The Gulf in the Age of Empires

(4 Credits)

How was the Gulf made as a region, and who claimed authority over its ports and routes? This course traces the Gulf from the medieval Empire of Hormuz to the contemporary Strait of Hormuz. It explores what empire meant at sea, where rulers depended on merchants, sailors, and port communities. It examines how commercial wealth became political authority and how trade came to be defined as “piracy.” These distinctions were formalized through treaties that made sovereigns while limiting sovereignty. Across this changing political order, mobility and prosperity continued to depend on slavery, debt, and extractive labor. Imperial infrastructures and oil further reordered property, work, and belonging across the Gulf and the wider Indian Ocean world. Students will examine these themes through historical scholarship, primary sources from across the Gulf, and field trips. The course offers a new way to understand the Gulf as a maritime world whose contested history continues to shape claims over its societies, resources, and waters.