HIST 225-3 Empires in World History: Primary Sources

The early modern period witnessed sometimes startling, sometimes subtle transformations in the religious and intellectual life of peoples across the globe. For reasons that varied widely, leaders and thinkers from Mexico to the Ottoman Empire and from China to the Indian subcontinent sought to reform existing religions, develop new spiritual practices, promote innovative texts, and, on occasion, even create new religions. Presenting documents from different regions and different religious and philosophical traditions, including Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Christianity, and Confucianism, this volume allows students to explore and analyze these varied transformations. A general introduction introduces the framework for examining the chapter case studies, while the chapters provide context, a group of primary sources, and a set of questions to consider. Useful pedagogic supports include headnotes to the documents, a chronology, a set of broader questions to consider that help students compare transformations, a selected bibliography, and an index.

Designed to accompany Crossroads and Cultures: A History of the World's Peoples, this two-volume primary source reader extends the textbook's emphasis on the human dimension of global history through the voices of both notable figures and everyday individuals. Carefully developed by the esteemed author team of its parent text, Sources of Crossroads and Cultures reflects the geographic and thematic breadth and the key social, cultural, and political developments in each chapter of the textbook. With a blend of major works and fresh perspectives, each chapter contains approximately six sources, an introduction, document headnotes, and questions for discussion.

The Mughal Empire, which conquered and ruled virtually all of today's India, Pakistan and Bangladesh over several centuries, created one of the richest and most colourful of all historical eras. Peoples of different cultures - including Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and others, originating from Iran, Central Asia, Europe, and South Asia itself - worked, traded and travelled throughout the Empire, contributing to its dynamism and power. A few of the Europeans who began criss-crossing the roads of Mughal India wrote, in the forms of diaries, letters and travelogues, about the people and lands they encountered. This illuminating and carefully chosen anthology contains a collection of among the best writings by European travellers from England, Italy, Russia, France, Spain and Portugal as they journeyed the length and breadth of the Empire over a 200 year period (1471-1671). Their experiences and observations form fascinating and informative visions of travel and life in India during this period and provide invaluable contributions to our understanding of life at the time.