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The article discusses a book by Michael D. Calabria titled "The Language of the Taj Mahal: Islam, Prayer, and the Religion of Shah Jahan." The book examines the Taj Mahal's inscriptional cycle in connection with Shah Jahan's religiosity and personal life. It provides new perspectives on the monument and its relationship to religion and culture in early modern India. The book is commended for its refreshing perspective on Shah Jahan and its exploration of the performative nature of architectural spaces. It is recommended for those interested in architectural history and religious history. [Extracted from the article]

While Shāh Walī Allāh's political letters have been the subject of much scholarly discussion, they are still deeply misunderstood. These misunderstandings are due, primarily, to erroneous attributions of recipients, misidentified individuals in the letters, and the failure to read these "political letters" alongside Walī Allāh's broader epistolographic corpus, contemporary biographical texts and political chronicles of the period. This article argues that far from being a critic of the Mughal Empire per se , Walī Allāh was closely associated with leading members of ʿĀlamgīr II's court. Moreover, his famous "invitation" to the Afghan ruler Aḥmad Shāh Abdālī, ostensibly asking him to invade Hindustan, should properly be understood as an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to attract the favorable attention of a military leader in order to mitigate the danger posed by his troops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses an overlooked case to reveal how the problem of distance shaped the early English East Indies trade. In 1617, preacher William Lesk returned to London from Surat. He had been sent to be a moral leader for East India Company factors, but they returned him when his scandalous behaviour threatened the survival of the Company’s trade in the Mughal empire. The social circumstances of the factory had real, material consequences. The factors sent signed eyewitness accounts of his misdeeds for Company leaders to address, but in London, Lesk’s claims of first-hand knowledge of the East Indies trade and affairs in Surat, along with savvy use of the politics of publicity, meant that Company leaders found him challenging to deal with. The story of Lesk reveals how managing distance required compromises on how best to govern the East Indies trade. Distance shaped how Company leaders interpreted events in the East Indies, while also opening up avenues for resisting Company judgements. Distance informed every aspect of the Company’s operation – not just economic but also social and political – and is essential to understanding how and why the Company developed as it did, both in the East Indies and London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mobile professional and familial network of Shiʿi Muslim naturalists emerged from Kārkiyā'ī Gilan and served royal courts across much of the Persianate world during the 16th and into the 17th centuries. While its members have been known in different historiographic contexts, they have not been studied together as a unique inter-Asian society that endured according to intrinsic logics cultivated at its point of origin and numerous trans-regional homes. Mapping this network, I argue that they promoted their own kind by whetting the appetites of Persianate courts hungry for specialists to strengthen sovereignty through the universalizing power of ḥikmat , comprised of interrelated theoretical and practical sciences that the Gilanis mastered. Their endurance not only calls into question scales of analysis that amalgamate migrant networks as "Iranians," "Persianate elites," or "foreigners," which overlook such ties, but it demonstrates how shared origins superseded sectarian identity in the maintenance of such networks across time and space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the concept of esotericism and its relationship to global religious history. It highlights the need to move beyond Eurocentric perspectives and colonial frameworks in understanding religion. The authors argue for a decentered historiography that acknowledges non-Western agency and cultural exchange. They also suggest that the study of esotericism can contribute to broader debates in religious studies, but caution against limiting the discussion to Western esotericism. The article calls for collaboration between different fields of study and a recognition of the global history of esotericism. [Extracted from the article]

Drawing from Persian, Urdu, Dakkhani and Marathi sources, this article examines narratives about the sixteenth century Queen-Regent of Ahmadnagar and Bijapur, Chand Bibi (1550–1600), who was also widely regarded as 'Queen of the Deccan'. Powerful Muslim women of the Deccan Sultanates have received scant, if any, attention. This article challenges the north-centric perspective of Mughal imperial development that has long dominated histories of Persianate India. Like the Deccan, Chand Bibi resists categorisation. This article delves into Chand Bibi's afterlives by grappling with the multiple accounts of the queen's demise in 1600—by murder, suicide and escape. The mythology of an immobile harem or 'zenana' is belied by the context of mobility within sixteenth century Deccan. It focuses upon on when narratives of Chand Bibi's murder, suicide and legendary escape first emerged and how they were circulated. I argue that the existence of three distinct narratives about Chand Bibi's demise reveals various perceptions about the queen, which characterise the multi-ethnic and multireligious pluralism of the Deccan region to which she