A profound and ground-breaking new history of one of the most important encounters in the
history of colonialism: the British arrival in India in the early seventeenth century. 'A
triumph of writing and scholarship. It is hard to imagine anyone ever bettering Das's account
of this part of the story' - William Dalrymple Financial Times 'A fascinating glimpse of the
origins of the British Empire . . . drawn in dazzling technicolour' - Spectator 'Beautifully
written and masterfully researched this has the makings of a classic' - Peter Frankopan
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH ACADEMY BOOK PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE HWA CROWN AWARDS When Thomas Roe arrived in India in 1616 as James I's first
ambassador to the Mughal Empire the English barely had a toehold in the subcontinent. Their
understanding of South Asian trade and India was sketchy at best and to the Mughals they
were minor players on a very large stage. Roe was representing a kingdom that was beset by
financial woes and deeply conflicted about its identity as a unified 'Great Britain' under the
Stuart monarchy. Meanwhile the court he entered in India was wealthy and cultured its
dominion widely considered to be one of the greatest and richest empires of the world. In
Nandini Das's fascinating history of Roe's four years in India she offers an insider's view of
a Britain in the making a country whose imperial seeds were just being sown. It is a story of
palace intrigue and scandal lotteries and wagers that unfolds as global trade begins to
stretch from Russia to Virginia from West Africa to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. A major
debut that explores the art literature sights and sounds of Jacobean London and Imperial
India Courting India reveals Thomas Roe's time in the Mughal Empire to be a turning point in
history - and offers a rich and radical challenge to our understanding of Britain and its early
empire.
