Early Modern South Asia: The Mughal World

Catalog description

This course is designed as a complete, one-stop introduction to the extraordinary spectacle that is the Mughal world. We look at this world from a variety of angles, including literature, politics, religion, state, society and culture. Topics of special importance include the political philosophy of the empire; religion, especially Hindu-Muslim relations; imperial languages of the empire, including Persian, Urdu, Hindi, and Sanskrit; art and architecture; literature, especially poetry and autobiography. We will draw on a wide range of primary and secondary sources to guide our exploration of the Mughal world, while reflecting critically on how such sources are used to reconstruct historical worlds and craft narratives about them. All levels are welcome, no prerequisites