Like its companion volume From Tagus to the Ganges, this book deploys the concept of 'connected histories' to shed important light on aspects of the history of early modern Eurasia. It reflects on two and a half centuries of Mughal-European relations, beginning with the early sixteenth century. The book uses the idea of 'contained conflict' to reject both the view of total cultural incompatibility between East and West, and the simplistic paradigm of
partnership and mutual understanding.