika Schmeding, Senior Researcher at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and a Lecturer at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), about her fi...

Have you listened to our recent podcast yet? Learn about how Sufi communities in Afghanistan navigate religious authority and adapt in times of political change and social upheaval. ajammc.com/2025/03/03/a... #WeekendListen #Sufism #Afghanistan