belonged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses the concept of 'small war" to analyze military confrontations between the Mughal Empire and the Ahom Kingdom of Assam during the seventeenth century. The Mughals launched a series of conventional campaigns on the land and along the rivers. The Ahoms responded with both conventional and guerrilla attacks. For the Mughals, military operations in Assam were limited wars; the Ahom monarchy was a nuisance. However, the Mughal Empire posed an existential threat to the Ahom Kingdom, and the Ahoms fought for their survival. In the Mughal-Ahom confrontations, geography and managerial factors functioned as crucial drivers. Despite technical and firepower superiority, the Mughals were defeated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shikarpur is one of the most historical place of Sindh, the history of this historical city begins from 1600 AD when Sindh was conquered by the Mughal Empires. The present city and its outskirts places were used as hunting fields known as Shikargah . Later on this historical place ruled by Daudpotas and Talpurs. In earlier 1800 British extended their trade to Central Asia through River Indus. In 1843 British conquered Sindh, Britishers given special attention towards Shikarpur due to its geographical location, an underground sewerage system was laid in 1890 AD, underground water supply were laid with a network of fire hydrants. as Shikarpur was the trade Hub of Central Asia and after getting special attention from Britisher, economically the city become more richer and Architecture of this city boast up people started built beautiful houses, community Havelis and other institutional Buildings by local Authorities. The workmanship and techniques of that era was very high, they were often to build two, three stories’ buildings by using local techniques, Material and workmanship. The constructions were not only functionally, structurally and aesthetically sound but also environment friendly. Scope of this research to investigate the construction techniques and material used in Heritage of Shikarpur. The research was conducted through the surveys and detailed inspection of British Era Buildings in different areas of Shikarpur city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I explore hagiographical narratives about Khwāja Yaḥyā Kabīr (d. 1430), among the earliest of the Sufi masters to be identified as Afghan. The social memory of Yaḥyā Kabīr's life exemplifies the function of hagiography as a key arena for the production of historical knowledge, generating a vivid and specific imaginary of the past for devotees. My goal here is to present a reading of the hagiography, but first I will situate it within the discursive nexus of Persian historical writing, which often essentialized Afghans as innately barbarous while peripheralizing Afghan homelands (identified with the Sulaiman Mountains). Yaḥyā Kabīr's hagiography is both reflective of Indo-Afghan anxieties about social hierarchies and a device by which marginalizing traditions could be subverted through a highly textured portrayal of the past. As such, it exemplifies how saints' lives can index not only the hierarchies of imperial life, but also the techniques by which to escape them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Military Revolution debate has dominated histories of early modern warfare for over sixty years. This essay searches for new analytical avenues by charting the nature, causes, and implications of variations in Mughal warfare in early modern South Asia. It argues that a range of factors--including environmental conditions, military pragmatism, financial considerations, and distance from the imperial heartland--caused Mughal war-making to become heterogeneous over time and across space. This produced variations in strategy, tactics, and deployment of technologies. These variations affected the broader processes of Mughal war-making and empire-building. This line of investigation bears potential to influence the writing of comparative military histories and the study of early modern warfare while looking beyond the Military Revolution framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mughal gardens are a prominent figure in the history of landscape architecture, serving as a symbol of artistic talent and horticultural genius. The Mughal gardens thrived throughout the Mughal Empire's rule in South Asia, and this dissertation investigates the profound philosophy that underpinned its design planting methods. The study explores the sociocultural factors that influenced Mughal gardening practices within the historical framework of that period. This study makes use of both primary and secondary sources to illuminate the main components of Mughal Garden design, including the widespread use of geometric patterns, water features, and the blending of architecture and landscape. A strong link between the gardens and the Mughal worldview is shown when the research additionally looks at the spiritual and metaphorical meanings connected to the fauna and plants selected for these gardens. Additionally, the study focuses on the cultivation practices used by Mughal horticulturists, showcasing their creative approaches to attaining a harmonic fusion of form and function. Mughal gardens are renowned for their overall visual effect, mostly due to the careful selection and placement of their flora. This dissertation tries to uncover the underlying plantation philosophy of Mughal gardens through a thorough investigation of historical records and garden ruins, highlighting the complex interactions between art, culture, and environment throughout this era. Modern landscape designers and hobbyists may take inspiration from the Mughal approach to horticulture and apply its