Shahjahanabad
Subtitle: the sovereign city in Mughal India, 1639-1739
By: Stephen P. Blake
Edition: 1st Indian ed.
Series: Cambridge South Asian studies; Cambridge South Asian studies
Publisher: Cambridge University Press; Foundation Books
Published: 1993
Place of publication: Cambridge [England]; New Delhi
Language: eng
Number of pages: 226
ISBN-13: 9788185618302
Subjects: History; Urbanization
Description: Publisher description: From 1400 to 1750, Asian capital cities were often ruled in such a way that they became symbols of the power and influence their emperors extended over their states at large. These 'sovereign cities' became the empire in miniature. Shahjahanabad is the first study of a pre-modern Indian city (Old Delhi) as a sovereign city. Stephen Blake explores the way in which the emperors' and nobles' palaces and mansions dominated the landscape; how cultural life revolved around that of the emperors and their families; and how the households of the great men also dominated the urban economy and controlled a large percentage of state revenue. This study thus illuminates how Asian capitals were not the great amorphous agglomerations described by Marx and Weber. Instead they were urban communities with their own distinctive style and character, dependent on a particular kind of state organization.
Notes: "Special edition for sale in South Asia only. Not for export elsewhere"--Cover.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-222) and index.
Table of contents: title: City and empire; title: Cityscape; title: Society; title: Economy; title: Courtly and popular culture; title: Aftermath of imperium, 1739-1857; title: Comparison and conclusion.