Historically Speaking

14 Historically Speaking November/December 2007 Nor were matters much different in the Mughal Empire, where politically minded intellectuals grappled over decades and centuries with the management of a complex and mulrifaceted society where no one could hide behind such nonsensical formulae as cuius regio eius religio. Headley may have forgotten an incident, but I well remember it: at the Historical Society meeting in Boothbay Harbor in June 2004, when he attempted another of his exaggerated defenses of the Western Sonderweg, Alan Kors pointed out to him in no uncertain terms that the Ottoman empire in the 17th century was far more systematically tolerant of religious difference than any contemporary Western European state. Much the same could be said of the Mughals, and we now have a splendid book by Muzaffar Alam that demonstrates at great length the ideological basis of the Mughal construction: an eclectic mix of received elements from Iran and Central Asia, and the lived empirical experience of South Asia. This was what made for that important body of texts that Alam analyzes under the head of akhlaq, and which did not disappear after a brief moment or an exceptional reign. The same argument can be made elsewhere in South Asia with regard to vernacular texts in the tradition that is termed niti. Comparative history can lead to many conclusions , and exceptionalism is undoubtedly one of them. The more one knows about any society (and tiie less one knows about others), the more exceptional it seems, and truth be told one might well hold quite legitimately that each historical culture is exceptional . Why should we imagine that Zimbabwe resemblesJapan any more than it does Scodand? But to valorize and fetishize exceptionalism eventually becomes a malady in itself, especially when the scarcely concealed agenda is smug and triumphalist. If world history is to make sense, it cannot be by making history a vague miasma, where everything is mixed up with everything else in a sort of unsuccessful multi-kulti goulash. Structure and narrative of some sort will of necessity impose itself on any exposition . This is the challenge that world historians have to face constandy, whether in die classroom or at the desk. But this is scarcely a reason for the sort of history-as-pure-ideology that Headley has in mind. He might want to look at how history is taught in China, India, Mexico, or even Canada to get a sense of this. He may also want to remember that we are in 2007 and not 1984, and it is surely high time for us to give up on lapensée unique. Sanjay Subrahmanyam is Doshi Chair in Indian History andfounding director of the CenterforIndia and South Asia at UCLA. He is the author of several books and essays on early modern history, including Explorations in Connected History: Mughals and Franks (Oxford University Press, 2004) and Indo-Persian Travels in the Age of Discoveries, 1400-1800 (with MuzaffarAlam) (Cambridge University Press, 2007). Recentering the West? Response to John Headley Constantin Fasolt MonsieurJourdain: What! When I say, "Nicole, bring me my slippers, and give me my nightcap," that's prose? Philosophy Master: Yes, Sir. MonsieurJourdain: By my faith! For more than forty years I have been speaking prose without knowing anything about it, and I am much obliged to you for having taught me that. -Molière, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme John Headley believes the West has been unfairly maligned. Thatis probably true. He speaks up for the dignity of Western civilization. Surely Western civilization does deserve respect. He also worries about the lack of attention paid to political history and he stresses the importance of the Renaissance. As someone who has tried to understand the ins and outs of early modern European history, I share his regret over what strikes me as the increasing speed with which the Renaissance, along with much other history extending further back in time than the 19th century, seems to be vanishing from the repertory of contemporary historians. He points to the remarkable and insufficiendy noticed role played by geography and cartography in Europe's understanding of humanityas globalandinits conquestof theglobe inhabited by that humanity. He underlines the length and coherence of...