India And The Islamic Heartlands: An Eighteenth-century World Of Circulation And Exchange

Synopsis

Based On The Chance Survival Of A Remarkable Cache Of Documents, India And The Islamic Heartlands Recaptures A Vanished And Forgotten World From The Eighteenth Century Spanning Much Of Today's Middle East And South Asia. Gagan Sood Focuses On Ordinary People--traders, Pilgrims, Bankers, Clerics, Brokers, Scribes, Among Others--who Were Engaged In Activities Marked By Large Distances And Long Silences. By Elucidating Their Everyday Lives In A Range Of Settings, From The Family Household To The Polity At Large, Sood Pieces Together The Connective Tissue Of A World That Lay Beyond The Sovereign Purview. Recapturing This Obscured And Neglected World Helps Us Better Understand The Region During A Pivotal Moment In Its History, And Offers New Answers To Old Questions Concerning Early Modern Eurasia And Its Transition To Colonialism-- Prologue -- Introduction -- Cognitive Patterns : Accessing And Making Sense Of The World -- A Cosmic Order: The Meaning And End Of Life -- A Familial Order : Ties Of Blood, Duty And Affect -- A Relational Order : Intimates, Strangers And Plurality -- A Communications Order : Language, Writing And Couriers -- A Political Order : Temporal Authority And Governance -- Everyday Practices : Indispensable Skills And Techniques -- Flows And Interactions : The Connective Tissue Of The Arena -- Conclusion -- Glossary. Gagan D. S. Sood. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.