From Lahore to Hyderabad: History of Persian Culture in South Asia, 1000-1800

3 credits · Undergraduate

This class focuses on the history of South Asia during the medieval and early modern periods (1000-1700), with an emphasis on the various Muslim sultanates and kingdoms which dominated much of the subcontinent. Traditional narratives have historically emphasized the spread of Islamic culture by Turkish dynasties to compete with ‘indigenous’ Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cultures. However, recent scholarship has highlighted the idea of a “Persian cosmopolis” wherein Muslim culture in South Asia was especially enamoured with Persian culture and systems of literature, religious thought and philosophy which were better recognized and understood as “Perso-Islamic”. This class purports to examine the history of South Asia with such priorities in mind. In additional to political narratives, the class will be dedicated to introducing and discussing important Indo-Persian texts which were produced in this “Persian cosmopolis” which shaped so much of western and south Asia in the medieval period. CROSSLISTED: HIST 3508 FORMATS: Lecture