Mughal India - Studies in Polity, Ideas, Society, and Culture

Mughal India - Studies in Polity, Ideas, Society, and Culture

Product ID: 23525

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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