The Empires of the Near East and India

This volume is a laudable effort to compile a handy and well-edited volume with expert contributions on a wide range of topics of interest to historians studying and teaching the pasts of these three empires, their global histories and their encounters with other political and social protagonists of the early modern period.

A. Tunç Şen, Columbia University:
The Empires of the Near East and India is a treasure trove of carefully selected, freshly translated, and accurately contextualized primary sources from the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal worlds. Covering a rich array of themes that range from political culture and religiosities to scientific writing and artistic production, this one-of-a-kind collection will become standard reading for students of early modern (Muslim) empires.

Emran El-Badawi, University of Houston:
This is the first accessible, high quality, English language sourcebook on medieval and post-classical Islamic empires. Thirty-three original commentaries and translations enrich our understanding of life under the most powerful global empires of the day: The Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals. The book tells the story of diverse peoples: poets and painters, kings and conquerors, scientists and Sufis, and more. For students of world literature and history, this is an indispensable resource.

Michael Talbot, University of Greenwich:
The Empires of the Near East and India provides, really for the first time, a body of early modern primary sources from the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal contexts in translation. A variety of types of text are provided, from poetry to judicial rulings, and the translations are readable while maintaining the flavor of the original Arabic, Persian, or Ottoman Turkish. This will prove a valuable resource for those of us who teach any or all of these imperial histories.