How did England’s earliest travellers to India try to win favour in a Mughal golden age that scarcely noticed them?

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb speaks with Dr Lubaaba Al-Azami about Tudor and early Stuart England’s turn to global trade after Elizabeth I’s break with Catholic Europe, and why Mughal India—vast, wealthy, and pragmatically governed—had little need for English wool or broadcloth.

They trace the first arrivals: from a Catholic refugee to an Englishman's Mughal courtly success and marriage, as well as the first English 'walking tourist'.

MORE

England’s First Ambassador to India: Thomas Roe

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

The Emperor Who Built the Taj Mahal

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.