Dr Alexander Morrison MA, D.Phil (Oxon)

My research interests include: Russian Colonial Rule in Central Asia, British Colonial Rule in India, Islam in the Russian Empire, 19th century Iran and Urdu literature. I have a particular interest in what Ronald Robinson called 'The non-European foundations of European Imperialism', looking at continuities between pre-colonial and colonial regimes, and at the dependence of European rule on local clients and collaborators in non-settler colonies. I work primarily using sources in Russian, together with some in Persian and Urdu.

My doctorate concentrated on the nature of Russian colonial rule in Samarkand in the pre-revolutionary period, with some comparisons with British rule in North-Western India. I carried out the research for this in archives in Russia, Uzbekistan and India, and it was published as a book in 2008. My next book will be a history of the Russian conquest of Central Asia, looking at the mixture of military campaigns, exploration, espionage and intelligence-gathering generally known as the 'Great Game' from a Russian and Central Asian perspective.