H236 State and Society in Mughal India

Key information

Start date
End date
Year of study
Year 2, Year 3 or Year 4
Duration
Term 1
Module code
154800286
FHEQ Level
6
Credits
15
Department
Department of History

Module overview

The course focuses on Mughal rule in north India within the context of the Muslim World. Using the political developments in India from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries as guiding lines for the discussion, the course will examine some of the main political, social, and religious institutions and processes in the Mughal Empire and their role in shaping state and society in South Asia. While considering the various historiographical frameworks used to analyse the Mughal Empire, this course will emphasize Mughal dynamism, adaptation to changing circumstances, and diversity. Special attention will be given to the origins of the empire, its institutions, and its ideology in relations to Muslim and Persian thought, the Central Asian past, and South Asian traditions; the imperial identity of the dynasty; the language and culture of empire and regional variants; facets of Islamic societies and their relations with the state; Inter-religious interactions: accommodation, hostility, and conversion; and Mughal India in an increasingly globalizing environment.

Prerequisites

  • Students enrol via the on-line Module Sign-up system. Students are advised of the timing of this process via email by the Dept. administrator
    .

Objectives and learning outcomes of the module

The objective of this course is to provide the students with a firm basis for the understanding of South Asia during the Mughal period from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. By discussing the nature of the social, political, and religious foundations of Mughal India as a dynamic process, the students will acquire a multifaceted understanding of the factors that shaped state and society in early modern South Asia and that were carried into the later colonial state.

Method of assessment

  • Portfolio of short assignments building skills towards the final essay, incl. short article summaries and research proposal, 1,000 words (30%)
  • Essay 2,500 words, worth 70%

Suggested reading

  • John F. Richards, The Mughal Empire (CUP, 1993)
  • André Wink, Akbar (Oneworld, 2009)
  • Muzaffar Alam and Sanjay Subrahmanyam (eds), The Mughal State, 1526-1750 (OUP, 1998)
  • Muzaffar Alam, The Languages of Political Islam in India, 1200-1800 (Permanent Black, 2004)
  • P.J. Marshall (ed.), The Eighteenth Century in Indian History (OUP, 2005)
  • Douglas E. Streusand, The Formation of the Mughal Empire (OUP, 1989)
  • M. Athar Ali, Mughal India: Studies in Polity, Ideas, Society, and Culture (OUP, 2006)
  • Bamber Gascoigne, The Great Moghuls (Time Books International, 1971)

Convenor

Roy Fischel

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules