A novice from the court of St James

"Courting India" details the early stage of the British-India encounter, with a vivid account of the mission from the court of James I, offering insights into the complexities of trade in that era

Courting India: England, Mughal India and The Origins of Empire

Author: Nandini Das

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Pages: 480

Price: Rs 580

The British built a powerful empire in India. But the start of their engagement with this country definitely didn’t augur much success. Nandini Das’s Courting India, which describes the incipient stage of the British-India encounter (coinciding with Mughal emperor Jahangir’s reign), paints the picture of a rather shambolic start.

Ms Das is a professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture in the English faculty at the University of Oxford. 

The British entered India and South-east Asia trade late; it was the Portuguese and