Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-336) and index.
Contents:
Index Page: 337. Chronology Page: xv. -- A Note on Transliteration and Sources Page: xvii. -- Maps Page: xix. -- Introduction: Seeing the People Page: 1. -- Chapter 1: Anatomy of a Massacre: Nadir Shah in Delhi, 1739 Page: 18. -- Chapter 2: Sovereignty, City and the People Page: 54. -- Chapter 3: Poetry and the Public in Aurangzeb's Delhi Page: 99. -- Chapter 4: Aurangzeb's Law and Popular Politics Page: 147. -- Chapter 5: Daulat's Fight: Regicide and the Popular Intervention, 1719. Page: 176. -- Chapter 6: Islam as a Language of Popular Politics Page: 227. -- Chapter 7: The Shoemakers' Riot and the Limits of Popular Politics Page: 256. -- Epilogue Page: 291. -- Bibliography Page: 309. -- Index Page: 337.
Summary:
"An unprecedented exploration of the relationship between the Mughal emperor and his subjects in the space of the Mughal empire's capital, The King and the People overturns an axiomatic assumption in the history of premodern South Asia: that the urban masses were merely passive objects of rule and remained unable to express collective political aspirations until the coming of colonialism. Set in the Mughal capital of Shahjahanabad (Delhi) from its founding to Nadir Shah's devastating invasion of 1739, this book instead shows how the trends and events in the second half of the seventeenth century inadvertently set the stage for the emergence of the people as actors in a regime which saw them only as the ruled"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.