Bankrolling Empire : Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India

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. 01-cover-amended 01.0_pp_i_ii_Bankrolling_Empire 03.0_pp_iv_iv_Copyright_page 04.0_pp_v_vi_Dedication 05.0_pp_vii_viii_Contents 06.0_pp_ix_x_Figures 07.0_pp_xi_xi_Maps 08.0_pp_xii_xii_Tables 09.0_pp_xiii_xiv_A_Note_on_Translations_Transliterations_and_Dates 10.0_pp_xv_xix_Acknowledgments 11.0_pp_xx_xx_Mughal_Family_Tree 12.0_pp_xxi_xxi_Jhaveri_Family_Tree 13.0_pp_xxii_xxii_Gaekwad_Family_Tree 14.0_pp_xxiii_xxiv_Haribhakti_Family_Tree 15.0_pp_1_42_Introduction 16.0_pp_43_70_Prelude_The_Mughal_Empire_15261750 17.0_pp_71_108_Courtly_Mutualism_The_Emperors_Jeweler_Shantidas_Jhaveri_162858 18.0_pp_109_135_Political_Commensalism_Manekchand_Jhaveri_and_Bankrolling_Bids_to_the_Throne_16581707 19.0_pp_136_176_Interlude_Cultivating_Financial_Crisis_under_Aurangzeb_1660s1719 20.0_pp_177_222_Expedient_Extortion_The_Governors_Golden_Goose_Khushalchand_Jhaveri_171930 21.0_pp_223_260_Competitive_Coparcenary_Vakhatchand_Jhaveri_and_Brokering_Politics_17301818 22.0_pp_261_289_Postlude_Bankrollers_of_Mughal_Succession_17501818 23.0_pp_290_297_Conclusion 24.0_pp_298_317_Appendices 24.1_pp_298_300_Selected_Verses_from_Cintmai_Prasasti 24.2_pp_301_301_First_Farmn_of_Aurangzeb_Repaying_Loans_to_the_Jhaveris_upon_Becoming_Emperor 24.3_pp_302_302_Second_Farmn_of_Aurangzeb_Extending_Imperial_Protection_to_the_Jhaveris 24.4_pp_303_305_Mughal_Farmns_and_Other_Royal_Orders_in_Gujarat_Related_to_Shantidas_Jhaveri_and_Other_Major_Groups 24.5_pp_306_306_Ijra_of_village_Shankheshwar_Granted_to_Shantidas_Jhaveri_by_Shah_Jahan_for_1050_Rupees_Per_Year 24.6_pp_307_309_Selected_Verses_from_Samal_Bhatts_Rustam_no_Saloko 24.7_pp_310_312_Account_Summary_of_Tribute_Owed_and_Paid_by_the_Gaekwads_of_Baroda_to_the_Peshwa_Authority_at_Pune_b 24.8_pp_313_314_Debts_Discharged_and_Acquired_by_the_Gaekwads_18037 24.9_pp_315_315_Gaekwad_Debts_to_the_Haribhakti_firm_by_181819 24.10_pp_316_317_Gaekwad_Villages_Sequestered_to_Creditors_through_British_Colonial_Administrator_John_Malcolm_by_183 25.0_pp_318_326_Glossary 26.0_pp_327_342_Bibliography 27.0_pp_343_354_Index 02-back-cover