The first section of this volume brings together five studies on the Mongol empire. The accent is on the ideology behind Mongol expansion, on the dissolution of the empire into a number of rival khanates, and on the relations between the Mongol regimes and their Christian subjects within and potential allies outside. Three pieces in the second section relate to the early history of the Delhi Sultanate, with particular reference to the role of its Turkish slave (ghulam) officers and guards, while a fourth examines the collapse in 1206-15 of the Ghurid dynasty, whose conquests in northern India had created the preconditions for the Sultanate's emergence. The final three papers are concerned with Mongol pressure on Muslim India and the capacity of the Delhi Sultanate to withstand it.
Biography
Peter Jackson is Professor of Medieval History in the School of Humanities (History) at Keele University, UK.
’From his post in Keele, Peter Jackson has been able to produce a steady output of major scholarly works which have shaped the way the Mongol Empire has been viewed over the past three decades. ... Variorum's timely publication of some of Peter Jackson's key papers places information spanning many enduring issues conveniently between the same covers. Many of these papers have maintained their relevance and importance over the decades and the reissuing of these reflections and studies from Jackon's valued career is very welcome.’ Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies