Badshah, Bandar, Bazaar turns conventional wisdom on its head to examine what has long been taken for granted. Through the eyes of numerous real-life characters, it demonstrates the power of bankers, moneylenders, merchants, middlemen, artisans and all manner of ordinary folk in making - and eventually breaking - the might of the Mughal Empire. Globalisation and the spread of market relations was intensifying meanwhile, transforming everyday life in ways that were often subtle, and sometimes dramatic. With exotic and enticing goods for purchase, and ever more artful ways to make money, came a new ethos - and a new set of anxieties - towards business which was so potent that it shaped preaching by Sikh gurus and Sufi sayyids alike.
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