Author: M Athar Ali
Foreword/Introductio: Irfan Habib
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 409
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0195648609
Description
M. Athar Ali was one of the leading historians of medieval India and his writings have inspired and influenced much of the subsequent work on the Mughal Empire. Bringing together for the first time, his collection of essays, Mughal India is a tribute to Athar Ali’s historical acumen and analytical depth. They reflect his rigorous rationality, critical faculties, and straightforwardness in taking positions.
Organized thematically, this volume collects some of his best essays on a wide range of topics from the realm of ideas, religion, to polity, administration, society, and culture. Some are interpretative; others represent detailed research, while most reflect both these dimensions. It also includes a critique of ‘revisionist’ approaches in the study of the Mughal polity, and an important section on sources. What unite the essays is the author’s clear thinking, lucid prose, and consistency of approach.
These essays were collected and arranged by Athar Ali himself. After his death, his friend and colleague, Irfan Habib provided some of the editing that still needed to be carried out. In his preface, Habib discusses Athar Ali’s approach to history and the changing contours of his scholarship. He also gives an account of the personal and professional worlds of the distinguished historian.
Contents
Preface by
Irfan Habib
ANTECEDENTS:
The Islamic background to Indian History: An
Interpretation of the Islamic Past
Encounter and Efflorescence: The Genesis of the
Medieval Civilization
Nobility under Muhammad Tughluq
Capital of the Sultans: Delhi during the Thirteenth and
Fourteenth Centuries
The Punjab between the Thirteenth and Fifteenth
Centuries
FORMATION OF THE EMPIRE:
Towards an Interpretation of the Mughal Empire
The Pre-colonial Social Structure and the Polity of
The Mughal Empire
The Mughal Polity: A Critique of ‘Revisionist’
Approaches
Political Structures of the Islamic Orient in the
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
POLITICAL THOUGHT:
The Evolution of the Perception of India:
Akbar and Abul Fazl
The State in Islamic though in India
Elements of Social Justice in Medieval Islamic Though
THE RELIGIOUS WORLD:
The ‘Vision’ in the salt Range, 1578:
An Interpretation
Sulh-I Kul and the Religious Ideas of Akbar
Translations of Sanskrit works at Akbar’s Court
The Religious would of Jahangir
The Religious Environment under Shah Jahan and
Aurangzeb
Sidelights into Ideological and Religious Attitudes
In the Punjab during the Seventeenth century
Pursuing an Elusive seeker of Universal Truth:
The Identity and Environment of the author of the
Dabistan-I Mazahib
Muslim’ Perceptions of Judaism and Christianity in
Medieval India
THE POLITICS OF EMPIRE:
The Religious Issue in the War of Succession,
1968-59
Causes of the Rathor Rebellion of 1679
Provincial Governors under Auranzeb: An Analysis
THE EMPIRE AND CONTEMPORARY POWERS
‘International Law’ or conventions governing
Conduct of Relations between Asian States,
Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries
Jahangir and the Uzbeks
The Objectives behind the Mughal Expedition into
Balkh and Badakhshan, 1646-47
THE PASSING OF THE EMPIRE:
The Passing of the Empire: The Mughal Case
Recent Theories of Eighteenth-century India
SOURCES:
History in Indo-Muslim Tradition
The Use of Sources in Mughal Historiography
The correspondence of Aurangzeb and its
Historical Significance
Index
MAPS