timeless wisdom to contemporary gardening techniques by comprehending the fundamental ideas that guided the building of these gardens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines a collection of notary documents referred to as the 'Cambay Documents'. The 'Cambay Documents' is a collection of around fifty documents, registered between the second half of the seventeenth to the first half of the eighteenth century. These documents were acquired by the National Archives of India from a private collection and are now in the Oriental Section of the National Archives of India, New Delhi. We explored these documents to situate the legal position of women in Mughal India. These documents are of immense importance as they are related to the practice of law rather than theory. There is a dearth of such documents in modern repositories and archives, due to the absence of any centralized archives in Mughal India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the pivotal role of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (1703-1762) in the revival of Islam in the Indian subcontinent through Sufism following the decline of the Mughal Empire. Shah Waliullah, a Sufi affiliated with the Naqshbandi Order, also distinguished himself as an Ash’ari theologian and a Hanafi jurist. Shah Waliullah’s distinctive interpretation, which underscores the significance of the Quran and the Sunnah in Islamic sciences and Sufism, has played an essential role in reforming Islamic thought in the region from theoretical and practical perspectives. His works in the fields of fiqh (jurisprudence), theology, and Sufism have profoundly influenced Muslim thought on the Indian subcontinent. Shah Waliullah, a proponent of the idea that Sufism could serve as a powerful tool in the moral and spiritual development of society, not only emphasised the potential risks posed by distorted Sufism but also cautioned against deviating from the path of the Quran and the Sunnah. His understanding of Sufism is based on rejecting any activity beyond the Quran and Sunnah. He made valuable contributions to the Aqidah (Islamic creed) reform, the promotion of hadith scholarship, and the reconciliation of fiqh (jurisprudence) and Sufism. Shah Waliullah also emphasised the importance of Islamic values and culture. In this article, an attempt has been made to offer a perspective for contemporary Muslims striving to reconcile their beliefs with the demands of modern life by analysing the views of Shah Waliullah on the interpretation of Islamic sciences and Sufism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Grief and the Shaping of Muslim Communities in North India, c. 1857–1940s" by Eve Tignol is a book that explores how elite north Indian Muslims expressed grief and related emotions during the British Raj. The author analyzes Urdu-language poetry, memoirs, letters, and other manuscripts to understand the cultural and historical context of these expressions. Tignol highlights the term "gham," which encompasses various connotations of grief and nostalgia. The book also discusses the impact of colonialism on the Muslim community and the different approaches taken by Muslim leaders in response to Indian nationalism. Overall, this volume offers valuable insights into the emotions and experiences of Muslims in North India during this period. [Extracted from the article]

Jyotsna Singh's book, "A Companion to the Global Renaissance," challenges the traditional Eurocentric view of the Renaissance as a revival of European art and culture in 15th century Italy. The second edition expands on this perspective by including contributions that focus on regions such as Europe, the Islamic empires, the Far East, Africa, North America, and the Caribbean. The book also highlights the importance of lyric poetry in understanding the global Renaissance. While the collection is praised for its expanded geography and diverse perspectives, some argue that a more radical approach is needed to fully decenter Western European culture and scholarship. Overall, the book offers valuable insights into the Renaissance beyond Italy and Europe. [Extracted from the article]

The document titled "Books received 2023" provides a list of books published in 2023 that may be of interest to library patrons conducting research on various topics. The books cover a range of subjects, including literature, history, politics, and art. Some notable titles include "Shakespeare and University Drama in Early Modern England" by Daniel Blank, "Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire" by Nandini Das, and "The Political Thought of the English Free State, 1649-1653" by Markku Peltonen. The list includes information on the authors, publishers, publication dates, page counts, and prices of the books. [Extracted from the article]

Transmission of idea and inner reality is an important feature of images. This fact has always been accompanied with the display of mental and ideological tensions in historical images. Representing historical characters is one of the most significant features of the Indian Mughal miniature, which has been the manifestation of Mughal emperors’ tastes and interests. There are some crucial points in such portraits which are remained unknown due to reliance on the mere superficial structures and implications. Actually, two important features, i.e. authority and spirituality, are of immense significance in these portraits. Adopting a descriptive-analytical methodology, the present article is to answer the following question: What are the main visual elements relating to authority and spirituality in the Mughal portraits in India? Studying 30 portraits as case studies in this research, the results show that the manifestation of authority and spirituality