Imperial Identity in the Mughal Empire: Memory and Dynastic Politics in Early Modern South and Central Asia

by Lisa Balabanlilar

Overview

Having monopolized Central Asian politics and culture for over a century, the Timurid ruling elite was forced from its ancestral homeland in Transoxiana at the turn of the sixteenth century by an invading Uzbek tribal confederation. The Timurids travelled south: establishing themselves as the new rulers of a region roughly comprising modern Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India, and founding what would become the Mughal Empire (1526-1857). The last survivors of the House of Timur, the Mughals drew invaluable political capital from their lineage, which was recognized for its charismatic genealogy and court culture - the features of which are examined here. By identifying Mughal loyalty to Turco-Mongol institutions and traditions, Lisa Balabanlilar here positions the Mughal dynasty at the centre of the early modern Islamic world as the direct successors of a powerful political and religious tradition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784531287
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/18/2016
Series:	Library of South Asian History and Culture
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Lisa Balabanlilar is Assistant Professor of South and Central Asian History at Rice University, Texas.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Central Asian Empire - Identity and Legacy
• THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN IMPERIAL COURT CULTURE IN MUGHAL INDIA
• The Development of a Dynastic Memory
• The Timurid-Mughal Landscape and Peripatetic Royal Court
• THE INHERITANCE OF TRADITIONAL MODELS OF BEHAVIOUR WITHIN THE TIMURID-MUGHAL FAMILY
• Women in Timurid-Mughal Dynastic Politics
• Princes and the Imperial Secession
• Conclusion: The Timurid Kigns of India

Editorial Reviews

Clearly articulated ... Provides a lucid summary of the political ethos of the Mughals and integrates it into the wider world of Muslim 'Gunpowder Empires'. Her text corroborates and complements the insights provided by other scholars.
Muslim World Book Review

From the Publisher