Richard Eaton

My primary interest is the social and cultural history of pre-modern India (1000-1800). I have published monographs on the social roles of Sufis (Muslim mystics) in the Indian sultanate of Bijapur (1300-1700), on the growth of Islam in Bengal (1204-1760), and on the social history of the Deccan from 1300 to 1761, and on the interplay between memory and art in the Deccan plateau between 1300 and 1600.  These four historical monographs employ as analytical tools, respectively, Weberian social thought, Annales School methodology, biography, and architectural history.  Most recently, I have published the second volume of the new Penguin history of India, entitled India in the Persianate Age, 1000-1765,which explores the long-term interaction between the Persianate and Sanskritic worlds, between the Iranian Plateau and South Asia, and between Islam and Indian religious traditions.

I am also active in the growing subfield of world history, as well as comparative history.  My regularly taught courses include History of Medieval India, History of Modern India and Pakistan, Comparative History, and World History.