Yasmin Khan

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Yasmin Khan
YasminKhan.png
Khan in 2022
Born1977 (age 4748)
NationalityBritish
Other namesYasmin Cordery Khan
Occupation(s)Historian, novelist and broadcaster
Awards Gladstone Book Prize
Academic background
Alma mater St Peter's College, Oxford (BA)
St Antony's College, Oxford (DPhil)
Institutions University of Edinburgh
Royal Holloway, University of London
Kellogg College, Oxford
Notable worksThe Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan

Yasmin Cordery Khan is a British historian, novelist and broadcaster whose work focuses on the British Empire, Colonial India and the decolonisation of South Asia. She is a Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford and Professor of Modern History based in the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. [1]

Contents

Education and career

Khan is from London and of Pakistani and Irish descent. [2] Khan completed her BA in History at St Peter's College, Oxford. Khan completed her DPhil at St Antony's College, Oxford in 2005 in Imperial and Commonwealth History. [3]

Khan held positions at the University of Edinburgh and Royal Holloway, University of London before joining Kellogg College in 2012. [3] Khan's work focuses on decolonisation, British migration histories, British Indian history, the Second World War and the End of Empire. [1] In October 2024 she was awarded the Title of Distinction of Professor of Modern History by the University of Oxford. [4]

Khan is a member of the editorial board of History Workshop Journal [5] and a trustee of the Charles Wallace India Trust. [6] She served as Kellogg College's senior tutor between 2019 and 2022. [7] [8] Khan was a judge of the 2022 Cundill History Prize administered by McGill University. [9]

Khan's publications include The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan (2007), [10] which won the Gladstone Book Prize from the Royal Historical Society [11] and was long-listed for the Orwell Prize, [12] and The Raj at War: A People's History of India's Second World War (2015). [12] [13] She has written for the Guardian newspaper, [14] and appeared on Channel 4 News and BBC Radio. [15]

Her first work of fiction, Edgware Road, was published in 2022. [1] A second novel, Overland, was published in 2024. [16]

Public appearances and media

In Our Time (BBC Radio 4 2012)

Khan appeared on a programme discussing the life and work of Annie Besant. [17]

A Passage to Britain (BBC 2 2018)

Khan presented a three-part series for BBC 2 in 2018 based on ships' passenger lists between Britain and India to trace the stories of passengers during the three decades before Indian independence in 1947. [18] [19] [20]

The first episode, based on the passenger list of the Viceroy of India, included the story of Mulk Raj Anand. [21]

Britain’s Biggest Dig (BBC 2 2020)

In 2020, Khan presented a three-part series with Professor Alice Roberts for BBC 2 on two major archeological digs carried out in London and Birmingham in preparation for building terminals for the HS2 high-speed railway. [22]

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Yasmin Khan". Kellogg College. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  2. Lofthouse, Richard (28 March 2022). "Historian Yasmin Khan talks about her debut novel Edgware Road". Oxford Alumni. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Convenors". The British Empire at War Research Group. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  4. "Recognition of Distinction" (PDF). University of Oxford Gazette. 155 (5431): 20. 3 October 2024.
  5. "Editorial_Board | History Workshop Journal | Oxford Academic". academic.oup.com. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  6. Trusts, The Charles Wallace. "The Charles Wallace Trusts". www.wallace-trusts.org.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  7. "Annual Report and Financial Statements (2019/20)" (PDF). Kellogg College, Oxford. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  8. "Annual Report and Financial Statements (2021/22)" (PDF). Kellogg College, Oxford. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  9. "Misha Glenny, Martha S. Jones, Yasmin Khan and Kenda Mutongi join chair J. R. McNeill to judge 2022 Cundill History Prize". The Cundill History Prize. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  10. Reviewed by Ian Copland in The American Historical Review, 2008, Vol. 113(5), pp.1508-1509 [Peer Reviewed Journal] and in The Economist: https://www.economist.com/culture/2007/07/19/the-unruly-end-of-empire
  11. "Gladstone Prize - Past Winners" (PDF). Royal Historical Society. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  12. 1 2 "Dr. Yasmin Khan". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  13. "For king, then country". The Economist. 5 May 2016.
  14. "Yasmin Khan". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  15. "Dr Yasmin Khan | United Agents". www.unitedagents.co.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  16. "Overland - Yasmin Cordery Khan". Bloomsbury. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  17. "Annie Besant, In Our Time - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  18. "BBC Two - A Passage to Britain". BBC. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  19. "A Passage to Britain | Faculty of History". www.history.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  20. Wollaston, Sam (14 August 2018). "A Passage to Britain review – Who Do You Think You Are? for the empire". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  21. "The Viceroy of India, Series 1, A Passage to Britain - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  22. "BBC Two - Britain's Biggest Dig". BBC. Retrieved 11 October 2020.