Koh Choon Hwee

Hello! My name is Koh Choon Hwee. (she/her)

(Koh= surname, Choon Hwee = given name)

I am a historian of the Ottoman empire interested in infrastructure, early modern fiscal administration, economic and social history.

Based on Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish sources, my current research project, The Sublime Post, examines the land-based, horse-run Ottoman postal system to understand state building, logistics, and power in a vast, multilingual early modern empire (~1600-1839 CE). Stretching from Belgrade to Baghdad, Crimea to Cairo, this sprawling communications infrastructure was fundamental for the everyday operations of empire and even more vital during war.

This project has been funded by the Social Sciences Research Council Mellon International Dissertation Research Fellowship (SSRC IDRF), American Research Institute in Turkey, and Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (ANAMED). In 2020, I was awarded a fellowship by the Michigan Society of Fellows, which I unfortunately had to decline. I was also awarded the Malcolm Kerr Dissertation Prize (Social Sciences) by the Middle East Studies Assocation (MESA) in 2020. I (re)tweet at @OttomanChoon.