India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765Protected by vast mountains and seas, the Indian subcontinent might seem a nearly complete and self-contained world with its own religions, philosophies, and social systems. And yet this ancient land and its varied societies experienced prolonged and intense interaction with the peoples and cultures of East and Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa, and especially Central Asia and the Iranian plateau. Richard M. Eaton tells this extraordinary story with relish and originality, as he traces the rise of Persianate culture, a many-faceted transregional world connected by ever-widening networks across much of Asia. Introduced to India in the eleventh century by dynasties based in eastern Afghanistan, this culture would become progressively indigenized in the time of the great Mughals (sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries). Eaton brilliantly elaborates the complex encounter between India's Sanskrit culture—an equally rich and transregional complex that continued to flourish and grow throughout this period—and Persian culture, which helped shape the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughal Empire, and a host of regional states. This long-term process of cultural interaction is profoundly reflected in the languages, literatures, cuisines, attires, religions, styles of rulership and warfare, science, art, music, and architecture—and more—of South Asia. |
Contents
| 3 | |
| 19 | |
The Diffusion of Sultanate Systems 12001400 | 62 |
Timurs Invasion and Legacy 14001550 | 100 |
The Deccan and the South 14001650 | 142 |
The Consolidation of Mughal Rule 15261605 | 195 |
India under Jahangir and Shah Jahan 16051658 | 244 |
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Afghan Afghanistan Agra Akbar al-Din Alamgir army Asian Aurangzeb authority Babur Bahmani Bengal Bijapur Brahmins brother Cambridge capital cavalry Central Asia centre chieftains clans coins conquest court Dara Deccan defeated Delhi sultanate delta dynasty early east eastern emperor empire’s father fifteenth fourteenth century Ghaznavids Ghurid Golconda governor Gujarat Guru Hindu History Humayun Ibid imperial Iran Iranian Islam jagirs Jahangir Kabul Kashmir Khalaji Khan kilometres king kingdom kingship Lahore land lineage literary Lodi Mahmud Malwa mansabdars Maratha merchants Mongol mosque Mughal empire Muhammad Muhammad bin Tughluq Muslim nayaka Nizam north India patronized Persianate world plateau poet political prince province Punjab Qutb raja Rajasthan Rajput Rama recruited region reign religious revenue royal rule rulers Samarqand Sanskrit seized Shah Jahan Shahi Sikh Singh Śiva sixteenth century slaves South Asia sovereign state’s Sufi Sufi shaikhs sultanate’s temple territory throne Timur Timurid traditions trans Tughluq University Press Vijayanagara western