Why did Queen Elizabeth I want to keep friendly relations with the Moroccan Sultan? What do we know about the Moroccan ambassador who visited London in 1600 and inspired the famous painting of the ‘Moorish Ambassador’? Was he really the inspiration for Othello? When was the Quran first translated into English and what did the English think of it? The 17^th century saw the establishment of ‘Oriental’ libraries and chairs in Arabic at Oxford and Cambridge universities – what is the significance of this?

Join us for an online talk where historian Dr Neelam Hussain explores these questions and much more as she discusses encounters between the 16^th and 18^th centuries with historians and experts.

You can find updated details about guest speakers under our ‘Events‘ page or you can register here

This event is part of People, Places, Traces; a project documenting a millennium of interactions and exchanges between the British Isles and the Arab world through a series of public talks, essays and oral history interviews in the East Midlands.

The project is run by the Museum of Islamic Arts & Heritage (MIAH) Foundation and was awarded our Arab Britain commission following an open call in 2022.