Europe and India : Collections, representations, projections, ^16th-18th centuries (2)

These two lectures analyzed how important topoi emerged during this century, which persisted into the following period as enduring intellectual anchors, or even as lenses through which India was read. Among these topoi was the much-debated term "caste" (from the Portuguese casta), but various authors also approached a number of other concepts from different perspectives. Finally, by the end of the ^sixteenth century, certain stable forms of understanding had crystallized, both with regard to political entities in northern India (such as the allegedly "despotic" nascent Mughal Empire) and with regard to the societies then present on the Indian peninsula.