Protected by vast mountains and seas, the Indian subcontinent might seem a nearly complete and self-contained world with its own religions, philosophies, and social systems. And yet this ancient land and its varied societies experienced prolonged and intense interaction with the peoples and cultures of East and Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa, and especially Central Asia and the Iranian plateau.
Richard M. Eaton tells this extraordinary story with relish and originality, as he traces the rise of Persianate culture, a many-faceted transregional world connected by ever-widening networks across much of Asia. Introduced to India in the eleventh century by dynasties based in eastern Afghanistan, this culture would become progressively indigenized in the time of the great Mughals (sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries). Eaton brilliantly elaborates the complex encounter between India's Sanskrit culture—an equally rich and transregional complex that continued to flourish and grow throughout this period—and Persian culture, which helped shape the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughal Empire, and a host of regional states. This long-term process of cultural interaction is profoundly reflected in the languages, literatures, cuisines, attires, religions, styles of rulership and warfare, science, art, music, and architecture—and more—of South Asia.
Richard M. Eaton is Professor of History at the University of Arizona and the author of several groundbreaking books on India before 1800, including the classic The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier.
“Given his groundbreaking studies on the Deccan, Bengal, and the Punjab, Richard M. Eaton’s name is synonymous with the best historical writing on premodern India. This book is a consummation of his earlier work, complemented by a thorough absorption of the latest scholarship by other experts. It is the best general history available for the period, whether you are a scholar or a general reader looking to discover the richness of Indian history.”—Shahzad Bashir, Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Humanities, Brown University
“A masterful survey written by a leading historian of the medieval and early modern eras of South Asia. This significant intervention serves to free historical thinking about South Asia from the national and religious categories it has been trapped in for the last century. Writing in lucid and elegant prose, Eaton makes this history accessible for general readers and undergraduates.”—Azfar Moin, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin
504 pp.5 x 8Illus: 21 color images
9780520435841$24.95|Paper
Aug 2026