Mughal Worlds

This seminar will focus on the Mughal Empire (1525-1857). Careful attention will be paid to the historic, economic, social and geographic contexts that enabled the emergence, growth and, ultimately, collapse of the Mughal Empire. In so doing, this course will not only study South Asia’s complex history on its own terms but also examine the intricate web of links that connected South Asia to the rest of the world. Simultaneously, this course will pay particular attention to a series of common misconceptions that dog the study of pre-modern Islamic polities. Among them: the supposedly lesser role played by women in politics; the dogmatic and central role of Islam in “Muslim” states; and the economic and political superiority of Western Europe. Crucial to these questions is an examination of the historiography and historiographical traditions that have come to define contemporary understanding of the Mughal Empire.