FOR ALL WITH AN INTEREST IN THE HISTORY
OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY AND THE BRITISH RAJ
The British in India Historical Trust presents Zoom lectures by authors of recently published books of interest to descendants of the British in South Asia between 1600 and 1947 and all who want to know more about the East India Company and the British Raj. It also awards annual book prizes for excellence in non-fiction.
FEATURED LECTURE
TUESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2023 18.30 GMT (ZOOM)
Courting India
Nandini Das
When Thomas Roe arrived in 1616 as James I’s first ambassador to the Mughal Empire, the English barely had a toehold in India. Roe was representing a kingdom beset by financial woes, while the Mughal court was wealthy and cultured, its dominion one of the greatest and richest empires of the world.
The story of Roe’s four years in India is one of palace intrigue and scandal, lotteries and wagers that unfolds as global trade begins to stretch from Russia to Virginia, from West Africa to the Spice Islands. Nandini Das reveals Thomas Roe’s time in the Mughal Empire to be a turning point in history and challenges our understanding of Britain and its early empire.
Nandini Das is the author of Courting India (Bloomsbury 2023), winner of the 2023 British Academy Book Prize. She is Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture at the University of Oxford and a Tutorial Fellow in English at Exeter College.
How to book
See the Lectures page for all forthcoming lectures and booking links.
Proceeds of lectures fund prizes for non-fiction historical writing on British India.
BOOK PRIZES
Proceeds from lectures fund annual prizes for non-fiction historical writing on British India. Two prizes were awarded in 2023 for books published in 2022: The British in India Book Prize 2023 and The British in India Military History Book Prize 2023. The results are given here.
Two prizes will be awarded in 2024 for books published in 2023: The British in India Book Prize 2024 and The British in India Military History Book Prize 2024. Full details and submission forms are available here.
A European, thought to be British Resident Sir David Ochterlony, in Indian dress, smoking a hookah and watching a nautch in his house at Delhi c.1820 (detail). British Library, CC0.