Iraj Bashiri

Iraj Bashiri is professor emeritus of history at the University of Minnesota, United States, and one of the leading scholars in the fields of Central Asian studies and Iranian studies. Fluent in English, Persian, Tajik, and several Turkic languages, Bashiri has been able to study and translate works otherwise inaccessible to the mostly Russian-speaking Central Asian studies community. Bashiri’s career focus started on Iran, and engaged also with Central Asia, notably the Tajik identity and the relations between Tajiks and the Turkic people of Central Asia, namely the Uzbeks.