Travellers in the Golden Realm: How Mughal India Connected England to the World

Buckinghamshire holds many connections to the East India Company, from merchant officials resident in the county to a Company ship named Buckinghamshire. But what were the early foundations of this famous and notorious company? Before the East India Company and the British Empire, 16th- and 17th-century merchants, pilgrims and outcasts ventured to the great kingdom of the Mughals in search of better fortunes. This collision of worlds precipitated a tempestuous period of globalisation spanning from the Japanese silver trade to the slave trade in the Americas.

Join cultural historian Dr Lubaaba Al-Azami in tracing this early relationship between two nations – one a European pariah and one an Indian superpower – whose cultures remain linked to this day.

This free talk will take place at Buckingham Library. To book your space, email archives@buckinghamshire.gov.uk