Chapter four returns to developments in north India, now from the mid-fourteenth through mid-sixteenth centuries. By the end of the fourteenth century, territories once under the Delhi Sultanate’s umbrella emerged as independent states. Political, economic, and cultural developments in Bengal, Gujarat, Jaunpur and Malwa are the initial focus, then we turn to Rajasthan, especially Mewar under the powerful Sisodiya ruler Rana Kuumbha. The remainder of this chapter focuses on important cultural trends across the north, including mosque and temple construction, literary developments as the use of vernaculars expanded, and widening religious beliefs. These include the spread of Sufism, the significant rise in Sant traditions including Kabir, and the increasing popularity of Krishna veneration.

Chapter seven examines cultural production and religious institutions in seventeenth-century royal courts, both Muslim and Hindu. Beginning with art and architecture commissioned by Jahangir and Shah Jahan, we then discuss elite lifestyles of both men and women. The opulence of court life attracted international visitors and led to cultural exchange leading to the introduction of chilis and other American plants. Next we examine non-Mughal cultural production in Rajput kingdoms whose attitudes toward the Mughals varied. Lifestyles of elite Rajput and Nayaka women are examined next, before we consider the courtly skills and sciences, such as letter-writing and astrology, that were admired in the Deccan sultanates, where literature with Sufi themes flourished. Royal patronage of three religious sites concludes the chapter.

Chapter one introduces South Asia’s people, geography, and history until the late twelfth century, and examines indigenous religious traditions as well as ones introduced by forces from Central Asia and the Iranian world. For India, by which we mean historic South Asia, we discuss differences in the north and south by focusing on Chandella patronage in north India of temples at Khajuraho, and Chola rule in south India and the construction of the Rajarajeshvara temple in Thanjavur. Contemporary with the construction of the Rajarajeshvara temple is Mahmud of Ghazni’s rise to power in what is modern Afghanistan and his subsequent raids into India. While Ghaznavid sway over India was short-lived it paved the way for the introduction of Islam and Ghurid dominance.

Chapter six examines developments from 1550 to 1650, with attention paid to aspects of early modernity. We begin with the careers of the Mughal emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan and then to a consideration of trade during their reigns, especially the maritime textile trade that brought Europeans to Gujarat’s ports. Active merchant-traders, both Indian and European, illustrate the diversity of Mughal commercial activity. We then turn to the Bahmani successor states in the Deccan, Bijapur and Golconda, focusing on their artistic production, multicultural nobility, and flourishing trade. Following this is an overview of the post-1565 Vijayanagara kingdom and its successor states. An account of the textile production, European enclaves, and maritime trade along India’s southeastern coast concludes the chapter.

India is a land of enormous diversity. Cross-cultural influences are everywhere in evidence, in the food people eat, the clothes they wear, and in the places they worship. This was ever the case, and at no time more so than in the India that existed from 1200 to 1750, before the European intervention. In this absorbing and richly illustrated second edition, the authors take the reader on a journey across the political, economic, religious, and cultural landscapes of India from the Ghurid conquests and the Delhi Sultanate, through the rise and fall of the southern kingdom of Vijayanagara and their successors, to the peripheries of empire, and finally, to the great court of the Mughals. This was a time of conquest and consolidation, when Muslims and Hindus came together to create a literary, material, and visual culture which was uniquely their own and which still resonates in today’s India.

Chapter five begins with the ousting of the Lodi dynasty by Babur, the first Mughal, and continues to his son Humayun’s reign. Sher Shah Sur, an Indo-Afghan warlord, briefly seized control from Humayun instituting several administrative practices that the Mughals adopted. After surveying Akbar’s military conquests and alliances, we consider how Akbar’s concept of state evolved and its impact on politics and policies regarding India’s multicultural, multiethnic population. We then analyze how these policies affected cultural production, arguing that the use of specific languages and the production of art and architecture were part of a carefully planned political campaign. The chapter ends with an exploration of the political careers and artistic patronage of two top nobles at Akbar’s court.

Chapter nine commences with the increasing demand for textiles, especially cottons, as Europeans established several trading enclaves including in Madras, Bombay and Calcutta, all of which became important to the EIC. We turn next to newly ascendant groups who increasingly contested Mughal control of north India, especially to the Sikhs, a multiethnic religious community with strong martial orientations. Next we explore differences in various regions’ economic experiences as the empire weakened. While the imperial heartland’s economy was hit hard, other regions witnessed greater prosperity. The final section deals with Bengal where developments had significance for the subcontinent’s subsequent history, for it was there that the English first obtained an extensive foothold within the internal affairs of the erstwhile empire.

Chapter two covers the extension of Ghurid authority over much of north India and the subsequent growing authority of the early rulers of the Delhi Sultanate including Iltutmish, Raziya, and Balban. Monuments such as the Qutb Minar and their messages are discussed. The role of leading Sufis in Indian society is evaluated as well as the poetry of the Indian Persian poet Amir Khusrau. The subsequent rise to power of the Khalji and Tughluq sultans is also explored. The Delhi Sultanate’s expansion into south India is examined as well as its political decline in the late fourteenth century. A consideration of the impact of the Delhi Sultanate and the place of India in a growing world system concludes this chapter.

Chapter eight probes changes between 1650 and 1750, emphasizing developments that contributed to Mughal decline. The Islamic cast of Aurangzeb’s reign was not a dramatic change, but a gradual trend that had been building under his two predecessors. We then move to Aurangzeb’s vision of Islam in his multicultural, multiethnic state and his prolonged effort to subdue the Deccan Sultanates and the Marathas under Shivaji, as well as their political and economic consequences. Next the Maratha’s martial roots, Shivaji’s political ideology, and the growth of Maratha power outside the Deccan along with their cultural contributions are addressed. Finally, we examine the shifting balance of power in the subcontinent where former imperial territories emerged as successor states with flourishing political centers.

Chapter three focuses on south India from the mid-fourteenth through mid-fifteenth centuries with an emphasis on Vijayanagara. We consider the rise and fall of this powerful kingdom including its military nature and its cultural orientation. While the rulers of Vijayanagara cast themselves as exemplary Hindu kings, they also embraced Islamicate cultural expression in their courtly dress and their palace buildings. The robust economy of Vijayanagara allowed for successful territorial expansion facilitated by active and successful trading. Contemporary with Vijayanagara was the Muslim ruled Bahmani kingdom situated to the northwest. The prime minister Mahmud Gawan’s ability to control its two dominant factions, nobles from Iran on one hand and Indian Muslims on the other, is among the topics explored.