Transregional and comparative approaches to South Asian history, gender, Islam, and colonial modernity.
Dr. Waheed’s scholarship spans medieval, early modern, and modern South Asian history. By working across Persian, Urdu, and colonial English archives, her research problematizes dominant nationalist historiographies and recovers voices situated on the margins of political and religious power.
Investigating the multi-ethnic, Persianate world of pre-modern southern India (Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, Golconda), with a focus on female sovereignty, military leadership, and Indian Ocean diplomatic networks.
Examining the cultural politics of the Progressive Writers' Association, colonial censorship trials, and how Muslim intellectuals engaged with Marxism through Islamic ethical traditions.
Analyzing how legends, folklore, visual culture (miniature paintings), and oral traditions shape our understanding of female political authority across centuries.
Undergraduate and graduate course offerings in the Department of History.
An introductory survey of South Asian civilization from early Indus Valley cultures and medieval sultanates to colonial rule, anti-colonial nationalism, and contemporary independence.
An advanced examination of the political, social, and cultural causes and afterlives of the 1947 Partition, focusing on nationalism, communal violence, and literary memory.
A transregional course exploring maritime trade, pilgrimage, migration, and political exchanges across South Asia, East Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
Awarded for field and archival research across India (Deccan region, Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, Hyderabad) for the book project Chand Bibi: The Lives and Legends of a Warrior Queen.
Recipient of the Mellon Foundation Dissertation Research Fellowship by the Council on Library and Information Resources for original archival work on late colonial South Asia.