The collapse of the Mughal empire has often been characterized as a period of political fragmentation, social unrest, and economic decay. Contrasting two regions in north India--Awadh and the Punjab--Muzaffar Alam contends that even as the empire declined, there emerged a new, regionally-based political order, maintained and controlled by former Mughal rulers. From agrarian uprisings to the jagiardari system, the Sikhs to the Zamindars, this book presents a bold new interpretation of an important transition in Indian government.

The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India: Awadh and the Punjab 1707-1748

History

Alam, Muzaffar

Asia

Oxford University Press

The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India: Awadh and the Punjab 1707-1748 (Oxford India Paperbacks)

The period following the death of Aurangzeb has usually been viewed from the perspective of the decline and subsequent decay of the Mughal empire. This study emphasizes that the period 1707-1748 saw the emergence of a new order with local and regional idioms, even though echoes from the imperial period continued to be heard.

An European Experience of the Mughal Orient: The ljaz-i-Arsalani (Persian Letters, 1773-1779) of Antoine-Louis Henri Polier

Alavi, Seema

This book offers a much-needed alternative perspective (coming from Persian sources) on European constructions of India. It throws significant light on Indo-Persian culture and on the complex interaction between Europeans and Indians in the eighteenth century.

A European Experience of the Mughal Orient: The Ijaz-I Arsalani (Persian Letters, 1773-1779) of Antoine-Louis Henri Polier

The period following the death of Aurangzeb has been viewed as the beginning of the decline and decay of the Mughal empire. Examining two contrasting regions of north India-Awadh and Punjab-this pioneering work shows how the period 1707-48 saw the emergence of a new order with local and regional idioms. Muzaffar Alam focuses on the interplay of imperial collapse with regional restructuring. He contends that even as the empire declined, there emerged a new, regionally-based political order, maintained and controlled by former Mughal rulers. From agrarian uprisings to the jagirdari system, the Sikhs to the Zamindars, this book presents a bold new interpretation of an important transition in this period. This edition comes with a new introduction.  This book is an important reading for students, scholars, and teachers of Mughal history and early modern India.

The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India Awadh and Punjab, 1707-48 Second Edition (Oxford India Perennials Series)

The Languages of Political Islam: India 1200-1800

The Languages of Political Islam illuminates the diverse ways in which Islam, from the time of its arrival in India in the twelfth century through its height as the ruling theology to its decline, adapted to its new cultural context to become "Indianized." Muzaffar Alam shows that the adoption of Arabo-Persian Islam in India changed the manner in which Islamic rule and governance were conducted. Islamic regulation and statecraft in a predominately Hindu country required strategic shifts from the original Islamic injunctions. Islamic principles could not regulate beliefs in a vast country without accepting cultural limitations and limits on the exercise of power. As a result of cultural adaptation, Islam was in the end forced to reinvent its principles for religious rule. Acculturation also forced key Islamic terms to change so fundamentally that Indian Islam could be said to have acquired a character substantially different from the Islam practiced outside of India.

University of Chicago Press

Between the mid-sixteenth and early nineteenth century, the Mughal Empire was an Indo-Islamic dynasty that ruled as far as Bengal in the east and Kabul in the west, as high as Kashmir in the north and the Kaveri basin in the south. The Mughals constructed a sophisticated, complex system of government that facilitated an era of profound artistic and architectural achievement. They promoted the place of Persian culture in Indian society and set the groundwork for South Asia's future development.In this volume, two leading historians of early modern South Asia present nine major joint essays on the Mughal Empire, framed by an essential introductory reflection. Making creative use of materials written in Persian, Indian vernacular languages, and a variety of European languages, their chapters accomplish the most significant innovations in Mughal historiography in decades, intertwining political, cultural, and commercial themes while exploring diplomacy, state-formation, history-writing, religious debate, and political thought. Muzaffar Alam and Sanjay Subrahmanyam center on confrontations between different source materials that they then reconcile, enabling readers to participate in both the debate and resolution of competing claims. Their introduction discusses the comparative and historiographical approach of their work and its place within the literature on Mughal rule. Interdisciplinary and cutting-edge, this volume richly expands research on the Mughal state, early modern South Asia, and the comparative history of the Mughal, Ottoman, Safavid, and other early modern empires.

Writing the Mughal World: Studies on Culture and Politics

Subrahmanyam, Sanjay

Columbia University Press

Originally published in 2007, this fascinating work is based on detailed and sensitive readings of travel accounts in Persian, dealing with India, Iran and Central Asia between around 1400 and 1800. The first comprehensive treatment of this neglected genre of literature (safar nama), it links the Mughals, Safavids and Central Asia in a crucial period of transformation and cultural contact. The authors' close reading of these travel accounts help us enter the mental and moral worlds of the Muslim and non-Muslim literati who produced these valuable narratives. These accounts are presented in a comparative framework, which sets them side by side with other Asian accounts, as well as early modern European travel narratives, and opens up a rich and unsuspected vista of cultural and material history. This book can be read for a better understanding of the nature of early modern encounters, but also for the sheer pleasure of entering a new world.

Indo-Persian Travels in the Age of Discoveries, 1400–1800

Cambridge University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Alam, Muzaffar. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Alam, Muzaffar

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Alam, Muzaffar. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India: Awadh and the Punjab 1707-1748

The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India: Awadh and the Punjab 1707-1748 (Oxford India Paperbacks)

An European Experience of the Mughal Orient: The ljaz-i-Arsalani (Persian Letters, 1773-1779) of Antoine-Louis Henri Polier

A European Experience of the Mughal Orient: The Ijaz-I Arsalani (Persian Letters, 1773-1779) of Antoine-Louis Henri Polier

The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India Awadh and Punjab, 1707-48 Second Edition (Oxford India Perennials Series)

The Languages of Political Islam: India 1200-1800

The Languages of Political Islam: India 1200-1800

Writing the Mughal World: Studies on Culture and Politics

Writing the Mughal World: Studies on Culture and Politics

Indo-Persian Travels in the Age of Discoveries, 1400–1800