in the trinity of emperor, sheikh and yogi were considered more than others, and this has been represented in the portraits of the king more conspicuously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thomas Barfield's book, "Shadow Empires: An Alternative Imperial History," explores different models of empires throughout history. Barfield focuses on exogenous or "shadow" empires that emerged on the periphery of primary empires. He presents seven imperial models, including maritime, nomadic steppe, periphery, nostalgia, and vacuum empires, using case studies to illustrate each model. While Barfield's work is ambitious and offers new insights, it has limitations, such as neglecting empires in the Americas and south of the Sahara Desert. Overall, "Shadow Empires" provides engaging prose and valuable perspectives for both general readers and specialists in history. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the expansion and international reach of the journal "Seventeenth Century" in its 39th year of publication. The previous volume included research articles, review articles, and book reviews on various topics related to the seventeenth century. The journal received submissions from scholars in 20 different countries and published contributions from scholars in 12 countries. The current issue features articles on the Church of Ireland, philosophical writings, popular entertainment, legal disputes, diplomatic communication, and hospitality in Spanish America. The issue also includes book reviews on academic drama, natural theology, Grotius's Annals of the War in the Low Countries, political thought during the English Free State, and the legacy of Cromwell. [Extracted from the article]

Stefanie Gänger's book, "A Singular Remedy: Cinchona across the Atlantic World, 1751–1820," explores the global history of cinchona, also known as "Peruvian bark," and its widespread consumption across the Atlantic world. Gänger argues that while cinchona was adapted to local tastes and conditions, there were significant shared understandings among different groups. The book draws on a wide range of European sources and examines the distribution, preparation, and application of cinchona as a medical remedy. Gänger's work contributes to the understanding of the global circulation of medicinal substances and calls for further research in this area. [Extracted from the article]

Nawan Kot has an ironic tale due to its monument's architecture, which belongs to the Mughal era. This paper presents the eastern side of the garden and its fragments, including a tomb, two fluted Burj, and Chauburji of an unspecified person in Nawan Kot on the Multan Road in Lahore. The tale is usually narrated by Princess Zeb-un-Nissa. Moreover, it is believed that she formed the garden in 1669 A.D. The garden was covered with a wall, and a tower was built on each corner of the garden. The Chauburji was constructed for the royal entrance, and a picturesque tomb is located in the core of the pleasing garden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roads were developed by humans in ancient times. With the passage of time these structures went through development and took form of modern highways. A complex structure of road network existed in Indian sub-continent during imperialism in South Asia. When Mughals developed their Empire, they further developed that road network. These routes were used for various purposes like local as well as interstate trade, postal services, and movement of royal army. Individual travelers and caravans also moved on those roads. Valuable items were carried by travelers on these routes hence various groups of professional robbers, thieves and thugs were gradually formed who robbed and killed travelers. Mughal Emperors took various measures to address this issue. Administrative officers were given the task to make arrangements to provide security to travelers. Rest houses (Sarai) were made, check posts were created and local responsibility law was continued which required local village heads to provide security on roads which were present near their villages. A strong spying network was established which kept the emperor well informed about the happenings in the state. Culprits were either killed in encounters with Mughal troops or captured by the village vigil force or they were presented before Emperor and Judges who punished these criminals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suchitra Choudhury's monograph is an impressive and extensive study on the cashmere shawl in British literature, anatomizing it as both a valuable commodity and a rich metaphor in literature. In his seminal work on commodities, Arjun Appadurai determines that objects enjoyed a social and cultural "life", as they were traded and absorbed from and into varying cultures and traditions transnationally.[1] In I Textile Orientalisms i (Figure 1), Suchitra Choudhury unravels the multivalent and polymorphic "life" of one such fashionable, imperial object - the Cashmere shawl and its Scottish imitation, the Paisley. [Extracted from the article]

