{"product_id":"travellers-in-the-golden-realm-by-lubaaba-al-azami-9781529371338","title":"Travellers in the Golden Realm","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for The British in India Book Prize 2025\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA spellbinding account of the first forgotten half of the English encounter with India with a fascinating history of the Mughal Empire\u003c\/i\u003e - \u003cb\u003eJOSEPHINE QUINN\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eHow the World Made the West\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eCompelling, highly readable\u003c\/i\u003e - \u003cb\u003eNANDINI DAS\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eCourting India\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRemarkable\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003ci\u003eTHE TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the first English travellers in India encountered an unimaginable superpower, their meetings would change the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBefore the East India Company and before the British Empire, England was a pariah state. Seeking better fortunes, 16th and 17th century merchants, pilgrims and outcasts ventured to the kingdom of the mighty Mughals, attempting to sell coarse woollen broadcloth along the silk roads; playing courtiers in the Mughal palaces in pursuit of love; or simply touring the sub-continent in search of an elephant to ride.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInto this golden realm went Father Thomas Stephens, a Catholic fleeing his home; the merchant Ralph Fitch looking for jewels in the markets of Delhi; and John Mildenhall, an adventurer revelling in the highwire politics of the Mughal elite. It was a land ruled from the palatial towers by women - the formidable Empress Nur Jahan Begim, the enterprising Queen Mother Maryam al-Zamani, and the intrepid Princess Jahanara Begim. Their collision of worlds helped connect East and West, launching a tempestuous period of globalisation spanning from the Chinese opium trade to the slave trade in the Americas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing on rich, original sources, Lubaaba Al-Azami traces the origins of a relationship between two nations - one outsider and one superpower - whose cultures remain inextricably linked to this day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eIlluminating and engrossing\u003c\/i\u003e - \u003ci\u003eTHE TELEGRAPH\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eVital\u003c\/i\u003e - \u003cb\u003eSUZANNAH LIPSCOMB\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eA Visitor's Companion to Tudor England\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46833797398764,"sku":"9781529371338","price":39.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/00eb456d6a4f94e4d47d5fc8aba9a00f.jpg?v=1758486902","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/travellers-in-the-golden-realm-by-lubaaba-al-azami-9781529371338","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}