Among the foreign travelers who visited the court of the early Mughals in India, the most important and best known is Sir Thomas Roe. He came to Jahangir’s court in 1615 as an ambassador of James I, the king of England, and spent nearly four years in India upto 1619. His narrative constitutes a very valuable source of information about the life at the Mughal’s court, at provincial capitals and in camp, and in the light thrown upon the characters of Jahangir, Asaf Khan, Khurram and Khusrau. Roe’s account also sheds light upon the difficulties that were faced by the British traders because of their Portuguese competitors. The present volume contains Thomas Roe’s Journal and letters and two Appendices giving Roe’s geographical account of the Mughal’s territories and letters exchanged between King James and the Mughal emperor. The facsimile reproduction of William Beffin’s famous map of the Mughal’s dominions published originally in 1619 and Sir William Foster’s instructive note on the map are invaluable. The masterly historical review of events of the period, and a connected account of Roe’s movements and occupations, copious notes in the text and full index have added to the value of this book which should be on the shelves of all students of the history of the period.
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