Traffic on overland routes connecting the Indian subcontinent to the Iranian Plateau and Central Asia increased from the fifteenth to the sixteenth centuries. This led to the formation of strong states in the Kabul-to-Delhi region—namely, the state ruled by the later Lodīs in north India, the embryonic Mughal state in Kabul, and the Arghūn state in Qandahar (1479–1522). This article will especially investigate the latter. Since there is no mercantile archive for this period, I will make use of narrative sources, especially the little-used "court history" of the Arghūns, the Nuṣratnāmā-i Tarkhān (completed circa 1565) in search of political and economic information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional architecture of any area embodies its true character, deeply rooted in the history, geography, and culture of that region. It does not only satisfy the functional requirements but also stems from local construction techniques and materials available. Traditional architecture faces the problem of its coexistence with modern technological development everywhere. The built heritage which stands in Lahore over centuries is encroached by modern and efficient techniques. The present paper specifically focuses on the development of Jharokha windows (Bay windows) in Lahore. The Jharokha window that was used in the Indian subcontinent during and after the Mughal period was the solution to the climatic conditions of the region. This research will investigate the old Jharokha window form and how with technology and advancement it starts losing its original form. The change in Jharokha form will be studied by the existing examples from different time periods available in the city of Lahore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the use of dharmaśāstra in Mughal India through the case of a little-known seventeenth-century Persian translation of a dharmaśāstra text entitled Aḥkām-i awāmir wa nawāhī-yi mazhab-i hunūd (Legal rulings on commanding [right] and forbidding [wrong] of the legal school of the Hindus). The work, apparently completed in 1658 by a Kāyastha named Lāl Bihārī Bhojpurī, is a translation of the Yājñavalkya Smṛti together with the Mitākṣarā and includes lavish praise of Aurangzeb ʿĀlamgīr (d. 1707). I investigate the broader context in which the Aḥkām was produced and argue that this work represents an effort to delineate the boundaries of a separate legal space for Hindus from the standpoint of a munshī committed to Persianate culture and the ethos of Mughal imperial service. Persian dharmaśāstra translations later came to play a role in British colonial efforts to codify Hindu law for use in the administration of justice. The prior engagements with dharmaśāstra in the Persian language are suggestive of a more complex background to such colonial enterprises than modern scholarship has hitherto identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1930s Hindi short story "Mugaloṃ ne saltanat bakhś dī" ("The Mughals Gave the Sultanate Away") by self-proclaimed apolitical author Bhagavatīcaraṇ Varmā offers an alternative version of how the British Crown took the rule of India away from the Mughal Empire. An in-depth analysis of this story written during the buildup to the decolonization of India evaluates how two different kinds of what is often referred to as "outside rulers" are depicted in this story: the Mughal emperors and the British colonial rulers. This case study assesses whether the story shows a different attitude toward Mughals and the centuries-old Muslim culture in India, compared to how both historic rulers are viewed and represented by right-wing Hindu nationalists: Muslim Indians seem to be made part of the "other" rather than a part of an inclusive interpretation of the Indian "self." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The administrative system during Iran's Safavid and India's Mughal empires had a complex structure. During that era, writing, recording, and dispatching of royal decrees as well as administrative, judicial, revenue figures, and rulings were carried out by three administrative divisions dealing with composition, execution, and judiciary. Such documents are exiting in two primary and secondary forms and their compositions are varied based on their themes. The components of documents are also distinguished in terms of their header, seal, and monogram. To prevent any type of forgery, they went through lengthy and complicated stages. These documents show the evolution of the bureaucratic system in both dynasties and were issued for purposes such as appointments, grants, exemptions, contracts, treaties, and so on. The research method applied in the present research is based sources extracted from library and archival materials and then the court documents of both Safavid and Mughals were compared and analyzed through the descriptive-analytical method. Research findings show that different administrative units were under the supervision of the minister (vazir), the second powerful figure after the King, who in fact led state, financial and judicial affairs. Although both dynasties had common roots, they created one of the most effective executive systems of their time by upgrading those prevalent in previous empires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thousands of runaways left the Portuguese empire during the early modern period, but very little is known about the lived experience of this diverse group of individuals after they fled. This article questions the framework of analysis that reduces such a complex social phenomenon to the overarching category of "informal empire," while testing the hypothesis that the issue of the archive lies at the core of the practice of global microhistory. A set of primary sources in Portuguese, Dutch, English, Marathi, and Persian is analyzed at close range to reconstruct the choices, motivations, and hesitations of a specific group of "Portuguese" – mostly dark-skinned mestiços of modest origin – who served as mercenaries in north-western Deccan. I argue that studying the networks of these mercenaries ultimately reveals localized forms of endurance and adaptation to rapid and disruptive changes brought about locally by imperial rivalry and long-distance commerce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses writings of the French traveler François Bernier (d. 1688) on race as an inroad into the question of locating race