Mughal India

Fifty leaves that form the sumptuous Kevorkian Album, one of the world's greatest assemblages of Mughal art. -- Metropolitan Museum of Art website.

"Published to accompany a major British Library exhibition, Mughal India showcases the British Library's extensive collection of illustrated manuscripts and paintings commissioned by Mughal emperors and other officials. Depicting the splendor and vibrant color of Mughal life, the exquisitely decorated works span four centuries, from the foundation of the Mughal dynasty by Babur in the sixteenth century, through the heights of the empire and the "Great" Mughal emperors of the seventeenth century, into the decline and eventual collapse in the nineteenth century.The lavish artworks cover a variety of subject matter, from scenes of courtly life to illustrations of works of literature. The development of a Mughal style of art can be traced through the illustrations and paintings, as can the influence of European styles. Many of these works have never before been published, and combined here with the engaging narrative of two experts who place each image within its historical and art historical context, they serve to provide us with a beautiful and illuminating view of the art and culture of Mughal India.--Amazon.com.

"When a rich man in seventeenth-century South Asia enjoyed a peaceful night's sleep, he imagined himself enveloped in a velvet sleep. In the poetic imagination of the time, the fine dew of early evening was like a thin cotton cloth from Bengal, and woolen shawls of downy pashmina sent by the Mughal emperors to their trusted noblemen approximated the soft hand of the ruler on the vassal's shoulder. Textiles in seventeenth-century South Asia represented more than cloth to their makers and users. They simulated sensory experience, from natural, environmental conditions to intimate, personal touch. The Art of Cloth in Mughal India is the first art historical account of South Asian textiles from the early modern era. Author Sylvia Houghteling resurrects a truth that seventeenth-century world citizens knew, but which has been forgotten in the modern era: South Asian cloth ranked among the highest forms of art in the global hierarchy of luxury goods, and had a major impact on culture and communication. While studies abound in economic history about the global trade in Indian textiles that flourished from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, they rarely engage with the material itself and are less concerned with the artistic-and much less the literary and social-significance of the taste for cloth. This book is richly illustrated with images of textiles, garments, and paintings that are held in little-known collections and have rarely, if ever, been published. Rather than rely solely on records of European trading companies, Houghteling draws upon poetry in local languages and integrates archival research from unpublished royal Indian inventories to tell a new history of this material culture, one with a far more balanced view of its manufacture and use, as well as its purchase and trade"--

It Is Hard To Imagine Anyone Succeeding More Gracefully In Producing A Balanced Overview Than Abraham Eraly William Dalrymple, Sunday Times, London In The Mughal World Abraham Eraly Continues His Fascinating Chronicle Of The Grand Saga Of The Mughal Empire. In Emperors Of The Peacock Throne He Gave Us The Story Of The Lives And Achievements Of The Great Mughal Emperors; In This Book, He Looks Beyond The Momentous Historical Events To Portray, In Precise And Vivid Detail, The Agony And Ecstasy Of Life In Mughal India. Combining Scholarly Objectivity With Artful Storytelling The Author Presents A Lively Panorama Of The Mughal World Emperors And Nobles At Work And Play; Harem Life; The Profligacy And Extravagance Of The Ruling Class Juxtaposed With The Stark Wretchedness Of The Common People. Meticulously Researched And Lucidly Narrated The Mughal World Offers Rare Insights Into The State Of The Empire S Economy, Religious Policies, The Mughal Army And Its Tactics, And The Glories Of Mughal Art, Architecture, Literature And Music.

In the 16th century the Mughal emperors of India were among the greatest and most magnificent rulers of the East. Their arts of painting and architecture were peerless, their wealth fabulous, their courts renowned for culture and refinement, their jewels incomparable. This book follows the rise of Mughal dynasty in the 16th century, its heyday in the 17th, and its decline in the 19th. Fabled India: here we meet the legendary emperors Babur and Akbar the Great; we enter splendid courts and discover their political schemes and ambitions, ytheir marvelous artists, their lavish ceremonies, their high learning. The Mughal kingdoms comprised both Muslim and Hindu lands and ranged from Kashmir to Afghanistan to Samarkand, Art, science, craftmanship0, political policy, and military strategy: all are here, echoing in the vast spaces of the Taj Mahal and the scented gardens of Shalimar.--book cover.

This book explores the Central Asian element in the formation of the civilization of Mughal India, focusing on the 16th and 17th centuries. The culture of the Mughal Empire is seen to be a composite of indigenous and foreign elements, many of which originated, like the Mughal rulers themselves, in Central Asia.

This book presents an exploratory study of the Mughal state and its negotiation with local power relations. By studying the state from the perspective of the localities and not from that of the Mughal Court, it shifts the focus from the imperial grid to the local arenas, and more significantly, from 'form' to 'process'. As a result, the book offers a new interpretation of the system of rule based on an appreciation of the local experience of imperial sovereignty, and the inter-connections between the state and the local power relations. The book knits together the systems- and action-theoretic approaches to power, and presents the Mughal state as a dynamic structure in constant change and conflict. The study, based on hitherto unexamined local evidence, highlights the extent to which the interactions between state and society helped to shape the rule structure, the normative system and 'the moral economy of the state'.

From the mid-16th to the early 18th centuries the Mughal empire was the dominant power in the Indian subcontinent. Contrary to what is sometimes suggested, John Richards argues that this centralised state was dynamic and skillfully run. The studies here consider its links with the wider early modern world, and focus on three related aspects of its history. The first concerns the nature of imperial authority, in terms both of the dynastic ideology created by Akbar and his successors, and the extent to which this authority could be enforced in the countryside. The second aspect is that of fiscal and monetary policy and administration: how did the Mughals collect, track and expend their vast revenues, and what effects did this have? Finally, the author asks why the system could not cope with the changes it had helped engender, and what were the weaknesses and pressures that led to the breakup of the empire in the first decades of the 18th century. De la moitié du 16e siècle au début du 18e, l'empire moghol était le pouvoir dominant du sous-continent indien. Contrairement à ce qui peut parfois Ãatre suggéré, John Richards soutient que cet état centralisé était dynamique et adroitement mené. Les études examinent ses liens avec le reste du monde moderne et se concentrent sur trois aspects de son histoire. Le premier concerne la nature de l'autorité impériale, en termes d'idéologie dynastique, telle qu'elle avait été créée par Akbar et ses successeurs et du point jusqu'auquel cette autorité pouvait Ãatre imposée dans les milieux ruraux. Le second aspect est celui de l'administration et de la politique fiscale et monétaire: comment les Moghols faisaient-ils pour collecter, retrouver et dépenser leurs vastes revenus et quel était l'effet d'une telle politique? Enfin, l'auteur cherche à savoir pourquoi ce système n'arrivait pas à faire face aux changements qu'il avait contribué à engendrer et quelles avaient été