This course is designed to provide a dual chronological and thematic approach to the study of one of the great empires in human civilization: the Mughal Empire. Although the bulk of this course will focus on the Mughal Empire during its heyday between the 1550s and the early 1700s, careful attention will be paid to the larger historical and geographical contexts that both enabled the emergence and, ultimately, decentralization of Mughal power. In so doing, this course will not only study South Asia’s complex history on its own terms but also examine the intricate web of political, economic and social links that connected South Asia to the rest of the world.communities and institutions in South Asia. Its aim is to introduce students to the broad historical currents of the expansion of Islam in the Indian subcontinent, the nature of pre-modern Muslim political authority, the interaction between Muslim and other religious communities, Islamic aesthetics and contributions to material culture, the varied engagements and reactions of Muslims to colonial rule, the rise of Muslim nationalism in the early 20th Century and the creation of Pakistan, and contemporary concerns of South Asia’s Muslims.