India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765

Professor Eaton's synthesis of India's "medieval" history is a masterpiece of solid research and interpretation. While giving adequate attention to familiar themes and regions, the book includes thoughtful and thorough investigations of the often over-looked Deccan and Peninsular Indian regions. The modern view of "Hindu"-"Muslim" confrontation or conflict is also seriously complicated by the recognized scholar who challenges the conventional colonial and nationalist historiographies. Highly readable.

Fairly balanced and hard to put down.

The internecine feuding never ended bar a few breaks in limited parts only. This at least must be the conclusion to come to. Unsure if the author over emphasises the feuding, because enormous wealth was created along the way.

This is a very good book, perhaps the best available for the period it covers. The author is a good writer, and the book reads well. Anyone studying India, 1000-1765, will find it of great value. But there is one problem, and it is not the author's fault. No one can know all of the written languages of the period the book covers. Thus Professor Eaton occasionally has to depend on the research of others to ease his way in areas beyond his linguistic capacity. Unfortunately, some of this secondary research is either out of date, of dubious value, biased, or just plain wrong. And so, one who depends upon it runs the risk of recycling useless information.

I am a student of Dr. Eaton's and he had me read this book for my independent study on India. This is a great book for undergrads and even graduate students. He said it is basically like a textbook, but it is way more accessible and a pleasure to read. It is even user friendly for a general audience. I recommend it and not just because I'm his student, it's a good scholarly book.

Yuval Hariri in his Home Deus writes that the purpose of history is to set ourselves free from history. And this book does that for me. It set me free from the propagandist historical view of the English Historians who were writing history not out of an attempt to accurately understand the past but only to strengthen their power. Through their policy of "divide et impera". The kind of mischief this has played is something that is still strongly being seen today in India. And between its neighbors that were once part of what India was thought of as. What this book does is atleast for me, free me of the need to buy into one propaganda over the other. The author has based his historical reading on significant research of contemporary sources without allowing the prejudices/biases of the current age affecting the past and that is kind of rare in historical writings about India. The author also unlike so many white (or even anglophone Indian) historians doesn't have a sort of condescending/patronizing or hard to pin down in words, tone, that causes discomfort and feels that the person isn't viewing you and your ancestors as equal. One of the other takeaways from this book was how any empire/regime/tyranny seeks to justify itself is through turning History as a tool for hatred of the other. This is extremely potent and works very well if you're the tyrant. It worked splendidly for the English. And it seems to be working well for the current Indian dispensation. But in both cases, the hate hides the loot.

Professor Eaton writes a detailed book on early India history which I found insightful and detail. Having lived in India for ten years I am fond of the subject matter. The book is full of interesting details which I have not come across in previous India history books. In addition, Professor Eaton's book offers ideas for future trips to the subcontinent.

Richard Eaton is fantastic! This was an excellent book on the 2nd millennium. Often seen as a singular block of time, or a Mughal only history, or a primarily north centric story - Eaton brings out the nuance and rich color of multiple cultures so entrenched in each other its impossible to define boundaries. Regionally, Delhi sultanate, the Bengal identity and their own story, the coastal north west and trade relations, the deccan, the deep south - Culturally, Timur's invasion, followed by the development of regional identities and vernacular languages, the bhakti and sufi movements, the Bahmian Sultanate and the Vijaynagar empire, the Deccan's Indian states where the cultures truly converted from mixtures to compounds, then the mughal impact and the integration of Rajput culture into "national" government, and finally the rise of the marathas and absorption of the Mughal rule into their empire. Its a splendid story that i can read over and over, providing such a renewed understanding of our history.

The book provides an excellent account of Indian history for the period 1000-1765, using a wide range of available sources including works by the author. It is particularly good on the pre-Mughal sub-period. As an Indian economic historian, albeit of a later period, I gained in terms of both knowledge and perspective of economic and social changes over the long period. I recommend it highly.

LIBRO ESCRITO POR UN ESCRITOR ENTENDIDO EN LA MATERIA ,ES EN INGLES

Stunning book - all 400 odd pages of it! Having grown up in India, I thought I knew Indian history, but this changes all that. This is a great attempt at assimilation of modern historical research that challenges the colonial subversion of India's history. It questions the idea and the periodisation of India's modernity, tracing it back to an earlier period of late sixteenth / seventeenth century, approximately at the same time as Europe. The book presents India in the context of the connected Indian Ocean maritime world, overlapping with Central Asian / Silk Road networks, a cosmopolitan populace from the ancient times. It also beautifully presents the interactions of Sanskrit and Persian cultural spheres, explaining the idea of India as a 'palimpset' and challenging the colonial representation of Hindu country taken over by Muslims. Engagingly written, I shall recommend this to anyone interested in India.

Highly researched and recommend by historical enthusiasts Page quality is also high with colour printed images but prize should be a little lower

The period traditionally styled as “Muslim Period” of Indian history is always controversial to write about and given the scale (period of nearly a millennium) and scope (all of the Indian sub-continent) it is a Herculean task. Prof Eaton though has done a remarkable job of putting together one of the most comprehensive single volume histories of the period one is likely to find. At the outset, the author clarifies the title as a means of countering the sectarian overtones introduced by British historians when they trifurcated Indian history into the Hindu, Muslim and British periods. Clearly great effort has gone into narrating not just the temporal sequence of battles and reigns of monarchs but drawing upon extensive research and variety of sources to paint a textured picture of polity and administration of the key states that held power in the vast subcontinent. By far the most valuable aspect of the book is the use of socio-economic and even demographic factors to explain historical events and patterns. For example none of the older history books have clearly articulated the crucial role played by the Mongol invasions of Central Asia which drove thousands of Persian speaking Turk and Central Asian cavalrymen, administrators, Sufis and literati streaming into India, in providing crucial military and administrative power enabling the slaves of the Ghurid rulers to conquer all of North India and set up the Delhi Sultanate. The rise of the Rajput warrior lineages from the effervescence of North India’s “military labour market” is another fascinating phenomenon. These insights make for new approaches to interpret and understand the changes that came about in India over the tumultuous period. While largely balanced and nuanced, one can’t but help notice the slightly apologistic tones the author adopts when explaining the political motives behind the selective iconoclasm and temple - razing encountered in both the Sultanate and Mughal periods. But apart from this a marvellous piece of history writing.