In this Series the author has attempted a study of the Mughul court and the institutions connected with it, so as to obtain a tolerably clear picture of Mughul court life, and of the actual working in practice of the administrative system. In the opinion of the writer the spirit of this civilization can be better studied in the customs and manners of the people and in the systems and institutions in which they crystallized, than in the vicissitudes of kings and peoples which too often pass for “history.” The real life of a people is their social, intellectual and economic life,
and this can be better studied in their manners and morals, their etiquette and procedure, their art and letters, than in the sequence of political events.
An attempt has been made to visualize the milieu which served as the cradle of Mughul thought and culture. Books and pictures, buildings and furniture, arms, jewels and dresses, thrones and carriages, vessels and utensils--all articles of daily and occasional use in fact are passed in review, so as to give us an idea of the people's thought and life, taste and judgement, ambitions and achievements, and of public industry and royal patronage. Stirring scenes of Mughul court life-durbars and celebrations, receptions and progresses---are reproduced before the reader, and the glory of the Mughul dynasty past lives again. Such a study of concrete facts will help us better to test the foundations of the social and administrative system of the Mughuls than theorizing's and learned discussions based on conjectures and unverifiable hypotheses. We can see here how intimately pursuit of beauty and daily life were woven together in the better Mughul days, and how apparently unconnected currents of historical knowledge underlie, explain, and lead up to, the art and life of this great people. It is expected that this series of monographs, when completed, will furnish material for a true social and economic history of Mughul India-indeed for a somewhat comprehensive history of Mughul empire civilization.