Sindh Under the Mughals: Origin and Development of Historiography (1591–1737 CE)

Description

This book is a fount of knowledge regarding the historiography-and thus the history itself-of Sindh in the late medieval and early modern eras. It takes us on board to witness its repeated invasions; the development of its resilient Sufic tradition and its Arab/Persian literature; and its rule and misrule by successive foreign dynasties leading up to the mighty Mughals themselves. We also learn of Mughal India’s interaction with neighbouring Safavid Persia and Ottoman Turkey.

All this is transmitted to us through the chronicles of courtiers, diplomats, military commanders, scholars, Sufis, and poets who were contemporaries of that period. It discusses the emergence of new historiographical trends under the Mughal rule in Sindh which gradually strengthened and crystallized in the field of knowledge and scholarly activities

Review

“[This] book is a major contribution to the history of Sindh, and consequently to that of Pakistan and South Asia. Beyond the excellence of the research, it must be emphasized that, if the reign of the Mughal rulers has been studied in detail, it is mainly in the imperial context, namely from the centres of power they had created and developed in northern India … Dr Naz has shifted the focus, producing an innovative perspective on how the Mughals exercised power in territories relatively far from the imperial centres, but above all she reveals the leading role they played in developing historiography through the spread of several literary genres. Thus, Dr Naz’s work renews the field of Mughal studies, but at the same time, it is much more than that.”

– Michel Boivin,
Director, Centre for South Asian Studies, CNRS-EHESS, Paris

Author Biography

Humera Naz is Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Karachi, Pakistan. She completed her PhD in history from the same university in 2009 and has been teaching there since the last fifteen years. Her works have been published in both local and international peer-reviewed journals.