in Mughal India. I explore Mughal discourses of alterity through an examination of Persian writings from various genres composed during the long seventeenth century. In contrast to Bernier, these writings do not offer concepts equivalent to that of race. However, by invoking narratives of descent from Noah's son Ham, ideas of climatic and physiognomic humoralism, and the attribution of physical qualities or character traits to social groups, these works engage in practices of racialization while also at times undermining them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various types of labour providers were employed at the Mughal imperial dining spaces and kitchens that provided food for everyday consumption and on the occasion of feasts. These labour service providers can be classified into two broad categories: the imperial officers in charge of the kitchen and allied departments (such as the water and beverages department), and the domestic servants including food servers, cupbearers and cooks. The location of the kitchen and dining spaces determined which gender and what sartorial fashions would be allowed there. The duties performed by all these service providers, the etiquette they were expected to follow, the knowledge, skills and concomitant training they had to acquire were intrinsically linked to the salient notion of food as the conduit for shaping one's inner-self. It was believed that the food one consumed affected the body's humoral composition and brought about a qualitative – physiological and psychological – change in the being of the consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of service and submission in Mughal India was starkly different from modern times. The rhetoric of complete submission to the person of the Emperor guided the social relations of all orders. A reflection of this must have been experienced at the level of the household service gentry. Important elements in this service class were chelas (freed male slaves), sahelis (freed slave-girls) and khwajasaras (eunuchs). All three sections had an ambiguous placement in the social order. The chelas and sahelis were in principle free but their social realities and the nature of their services were similar to that of slaves. Eunuchs, on the other hand, provided widely varied services, ranging from administrative duties to mere harem attendance. The conditions of all these groups depended largely on the interactions between them and their immediate masters. The paper explores the dynamics of the varying nature of social realities and mobility experienced by these different sections, locating them within class and gender contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, Mughal understandings of their own past are reconstructed from the standpoint of Mughal paramountcy in around 1700. That was the moment of the empire's greatest territorial reach, when it knew no peer nor threat. To reconstruct contemporary understandings of how this situation came about, histories of the Mughal empire composed by governing officials of the time are analysed using a novel approach rooted in a particular distinction between constants and contingencies. These understandings allow us to recapture the political sociology of empire as apprehended by the Mughal elites. The article's findings are of value for two reasons. Narrowly construed, they help fill a lacuna in mainstream views on Mughal historiography, traditionally dominated by Akbar and his reign, and imbued with the logic of decline (and of its corollary, the transition to colonialism). More broadly, because of the weight accorded to knowledge of the past in the formation of Mughal ruling elites, the findings provide fresh insights into the cognitive framework within which these elites operated at a moment recognized as highly significant then, and in retrospect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a study of Mullā Farīd and Mullā Ṭayyib, two astronomers active in several North Indian courts in the first half of the seventeenth century. The lives and works of these two brothers illustrate the central role of mathematical astronomy and astrology in the science of the time and its use by Indian Muslim nobility. They also document the familiarity of Indian Muslim scholars with Indic astrology and its practice in Muslim milieux. Mathematical astronomy was very much alive in seventeenth-century Mughal India, and Persian-writing scholars were commenting and revising the astronomical data and mathematics transmitted from the Maragha and Samarqand schools of astronomy. Their intellectual activities are also better understood in the context of the avid interest in occult sciences cultivated by early modern Persianate societies, and more particularly by the Mughal court. Mathematical astronomy was nurtured for the precise purpose of casting horoscopes and creating astrological almanacs. Astrological practices in North-Indian courts, including Delhi, the Mughal imperial capital, were evidently mixed and flavoured with elements from both Islamicate and Indic traditions. Knowledge was widely shared across languages and scientific interests went well beyond religious denominations. Crucially too, the exchange between the Persian and the Sanskrit scholastic worlds was sponsored by Mughal patrons and resulted in scientific translations from one language to the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores humor as a coping mechanism for social trauma in ancient Indian drama and Mughal courtly writings. It highlights how author argues that humor, including scandalous satire, serves as a cultural necessity with political and cultural implications, providing relief and a collective way to address tensions and traumas that can't be expressed elsewhere.

