State and Locality in Mughal India
Power Relations in Western India, c.1572-1730

Provides an examination and new interpretation of the relationship between state and society in Mughal India.

Farhat Hasan (Author)

9780521841191, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 11 November 2004

160 pages
23.5 x 16 x 1.7 cm, 0.402 kg

'… an excellent piece of work, rich in new arguments and perspectives, and most lucidly expressed.' Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society

This book presents an exploratory study of the Mughal state and its negotiation with local power relations. By studying the state from the perspective of the localities and not from that of the Mughal Court, it shifts the focus from the imperial grid to the local arenas, and more significantly, from 'form' to 'process'. As a result, the book offers a new interpretation of the system of rule based on an appreciation of the local experience of imperial sovereignty, and the inter-connections between the state and the local power relations. The book knits together the systems- and action-theoretic approaches to power, and presents the Mughal state as a dynamic structure in constant change and conflict. The study, based on hitherto unexamined local evidence, highlights the extent to which the interactions between state and society helped to shape the rule structure, the normative system and 'the moral economy of the state'.

1. Introduction
2. Conquest and sovereignty
3. The system of rule
4. Order and disorder
5. Women, kin and shari'a
6. The state and the local complexes of power
7. The fiscal system
8. Conclusion
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Asian history [HBJF], Regional studies [GTB]