Courting India

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 days of the British empire vividly to life -- Yasmin Khan A sparkling gem of a book. Beautifully written and masterfully researched, this has the makings of a classic -- Peter Frankopan, bestselling author of 'The Silk Roads' 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 -- Amanda Foreman 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 -- Ruby Lal, author of 'Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan' 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 -- Ian Talbot, Emeritus Professor in the History of Modern South Asia at the University of Southampton This lucid and imaginatively written book tells us a great deal about the hesitant early days of the first British Empire, as a traditionally inward-looking island nation sought to engage with the wider world. Professor Nandini Das captures the mixture of excitement, prejudice, anxiety, misunderstanding and mutual interest that characterised an encounter that did so much to shape the contours of the modern world -- Andrew Hadfield, Professor of English at the University of Sussex 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 -- John Keay Courting India is a tour de force of detailed archival research and riveting storytelling. Its main character, King James I's first ambassador to India Thomas Roe, emerges here in all his historical as well as individual complexity - a low-budget, over-dressed herald of the juggernaut that the East India Company would become, and a bit-part actor in a transnational theatre of state he couldn't begin to fathom -- Jonathan Gil Harris, Professor and Head of Department, English, Ashoka University Courting India, by Nandini Das, is a brilliant and insightful study of Thomas Roe's embassy at the Mughal court. It serves as a rich repository of cultural memories from the beginnings of the colonial encounter - memories that have continuing resonance and relevance in our own era as we grapple with the aftermath of empire. Das offers a compelling account in which deft archival research navigates through English intellectual, literary and political worlds as they interconnected with the Mughal empire -- Jyotsna G. Singh, Professor, Department of English, Michigan State University Courting India is fascinating and rigorously researched, and even as someone who thought they knew a lot about Indian history, I found this startlingly eye-opening. This book is sensuous and evocative and shows so deftly that the past is more nuanced and richly textured than we sometimes consider it to be. If we have to truly understand the impact and legacy of the British Empire on our modern world, we have to start where it all began, we have to understand the origins of the Empire. This book does this so well. -- Pragya Agarwal, author of 'Sway' Nandini Das's rich, absorbing account of a critical juncture of global history, the Englishman Sir Thomas Roe's embassy to the court of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, charts both a remarkable personal narrative and the prehistory of colonial expansion, told from the perspective of an imperial go-between. This is a fascinating story of early modern political and cultural transactions, brilliantly researched and attractively written. It is destined to become the classic treatment of its subject. -- Professor Supriya Chaudhuri, Department of English, Jadavpur University