India in the Persianate Age

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This sweeping history of India explores the period from the middle ages to the British arrival, revealing the subcontinent's rich interactions with East and Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa, and particularly Central Asia and the Iranian plateau between the eleventh and eighteenth centuries. Richard M. Eaton's narrative highlights the emergence of 'Persianate' culture, a dynamic transregional world shaped by a canon of texts that spread across Asia. Introduced to India in the eleventh century by Afghan dynasties, this culture became indigenized by the time of the Mughals in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. Eaton details the long-term process of cultural interaction and assimilation, evident in India's language, literature, cuisine, attire, religion, governance, warfare, science, art, music, and architecture. The book intricately examines the complex relationship between India's flourishing Sanskrit culture and the Persian influences that shaped the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughal Empire, and various regional states, ultimately contributing to the formation of modern India.