A highly original new history of Muslim political culture across the Indian Ocean from 1739 to 1857. Examining South Asian connections with the Middle East, Rishad Choudhury draws on research in multilingual sources and archives to reveal the imperial entanglements of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

Excerpt from The Case of His Highness Prince Azeem Jah: Nawaub of the Carnatic, and Soubahdar of Arcot; In Support of the Petitions by His Highness to the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain On the 7th day of October 1855 his Highness Gholam Mahomed Ghouse Khan, Nawaub of the Carnatic and Sonbahdar of Arcot, after having enjoyed the honours of his elevated position for a period of thirty years, departed this life. He left no issue, and his uncle and nearest relative, Prince Azeem Jah, was entitled, according to Mahomedan law, to succeed him in the rights, titles, and revenues of the Nawanbship. Prince Azeem Jah is the second son of his late Highness Azeem Ul Dowlah, Nawaub of the Carnatic, who was elevated to the Musnud in 1801. He is the brother, by the same mother, of his late Highness Azuji Jah, who succeeded to the Musnud upon the death of their father in 1819. And, as already stated, he is the uncle of his late Highness Gholam Mahomed Ghouse Khan, the next and last Nawaub, who succeeded in 1825, and to whom, upon the occurrence of that event, - he being then an infant, - his Highness Prince Azeem Jah, as next heir to the throne, was appointed Prince Regent, or, as it is termed in the native language, Naib-i-Mooktar. Prince Azeem Jah was born not long after his father's elevation to the Musnud. By birth a prince, and from the earliest moment of his somewhat long life associated with an illustrious title, - the immediate relative of successive sovereigns, - surrounded by everything which in India gives the kingly title its importance, - and for the last thirty years the openly recognised heir to the throne of his ancestors, his accession suddenly became only the unexpected signal for an unmerited and bitter degradation. Without a rival, - without a crime laid to his charge, - in the midst of peace, - an attached ally of the British Government, - it was made known to him that that Government, through the Honourable the East India Company, had, after a period of more than half a century, for the first time discovered that the Treaty with his father extended not to the son, and that thenceforth the title of Nawaub of the Carnatic, which for centuries had been a title of power and dignity in India, and even, by its association with British arms and history, of world-known fame, was extinct, and the revenues by which its splendours had been maintained, and which for the last fifty-four years had been expressly provided and set apart for its maintenance by treaty, were now to be appropriated by that same power with whom the treaty had been made. Unfortunately for his Highness, that treaty had placed the collection of the revenues in the hands of the East India Company, and it became an easy matter to enforce their decision. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.