Dr. Daniel Sheffield

Biography

Daniel J. Sheffield is an Associate Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, specializing in the religious, intellectual, and social history of the medieval and early modern Persian-speaking world. He holds a Ph.D. in Iranian and Persian Studies, awarded by the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University in 2012. Following his time at Princeton, he was a member of the Department of History at the University of Washington from 2012 to 2015 and was a Link-Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University Society Fellows. Daniel's research focuses on the exchanges between Safavid Iran and Mughal India, particularly the history of Zoroastrian communities during this period. He is broadly interested in the transmission and transformation of ideas from Late Antiquity to Early Modernity. His current research project examines the role of ideas and language translation in the development of religious and historical thought. He has completed a manuscript entitled "Cosmopolitan Zarathustras: Religion, Translation, Prophethood in Iran and South Asia," which explores the story of Zoroastrian communities in these regions. Recent publications include his contributions to several edited volumes on Zoroastrianism and Persianate travel writing. At Princeton, Daniel teaches undergraduate lectures on the history of Iran, focusing on the Sasanians and Safavids, as well as thematic seminars on the themes of translation and scripture, and graduate courses on Persian historiography. He also organizes a Classical Persian reading group for interested students and teaches ancient Iranian languages. In his spare time, Daniel enjoys cooking, playing the accordion, and spending time with his two-year-old.

Research Interests