Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky is a historian of global migration and forced displacement and Assistant Professor of Global Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research examines Muslim refugee migration and its role in shaping the modern world. He is the author of Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State (Stanford University Press, 2024). Based on research in over twenty archives in ten countries, the book explores the origins of refugee resettlement in the modern Middle East. Vladimir is currently writing a new book, which is a transnational history of Muslim displacement in the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia since 1850. His articles appeared in Past & Present, Comparative Studies in Society and History, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Slavic Review, and Kritika. He received a PhD in History from Stanford University and served as a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University. In the academic years 2024-26, Vladimir is a EUME Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Global Hijra: Muslim Refugee Migration since 1850
This book project is a transnational history of Muslim refugee migration between 1850 and 2020. It focuses on the evolution of the idea of hijra in modern history. Hijra is an Arabic-language term for Muslim emigration or migration to preserve one’s faith. Through various interpretations of hijra, the project examines how ethnic cleansing and refugee migration reshaped the modern Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and South Asia.
