Travellers in the Golden Realm

This is a remarkable book. It combines a spellbinding account of the first forgotten half of the English encounter with India with a fascinating history of the Mughal Empire -- Josephine Quinn, author of How the World Made the West A compelling, highly readable account of the earliest phase of English presence in India - Al-Azami deftly combines familiar stories with significantly less familiar figures to vividly bring to life a period of immense change for both nations involved -- Nandini Das, author of Courting India Disrupts the conventional narrative to give a vital pre-history to the Raj, when the indomitable empire in question was Indian not British -- Suzannah Lipscomb, author of A Visitor's Companion to Tudor England Brings the Mughal world of the seventeenth century to life in all its colourful, vivid complexity. Al-Azami betrays a masterful eye for detail, telling the story of how the English tried to navigate the dazzling wealth, power, and cultural dynamism of the Indian subcontinent, though rarely with success. This book is a must read. -- David Veevers, author of THE GREAT DEFIANCE In this compelling and entertaining book, Lubaaba Al-Azami surveys the first century of British travel to India and its remarkable stories of encounter and error, ambition and anxiety. The book has much to teach about the sources and the aftermath of both British and Indian histories ever since -- Simon Schaffer, Professor of History of Science, University of Cambridge A fascinating and timely account of the earliest Anglo-Indian encounters, Al-Azami deftly recreates a crucial period in early British imperial history -- Jerry Brotton, author of This Orient Isle A detailed, nuanced and yet utterly engrossing exploration . . . Eloquent prose binds together a treasure trove of fascinating facts with the capacity to see Britain and the world in an entirely different, richer way. Unputdownable! -- Sunny Singh, author of A BOLLYWOOD STATE OF MIND