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Travellers in the Golden Realm: How Mughal India Connected England to the World
Lubaaba Al-Azami
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'Spellbinding . . . a remarkable book'
JOSEPHINE QUINN, author of How the World Made the West
'A compelling, highly readable account'
NANDINI DAS, author of Courting India
Before the East India Company and the British Empire, England was a pariah state. Seeking better fortunes, 16th and 17th century merchants, pilgrims and outcasts ventured to the kingdom of the mighty Mughals, a land ruled from the palatial towers by women - Empress Nur Jahan Begim, the Queen Mother Maryam al-Zamani, and Princess Jahanara Begim.
Into this golden realm went Father Thomas Stephens, a Catholic fleeing his home; the merchant Ralph Fitch seeking jewels in the markets of Delhi; and John Mildenhall, an adventurer revelling in the highwire politics of the Mughal elite. This collision of worlds connected East and West, launching a tempestuous period of globalization from the Chinese opium trade to the slave trade in the Americas.
Drawing on rich, original sources, Lubaaba Al-Azami traces the origins of a relationship between two nations - one outsider and one superpower - whose cultures remain inextricably linked to this day.
Read MorePraise for Travellers in the Golden Realm: How Mughal India Connected England to the World
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This is a remarkable book. It combines a spellbinding account of the first forgotten half of the English encounter with India with a fascinating history of the Mughal EmpireA compelling, highly readable account of the earliest phase of English presence in India - Al-Azami deftly combines familiar stories with significantly less familiar figures to vividly bring to life a period of immense change for both nations involvedDisrupts the conventional narrative to give a vital pre-history to the Raj, when the indomitable empire in question was Indian not BritishBrings the Mughal world of the seventeenth century to life in all its colourful, vivid complexity. Al-Azami betrays a masterful eye for detail, telling the story of how the English tried to navigate the dazzling wealth, power, and cultural dynamism of the Indian subcontinent, though rarely with success. This book is a must read.In this compelling and entertaining book, Lubaaba Al-Azami surveys the first century of British travel to India and its remarkable stories of encounter and error, ambition and anxiety. The book has much to teach about the sources and the aftermath of both British and Indian histories ever sinceA fascinating and timely account of the earliest Anglo-Indian encounters, Al-Azami deftly recreates a crucial period in early British imperial historyA detailed, nuanced and yet utterly engrossing exploration . . . Eloquent prose binds together a treasure trove of fascinating facts with the capacity to see Britain and the world in an entirely different, richer way. Unputdownable!Illuminating and engrossing
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