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Climate of Conquest: War, Environment, and Empire in Mughal North India
What can war tell us about empire? Climate of Conquest is built around this question. Here the author eschews the conventional way of writing about warfare primarily in terms of battles and technologies. Instead, he unravels the deep connections that Mughal war-making shared with the broader dynamics of society, culture, and politics. In the process, he offers a new analysis of the Mughal empire from the vantage point of war.
Climate of Conquest closely studies the dynamics of the military campaigns that helped the Mughals conquer North India and project their power beyond it. The author argues that these campaigns unfolded in constant negotiation with the diverse natural environment of South Asia. The empire sought to discipline the environment and harness its resources to satisfy its own military needs. At the same time, environmental factors like climate, terrain, and ecology profoundly influenced Mughal military tactics, strategy, and deployment of technology. The book also explores the world of non-elite labour that spearheaded Mughal military logistics, the process of formation of imperial frontiers, and the empire's legitimisation of war and conquest. What emerges is a fresh interpretation of Mughal empire-building as a highly adaptive, flexible, and accommodative process.
Climate of Conquest closely studies the dynamics of the military campaigns that helped the Mughals conquer North India and project their power beyond it. The author argues that these campaigns unfolded in constant negotiation with the diverse natural environment of South Asia. The empire sought to discipline the environment and harness its resources to satisfy its own military needs. At the same time, environmental factors like climate, terrain, and ecology profoundly influenced Mughal military tactics, strategy, and deployment of technology. The book also explores the world of non-elite labour that spearheaded Mughal military logistics, the process of formation of imperial frontiers, and the empire's legitimisation of war and conquest. What emerges is a fresh interpretation of Mughal empire-building as a highly adaptive, flexible, and accommodative process.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published November 19, 2019
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October 27, 2024
This book is all about spotlighting war's impact on the environment. Nath nails the importance of regional terrain and military tactics, but the book doesn't quite live up to its ambitious title. It's mainly about early modern South Asian history, using "climate" more as a metaphor than exploring environmental issues. If you're someone looking for/into population growth, land use, or natural disasters. You might be disappointed. Nath's focus is mostly on military and imperial stuff, drawing from Persian sources. Worth a read for me.....!!!But not for someone who's looking for an in depth environmental analysis.
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