This volume contains well researched papers based on primary sources and archaeological explorations, and presents new findings on medieval Indian administration, culture, science and technology. It also has a study of new literary sources, both Persian and Europeans with a full section to literary sources. The section on state and administration highlights Central Asian and European influence on statecraft and the army. Mysticism and its impact on medieval policy, architecture and the new genre of literature known as 'Shahr Ashob' helps in the reconstruction of the eighteenth-century history of Shahjahanabad.