Sulh-i kull or 'Total Peace' with all religions was a policy introduced by the Mughal empire in South Asia in the late sixteenth century. It was a radically accommodative stance for its day, especially when compared to the intolerant manner in which other Muslim and Christian polities of the early modern world dealt with religious difference. This article introduces a new perspective on Mughal Total Peace by arguing that it was meant to solve a long-standing problem created by the monotheistic ban on oaths sworn on non-biblical deities. Such a ban restricted the ability of Muslim kings to solemnize peace treaties with their non-monotheist rivals and subjects. In the second half of the article, I examine two pre-Mughal cases, from the eleventh century (Mahmud of Ghazna) and the seventh century (the prophet Muhammad), respectively, to explore what other, less 'total', mechanisms were invented to suspend this ban and enable oath-taking and solemn peace-making between monotheist and non-monotheist. In effect, I use the Mughal case to highlight a specific issue that shaped political theology in Islam over the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that ṣulḥ-i kull (peace for all) as a specific term was introduced in the 1590s by a small group of avant-garde Neoplatonists who worked at the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar. It was only in the following century that ṣulḥ-i kull developed into the ethos that became the ideological mainstay of Mughal rule both internally, for its administrative elites, and externally, vis-à-vis their main rivals: the Uzbeks in Central Asia and the Safavids in Iran. The early stages in the making of this ideology can be followed in some detail by studying Akbar's neglected millennial history, the Tarikh-i Alfi. In fact, this vast Mughal world history demonstrates that apart from Neoplatonic akhlāq, there was another important building block that so far has been missing altogether in the making of ṣulḥ-i kull, that is, the practical model of the Pax Mongolica, as established under Chinggis Khan, the most famous of Mughal ancestors. Most crucially, it is in the Tarikh-i Alfi that we find the legacies of Persianate akhlāq and Mongol yasa (law) married to each other. In fact, it was through akhlāq that the peace of the Mongols became the Mughal peace for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper brings the 1858 trial of 82 years old Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar into the mainstream international law. It discusses the aesthetical aspects of Zafar's trial, who was tried as a British Subject, despite being the Indian sovereign. The paper argues that the trial was used as a tool to colonise India. It also points out the treatment given to Zafar post his arrest, when he was displayed to the Europeans 'like a beast in a cage'. It highlights the confusing nature of the trial which was, at times, presented as an enquiry. Moreover, it tells Zafar's story from his point of view. The paper also highlights the blind-spots in the subject of international law where Zafar's trial finds no mention. It provokes readers to question their understanding of colonialism by pointing out the well-known nature of trial of Warren Hastings, but the obscurity surrounding Zafar's trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The civil service of Pakistan has roots in the B.C. period when well comprehensive centralized administrative structure of the state was established under the Maurya Empire. The administrative structure including the civil service grew under the different dynasties of Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire. However, with the advent of the English in the subcontinent, various legislations were passed for introducing and strengthening civil service on modern patters. The Government of India Act 1935 was adopted as Interim Constitution of newly created country Pakistan. The Act contained provisions reading the civil service and provided constitutional safeguards to the members of the civil service. The first constitution of Pakistan enforced in 1956 continued constitutional safeguards, however, it proved short lived when the Martial Law was imposed in the country in October, 1958. The next constitution 1962 continued almost same safeguards. However, such constitutional safeguards, as provided in two earlier constitutions, were taken away when constitution 1973 was effected from 14th August, 1973. It does not mean that the constitution is without provisions regarding the civil service. The Majlis-e-Shoora and the provincial legislatures were empowered to make legislation on the matters relating to civil service within their respective jurisdiction which established the civil service on sound footings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the