The book is a collection of 12 articles that have been published earlier (between 1974 and 1990) in different journals and books. It explores a wide range of issues related to Mughal history. Apart from the first two articles which have been classified under the heading of 'Pre-Mughal Background' the rest of the book deals with the overarching features of the Mughal empire or its tenuous territorial extensions in the south. Four articles are ' grouped in the section entitled 'The Imperial System' and six in the last portion called 'The Mughal Deccan'.Most of these articles were widely read by interested scholars as and when they first appeared. It would, therefore, be repetitive to merely recount them once again. What makes the book interesting is the opportunity it provides for considering afresh some of the principal ideas that have formed the core of Professor John F. Richards' work over the many years that he had devoted to this field.In the preface itself (p. vii) the author marks out three major issues which are, in his opinion, central to the present compilation of articles. The first of these is the creation by Akbar and his confidantes of an awesome Mughal authority that rested on a 'dynastic ideology'. Matters of imperial finance, money and commerce are his second major concern while the factors responsible for the collapse of the Mughal administrative system are the third. The crucial questions that he simultaneously raises make it evident that the three issues are inseparable. Both militarily and in terms of political ideology the pre-eminence of the Mughal empire was quite visible. This pre-eminence was derived from and contributed to the effective management of its economic resources. Within this framework the innumerable zamindars were inextricably connected with the revenue system at GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY on July 6, 2015 ier.sagepub.com Downloaded from 366 and by implication also with the process of commercialisation. It was all these factors and more that ultimately went towards explaining the weakening grip of Mughal imperialism during the late seventeenth century. Clearly the questions addressed are enormous and complex. But equally remarkable are the diverse sources from which John F. Richards endeavours to extract answers to some of these.Chronologically most of the 'pre-Mughal' section of the book lies outside the primary sphere of 'Mughal India'. While the first article focuses on the 'Islamic expansion into South Asia' the second deals with the 'outflows of precious metals from early Islamic India'. Essentially, therefore, the two have a close thematic relation with the rest of the collection. While useful background details are thus provided by the author, a very significant observation was made by him in an article written many years ago (1974)
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