From a tent school to a PhD

Nilab Saeedi, an inspiring woman from Afghanistan, transforms her journey from studying in a crowded tent school in a refugee camp to earning a PhD in Islamic history. Along the way, she masters eight languages, secures a prestigious research position in Austria, and now prepares to publish her first book with Routledge. 

Saeedi was born in 1996 in a refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan. Her family fled Afghanistan during the civil war and found safety in Pakistan. Life in the refugee camp was difficult, resources were scarce, and opportunities were limited. Saeedi spent her early childhood surrounded by uncertainty, with limited access to basic services. 

Saeedi’s early education took place in a tent school that had no proper buildings, just a worn plastic sheet on the ground, broken chalkboards, and overcrowded classes filled with refugee children, so many that they couldn’t all fit. 

To encourage Afghan refugee families to send their daughters to school, Western countries supported programs that provided nutritional food to children. Saeedi was motivated by the chance to bring nutrition home and began school at the age of five.  

“Even as a child, I thought about helping my family. It’s the same for every refugee child,” Saeedi said. 

Saeedi saw a camera for the first time in 2001. Photo submitted by Saeedi to HerStory.

A few years later, after the fall of the Taliban in 2001 and the establishment of the republican government in Afghanistan, Saeedi’s family returned to Kabul to rebuild their lives.  

“It was a strange feeling, moving to my country, because I was used to Pakistan and didn’t know what to expect from Afghanistan after all the war,” Saeedi said. “Surprisingly, it was better.” 

When Saeedi resumed school in Kabul, she immediately noticed a significant improvement in the teaching methods compared to those in the refugee camp schools in Pakistan. She excelled academically and found joy in learning.  

In 2011, she graduated from high school. She achieved strong results on the national Kankoor exam, earning admission to the Faculty of Language and Literature at Kabul University, the most prestigious and well-known university in Afghanistan. 

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“I couldn’t believe I found my way there,” Saeedi said. 

After graduating in 2016, Saeedi moved to Samsun, Turkey, to pursue an MA in Turkish Literature at Ondokuz Mayıs University, graduating in 2019. She then began her PhD in Istanbul, receiving it in 2025 with a focus on Islamic Intellectual History. Her dissertation won the “Best Doctoral Thesis of the Year” award at Ibn Haldun University. 

Saeedi’s research interests include early modern Ottoman history, Persian historiography, and Islamic intellectual history. She has taught courses on art and literature and worked as a translator in Turkish, English, and Persian. She is fluent in Turkish, English, Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, Persian, Uzbek, Hindi, Urdu, and Kurdish. 

Her forthcoming book, Three Empires and Persian Historiography: The Thought of Muṣliḥ al-Dīn Lārī, will be published by Routledge in December 2025. The book examines Persian historiographical traditions in the context of three major empires. 

Throughout her journey, Saeedi has faced many challenges, including being separated from her family and battling depression. Despite these hardships, she is happy to be publishing her book and said that she never gave up, crediting her family’s unwavering support for helping her overcome every obstacle. 

“They are my strength. Without them, I wouldn’t have achieved anything,” Saeedi said.  

Currently, she serves as a Research Associate at the Institute of Habsburg and Balkan Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. She is deeply concerned about the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan. She hopes that one day every woman and girl in Afghanistan will be able to claim their fundamental rights, especially education, freedom, and dignity.  

Reflecting on the global inequality Saeedi has witnessed, said, “The world is definitely not fair. The treatment of women in Afghanistan is cruel and unjust.” 

Saeedi encourages Afghans who have had the opportunity to flee and find refuge abroad to study hard, build careers, and pursue their goals.  

“We have faced many challenges, but now it’s time to use the opportunities and shine, and to be kind and helpful to everyone.”