Travellers in the Golden Realm

<p><b>''</b>This is <b>a remarkable book</b>. It combines <b>a spellbinding account </b>of the first forgotten half of the English encounter with India with a fascinating history of the Mughal Empire'' <b>JOSEPHINE</b><b>QUINN</b>, author of <i>How the World Made the West</i><br><br><b>''A compelling, highly readable account of the earliest phase of English presence in India'' NANDINI DAS</b>, author of <i>Courting India</i><br><br><b>When the first English travellers in India encountered an unimaginable superpower, their meetings would change the world.</b><br><br>Before the East India Company and before the British Empire, England was a pariah state. Seeking better fortunes, 16th and 17th century merchants, pilgrims and outcasts ventured to the kingdom of the mighty Mughals, attempting to sell coarse woollen broadcloth along the silk roads; playing courtiers in the Mughal palaces in pursuit of love; or simply touring the sub-continent in search of an elephant to ride. <br><br>Into th