phenomenon of madness in sixteenth-century north India among Sufi saints called majẕūb s. By focusing on three Indo-Persian Sufi hagiographies (taẕkirāt)—ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Dihlawī's Akhbār al-Akhyār (1591), ʿAbd al-S̱amad Akbarābādī's Akhbār al-Aṣfiyā (1608), and Ghaus̱ī Shaṭṭārī Mānḍwī's Gulẕār-i Abrār (1613)—I argue that madness was central to how majẕūbs in the early Mughal period performed their spiritual ecstasy, wisdom, and miraculous behaviors. Majẕūbs also defied Sufi norms through their bodily comportment, and leveraged their insanity to subvert the authority of Mughal and other regional rulers. Therefore, majẕūbs challenge our normative understanding of ṭarīqa -based Sufism in early modern South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A necessarily widespread feature of language practice in the Persianate world was the need for translation of speech and text, with a range of lexical and semantic challenges involved in taking meaning from one language to another. This article focusses on legal translation, with its highly functional aims, by following the career of a pair of Indo-Persian legal forms known as tamassuk and fārigh-khaṭṭī , used for recording obligation and requital respectively. Tracing their reincarnations from Persian into Marathi, Hindi and Bengali, this article reveals several forms of boundary-crossing: doctrinal, jurisdictional, political and linguistic. In doing so, it explores the legal mindscapes in the early modern Indo-Persian world, spilling from the late Mughal into the colonial, and shows how multilingualism functioned within specific parts of the Persianate cosmopolis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The category of 'military labour' has traditionally been used to designate 'combat labour' – the labour of soldiers. Focusing on the case of early modern South Asia, the present essay argues that this equivalence is misplaced and that it is a product of a distorted view of war defined primarily in terms of combat. The essay discusses the roles played by the logistical workforce of Mughal armies in conducting military campaigns and facilitating imperial expansion. It calls for broadening the category of 'military labour' to include all types of labour rendered consciously towards the fulfilment of military objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the rise and fall of sacred kingship throughout history, focusing on the distinction between immanentist and transcendentalist models of power. The authors argue that immanentism, which involves an enchanted universe and rulers with priestly roles, was prevalent in early societies. Transcendentalism emerged later and sought to reform and constrain sacred kingship through ethical principles. The article explores various examples from different regions, including South Asia, Mesopotamia, China, and Egypt, to illustrate the usurpation of divine authority by human rulers. It also highlights the ongoing relevance of sacred kingship in contemporary Indigenous politics and the ways in which modern statecraft continues to resurrect aspects of sacred kingship. The article concludes by suggesting that modern societies should learn from the past and strive for humility in order to promote peaceful coexistence and egalitarianism. [Extracted from the article]

During the reign of Turkhan ruler Mirza Jani Beg, Mughal emperor Akbar sent troops and annexed Sindh to his empire. Mughals governed Sindh through appointing Subedars (Governors) who did their worst to plunder Sindh as much as they could. Consequently, Socio-political and economic conditions of Sindh markedly deteriorated to such an extent that people turned against Mughal government. Various up-risings began. Mianwal Movement was one of such resistance movement led by a spiritual and religious leader Mian Adam Shah Kalhoro against Mughal rule of Sindh. It was known as Mianwal Movement that established from his village Hatri of Taluka Bakrani District Larkana. He formed Daira (a place for social interaction) where many indigent people were served with food and shelter and in return, they became staunch workers of his movement. Thus, an organized militant force emerged which fought various battles against emerging powers of the time in which three leaders along with many soldiers laid their lives. Subsequently, they movement succeeded to establish Kalhora government over Sindh which lasted from 1701 to 1783 AD. The aim of this research paper is to analyze Mughal government and give detailed accounts of oppressions of Mughal Subedars of Sindh. This study also analyses the contribution of leaders and workers of Mianwal Movement who fought countless battles with Mughal forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]