Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire
Join historian Nandini Das as she explores the origins of the British Empire.
When Thomas Roe arrived in India in 1616 as James I’s first ambassador to the Mughal Empire, the English barely had a toehold in the subcontinent. Their understanding of South Asian trade and India was sketchy at best, and, to the Mughals, they were minor players on a very large stage. Roe was representing a kingdom that was beset by financial woes and deeply conflicted about its identity as a unified ‘Great Britain’ under the Stuart monarchy. Meanwhile, the court he entered in India was wealthy and cultured, its dominion widely considered to be one of the greatest and richest empires of the world.
Nandini Das will discuss the fascinating history of Roe’s four years in India, which reveals Thomas Roe’s time in Mughal India to be a major turning point in the history of trade and the early British empire. It’s a story of palace intrigue and scandal, lotteries and wagers that unfolds as global trade begins to stretch from Russia to Virginia, and from West Africa to the Spice Islands of Indonesia.
To book tickets for this online event please visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/courting-india-england-mughal-india-and-the-origins-of-empire-tickets-920883486297?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
