Bankrolling Empire
Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India

Sudev Sheth explores how a Gujarati family of jewelers became unwitting partners in the collapse of the Mughal Empire.

Sudev Sheth (Author)

9781009330220, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 February 2025

378 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.546 kg

'This book combines deep analysis and wide research in a study of how successive phases of the Mughal, Maratha and early British empires interacted with the entrepreneurial careers of two important Indian capitalist families. It is a pathbreaking contribution to our understanding of global capitalisms in the early modern world.' Sumit Guha, University of Texas, Austin

By the 1660s, the mighty Mughal Empire controlled the Indian subcontinent and impressed the world with its strength and opulence. Yet hardly two decades would pass before fortunes would turn, Mughal kings and governors losing influence to rival warlords and foreign powers. How could leaders of one of the most dominant early modern polities lose their grip over empire? Sudev Sheth proposes a new point of departure, focusing on diverse local and hitherto unexplored evidence about a prominent financier family entrenched in bankrolling Mughal elites and their successors. Analyzing how four generations of the Jhaveri family of Gujarat financed politics, he offers a fresh take on the dissolution of the Mughal empire, the birth of princely successor states, and the nature of economic life in the days leading up to the colonial domination of India.

Introduction
1. Prelude: The Mughal Empire, 1526–1750
2. Courtly mutualism: the emperor's jeweler Shantidas Jhaveri, 1628–1658
3. Political commensalism: Manekchand Jhaveri and bankrolling bids to the throne, 1658–1707
4. Interlude: cultivating financial crisis under Aurangzeb, 1660s–1719
5. Expedient extortion: the governor's golden goose Khushalchand Jhaveri, 1719–1730
6. Competitive coparcenary: Vakhatchand Jhaveri and brokering politics, 1730–1818
7. Postlude: Bankrollers of Mughal succession, 1750–1818
Conclusion
Appendices
Glossary
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]