India in the Persianate Age
1000-1765
Richard M. Eaton
- SHORTLISTED
- FOR
- THE
- 2020
- CUNDILL
- HISTORY
- PRIZE'Remarkable
- ...
- this
- brilliant
- book
- stands
- as
- an
- important
- monument
- to
- an
- almost
- forgotten
- world'
- William
- Dalrymple,
- SpectatorA
- sweeping,
- magisterial
- new
- history
- of
- India
- from
- the
- middle
- ages
- to
- the
- arrival
- of
- the
- BritishThe
- Indian
- subcontinent
- might
- seem
- a
- self-contained
- world.
- Protected
- by
- vast
- mountains
- and
- seas,
- it
- has
- created
- its
- own
- religions,
- philosophies
- and
- social
- systems.
- And
- yet
- this
- ancient
- land
- experienced
- prolonged
- and
- intense
- interaction
- with
- the
- peoples
- and
- cultures
- of
- East
- and
- Southeast
- Asia,
- Europe,
- Africa
- and,
- especially,
- Central
- Asia
- and
- the
- Iranian
- plateau
- between
- the
- eleventh
- and
- eighteenth
- centuries.Richard
- M.
- Eaton's
- wonderful
- new
- book
- tells
- this
- extraordinary
- story
- with
- relish
- and
- originality.
- His
- major
- theme
- is
- the
- rise
- of
- 'Persianate'
- culture
- -
- a
- many-faceted
- transregional
- world
- informed
- by
- a
- canon
- of
- texts
- that
- circulated
- through
- ever-widening
- networks
- across
- much
- of
- Asia.
- Introduced
- to
- India
- in
- the
- eleventh
- century
- by
- dynasties
- based
- in
- eastern
- Afghanistan,
- this
- culture
- would
- become
- thoroughly
- indigenized
- by
- the
- time
- of
- the
- great
- Mughals
- in
- the
- sixteenth,
- seventeenth,
- and
- eighteenth
- centuries.
- This
- long-term
- process
- of
- cultural
- interaction
- and
- assimilation
- is
- reflected
- in
- India's
- language,
- literature,
- cuisine,
- attire,
- religion,
- styles
- of
- rulership
- and
- warfare,
- science,
- art,
- music,
- architecture,
- and
- more.The
- book
- brilliantly
- elaborates
- the
- complex
- encounter
- between
- India's
- Sanskrit
- culture
- -
- which
- continued
- to
- flourish
- and
- grow
- throughout
- this
- period
- -
- and
- Persian
- culture,
- which
- helped
- shape
- the
- Delhi
- Sultanate,
- the
- Mughal
- Empire
- and
- a
- host
- of
- regional
- states,
- and
- made
- India
- what
- it
- is today.
