Sam Dalrymple, Saeed Khan

Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia

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Description

Join historian and filmmaker Sam Dalrymple for an illuminating discussion on his debut book, Shattered Lands.  

Drawing from extensive archival research and multilingual oral histories, Dalrymple examines five pivotal partitions, including those of India, Burma, and Palestine, that dismantled the British Indian Empire and reshaped modern Asia.  

Through personal narratives and political analysis, he reveals how these divisions led to enduring conflicts, mass migrations, and the redrawing of borders. This event offers a compelling exploration of how historical partitions continue to influence contemporary geopolitics and identities across the region. 

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Shattered Lands Book Cover

Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia

Sam Dalrymple

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About the Author

Sam Dalrymple Book Cover

Sam Dalrymple

Sam Dalrymple is a Delhi-raised Scottish historian and filmmaker. He graduated from Oxford University as a Persian and Sanskrit scholar, and also studied at the University of Isfahan and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in Iran. He has worked across South and Central Asia, including stints with Turquoise Mountain in Kabul, and with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Hunza and Lahore. In 2018, he co-founded Project Dastaan, a peace-building initiative that reconnects refugees displaced by the 1947 Partition of India. His award-winning debut film, Child of Empire, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2022, and his animated series Lost Migrations sold out at the BFI the same year. He is a columnist for Architectural Digest, and in 2025, Travel & Leisure named him ‘ Champion of the Travel Narrative’. He runs the history Substack @ travelsofsamwise. Shattered Lands is his first book.

About the Chair

Saeed Khan

Saeed Khan is a cultural historian and commentator based at Wayne State University in Detroit, where he teaches in the departments of History and Global Studies. His academic expertise includes Islamic and Middle Eastern history, Islamic political thought, and transnational identities. Alongside his academic work, he is a frequent analyst for international media outlets. Saeed is the founder of the Center for the Study of Trans-Atlantic Diasporas, a policy institute focused on ethnic and immigrant communities in North America and Europe.