The emergence of modern India I: Mughal India, 1526-1858
Ian Copland
8 points * 2 lectures and 1 tutorial per week * First semester * Clayton
The Mughal Empire of India was one of the largest of pre-modern states, feared and envied in the West for its wealth and military might. How did such a vast empire hold together for over 200 years in an age of primitive communications? Did it rest on the hegemonic power of Islam; on the energy of its rulers; on military force; or on a fertile collaboration with locally-dominant Hindus? Conversely, how do we account for the empire's subsequent decline? Did the energies of the dynasty dry up? Or was the empire's vitality sapped by more deep-seated causes, such as structural failure or economic downturn? And what, if any, was the role in all this of European maritime imperialism? In focusing on the rise and fall of Mughal power, the subject will introduce students to Hindu and Muslim culture and to what Marx called, with reference to India, the `Asiatic mode of production'. It will also address, inter alia, questions about the nature of imperialism and about the how and why of European conquest.
Assessment
Written (5000 words): 70% * Examination (1 hour): 20% * Class participation/attendance: 10%
Prescribed texts
Richards J F Mughal state and society CUP
Wolpert S A new history of India OUP