Hi, I’m Sukhraj Singh from Sikh Archive and welcome to the 46th episode of our Podcast series of conversations with historians, authors, academics, researchers and activists on topics related to their areas of expertise on Sikh or Panjabi history.

In this episode we are joined by Richard Eaton, who is a professor of history at the University of Arizona where his primary interest is the social and cultural history of pre-modern India. He has most recently published the book “India in the Persianate Age” which explores the long-term interaction between the Persianate and Sanskritic worlds, between the Iranian Plateau and South Asia.

And today we discuss that book and pay close attention to the role of Punjab which is situated in the centre of these two worlds. We consider how important Persian culture was and what role it played in Sikh and Punjabi history given how dominant it was and what philosophies and traditions were bestowed onto the landscape as a result.