Mughal India in Travel Writing

Catalog description

This course will survey the history of one of the greatest empires in Indian history, the Mughal empire through the lens of European travel writing between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. Some of the questions we will explore are: How are European travelogues important sources for studying Indian history? Is European perspective on Indian society monolithic or is there a variety of European perspectives? Apart from introducing basic history of Mughal India, the course will explore themes such as early Orientalism and the history of the early modern world. 001538