Drawing on a broad cross-section of theoretical and methodological
approaches, this graduate seminar will interrogate key
historiographical debates that have shaped our understanding of the
Mughal experience between 1500 and 1750 AD. Readings will include
works by Stephen Dale (Babur), Dirk Kolff (military labor markets),
Farhat Hasan (sub-imperial rule), Suraj Bhan Bhardwaj (Meos), Sudev
Sheth (bankers), Nandini Chatterjee (law), Sugata Ray (geoaesthetics),
special issue of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
(Aurangzeb/Alamgir), Louis Fenech (Sikhs), Abhishek Kaicker
(sovereignty and the 18th century), and Rishad Chaudhry (religion and
Indian Ocean worlds).