University of Vienna: Iranian and Islamic Studies; Arabic and Turkish Studies; Social Anthropology; Slavic Studies; teachers: Profs. Duda, Jansky, Gottschalk, Mayrhofer and others
1964-65
University of Tehran: teachers: I. Afshar, J. Mahjub, M. Minovi, Z. Safa, M. Shahidi, M. Sotudeh and others
1965-69
instructor for German as a foreign language at "Amuzeshgah-e herfeh´i-ye
Reza Pahlavi"¯, in Tehran (training college for young technicians)
1970
University of Vienna: Promotion to Dr. phil. (doctoral thesis: "Geschichte der Stadt Hamadan in den ersten sechs Jahrhunderten der Hijra", published: Vienna 1972).
1971-76
University of Freiburg (Germany): lecturer (Persian language and Islamic Studies at the Oriental Department at the University of Freiburg)
1976-77
Beyrout (Lebanon): Researcher at the "Orient-Institut der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft"¯
1977
University of Freiburg: "habilitation" (thesis of habilitation: "Persische Memoirenliteratur als Quelle zur neueren Geschichte Irans", published Wiesbaden 1980)
1977-85
University of Freiburg: Assistant Professor (tenure; until 1985)
1979
University of Vienna: Visiting Professor (Iranian Studies)
1982-83
University of Bern (Switzerland): Visiting Professor (Islamic & Iranian history)
1985-89
Freie Universitaet Berlin: full professor (Iranian Studies)
1989-2003
University of Bamberg (Germany): full professor (Iranian Studies)
2003-
Vienna (Austria), Austrian Academy of Sciences: Rsearch Director (Institute of Iranian Studies)
Main Topics of Research
History of Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia and Muslim India from the late Middle Ages until Modern Times (social, cultural, economic);
Turko-Iranian relations in the Iranian and Central Asian regions;
Societas Iranologica Europaea (1989-1991: secretary, 1991-1994: president);
Society of Iranian Studies (USA);
Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA);
"¯chehre-ye mandegar"¯ (Tehran, October 4, 2004);
Austrian Academy of Sciences: Corresponding Member (2006), Regular Member (2008);
Organisation of conferences etc.
"Transition Periods in Iranian History", spring 1985, Freiburg (ca. 50 participants)
"Aktuelle und allgemeine Probleme Mittelasiens", June 1990, Bamberg (together with Birgitt Hoffmann)
"Second European Conference of Iranian Studies", Sept.-Oct. 1991, Bamberg (ca. 200 participants; together with Roxane Haag-Higuchi, Birgitt Hoffmann)
"Fourth European Seminar of Central Asian Studies", Oct. 1991, Bamberg (ca. 150 participants; together with I. Baldauf, M. Friederich, K. Kreiser and S. Tezcan)
"Bilingualism in Iranian Cultures", July 1992, Bamberg (ca. 60 participants; together with Roxane Haag-Higuchi)
"Fourth International Round-Table on Safavid Iran"¯, July 2003, Bamberg (ca. 60 participants)
"The International Conference on the Study of Persian Culture in the West"¯, 24-28 June, 2004, St. Petersburg (ca. 100 participants; together with John Gurney, Farhad Hakimzade, Michael Rogers
"The Sixth European Conference of Iranian Studies"¯, Vienna, Sept.18-22, 2007; ca. 300 participants)
Research projects
"Sozialer und politischer Wandel im afghanischen Widerstand" 1986-89; researcher: Dr J. Grevemeyer (social and political change and Afghan resistance)
"Ismailiten in Nordpakistan" 1986-86; researcher: Dr W. Holzwarth
"Deutsch-Persisches Woerterbuch"¯ 1987-1989; researcher: Dr F. Behzad (German-Persian Dictionary, published Tehran 2003)
"Nationalbewusstsein und Nationalgeschichtsschreibung in Tadschikistan"¯ 1987-1992; researcher: Dr R. Eisener (national consciousness and national historiography in Tajikistan)
"Kulturelle Austauschsysteme am Persischen Golf" 1992-2000; researcher: Dr S. Nadjmabadi (systems of mutual cultural exchange at the Persian Gulf)
"Historisches Selbstverstaendnis der Ismailiten Chitrals"¯, 1993-1999; researcher: Dr Wolfgang Holzwarth (historical self-consciousness among Chitral Ismailis)
"Bibliographie frueher persischer Periodika" 2001-2003; researchers: Dr Tim Epkenhans, Marcus Burmeister MA (detailed bibliography of early Persian periodicals)
Successful guidance of doctoral dissertations (since 1994):
Ralph Kauz "Politische Parteien und Bevölkerung in Iran. Die Hezb-e Demukrat-e Iran und ihr Führer Qavamo s-Saltanä"¯ (1994, publ. Berlin 1995)
Andreas Drechsler "Geschichte der Stadt Qum im Mittelalter (650-1350)"¯ (1996, publ. Berlin 1999)
Karim Soleimany-Dehkordi "Die internationalen Beziehungen Irans: Saudi-Arabien 1964-1979"¯ (1998, publ. Bamberg/Microfiche 2001)
Walter Posch "Der Fall Alkas Mirza und der Feldzug von 1548-1579. Ein gescheitertes osmanisches Projekt zur Niederwerfung des safavidischen Persiens"¯ (1999, publ. Marburg: Tectum/Microfiche 2000)
Christl Catanzaro "Zwischen Statussymbol und Allheilmittel für alle sozialen Übel - zur Rolle der Universität Teheran beim Aufbau der iranischen Nation (1999, publ. Microfiche 2001)
Christoph Werner "An Iranian Town in Transition. A Social and Economic History of the Elites of Tabriz, 1747-1848"¯ (1999, publ. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2000)
Katajun Amirpur "Die Entpolitisierung des Islams: Abdolkarim Sorus´s Denken und Wirkung in der Islamischen Republik Iran"¯ (2000)
Reza Hajatpour "Iranische Geistlichkeit zwischen Utopie und Realismus. Zum Diskurs über Herrschafts- und Staatsdenken im 20. Jahrhundert"¯ (2000, publ. Wiesbaden: Reichert 2002)
Shahram Ahadi "Verbergänzungen und zusammengesetzte Verben im Persischen. Eine valenztheoretische Analyse"¯ (2001, publ. Wiesbaden: Reichert 2001)
Tim Epkenhans "Moral und Disziplin. Seyyed Hasan Taqizade und die Konstruktion eines `progressiven Selbst´ in der frühen iranischen Moderne"¯ (2002)
Stephan Popp "Muhammad Iqbal´s Romanticism of Power"¯ (2003)
Roman Siebertz "Die iranischen Briefmarken als Träger politischer Bildpropaganda"¯ (2003)
Oliver Bast "Iran im Ersten Weltkrieg"¯ (2003; "these-en-cotutelle"¯ Bamberg-Paris: 2005)
Siegfried Weber "Persische Archivalien aus Kaschmir 1842-1892" (Persian archive materials from Kashmir; 2006)
Julia Czarnowski "Iranians in Vienna. An analysis of the various levels of discourse regarding Iranian ethnic categories and their potential for transforming into ethnic identities (Vienna: 2008)
Languages
Persian (incl. Dari, Tajiki), English; Turkish (including Ottoman Turkish), Arabic, French, Russian (reading capacity only), Turkish (inc. Ottoman); lesser knowledge of Azerbaijani, Italian, Czech, Uzbek
