Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781009330268)

By the 1660s, the mighty Mughal Empire controlled the Indian subcontinent and impressed the world with its strength and opulence. Yet hardly two decades would pass before fortunes would turn, Mughal kings and governors losing influence to rival warlords and foreign powers. How could leaders of one of the most dominant early modern polities lose their grip over empire? Sudev Sheth proposes a new point of departure, focusing on diverse local and hitherto unexplored evidence about a prominent financier family entrenched in bankrolling Mughal elites and their successors. Analyzing how four generations of the Jhaveri family of Gujarat financed politics, he offers a fresh take on the dissolution of the Mughal empire, the birth of princely successor states, and the nature of economic life in the days leading up to the colonial domination of India.

Author: Sudev Sheth
ISBN-10: 1009330268
ISBN-13: 9781009330268
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 11/30/2023
Pages: 379
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.48lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.88d