Description

By (author) Das Nandini; By (author) Das Nandini

A profound and ground-breaking new history of one of the most important encounters in the history of colonialism: the British arrival in India in the early seventeenth century.
*A Financial Times Book to Read in 2023*____
‘Beautifully written and masterfully researched, this has the makings of a classic’ Peter Frankopan
‘
A modern masterpiece, delightful,
enlightening and
faultless
‘
John Keay
‘
A
marvelous
piece of detective work, uncovering the secret machinations and courtly intrigues that shaped the early encounters between two powers
‘
Amanda Foreman___When Thomas Roe arrived in India in 1616 as James I’s first ambassador to the Mughal Empire, the English barely had a toehold in the subcontinent. Their understanding of South Asian trade and India was sketchy at best, and, to the Mughals, they were minor players on a very large stage. Roe was representing a kingdom that was beset by financial woes and deeply conflicted about its identity as a unified ‘Great Britain’ under the Stuart monarchy. Meanwhile, the court he entered in India was wealthy and cultured, its dominion widely considered to be one of the greatest and richest empires of the world…In Nandini Das”s fascinating history of Roe”s four years in India, she offers an insider”s view of a Britain in the making, a country whose imperial seeds were just being sown. It is a story of palace intrigue and scandal, lotteries and wagers that unfolds as global trade begins to stretch from Russia to Virginia, from West Africa to the Spice Islands of Indonesia.A major debut that explores the art, literature, sights and sounds of Jacobean London and Imperial India, Courting India reveals Thomas Roe”s time in the Mughal Empire to be a turning point in history – and offers a rich and radical challenge to our understanding of Britain and its early empire.

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The story of the very earliest years of British activity on the Indian subcontinent, Das’s book goes to the heart of the initial, heady meeting of courts and cultures and presents a novel look at the roots of colonialism

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A sparkling gem of a book. Beautifully written and masterfully researched, this has the makings of a classic

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Stretching from the dark waters of the Thames to the blossom-strewn floors of the Jahangiri Palace, Courting India covers a vast canvass with masterful aplomb. Nandini Das”s debut is a marvellous piece of detective work

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What a joy to find the first official Indo-British encounter receiving the scholarly attention and enthralling treatment it deserves . . . A modern masterpiece, delightful, enlightening and faultless

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This is a book I wish I had written! It’s a glorious read by a talented historian about an important and rather overlooked journey. Marvellous

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Startlingly eye-opening. . . . If we want to to truly understand the impact and legacy of the British Empire on our modern world, we have to start where it all began

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Jacobean London and Mughal India come face to face through the eyes of Thomas Roe. A figure previously marginalised, in Nandini Das’s layered exploration, Roe finds a new life. And with him, we encounter rich pictures of imperial Britain being formed. A fine achievement and a great read

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This well researched and written volume is a work of authority and quality. It is essential reading for the understanding of Britain”s early encounter with India

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Nandini Das moves seamlessly between the inner worlds of the courts of seventeenth century England and India and with a mastery of both. This important book brings the earliest da