Ottoman Influences on Jesuit-Muslim Relations in Mughal India

The 20^th century has seen an explosion of studies on the Jesuits. This religious order has been instrumental in the creation of a global Catholicism, revolutions in education, and the development of the modern world. Scholars are rediscovering the importance of Jesuit studies and discovering their important role in history. While scholars are studying the order today, they tend to focus on two geographic regions; East Asia and the Americas. The scholarship on the Jesuits in Muslim India is scarce in comparison. This study will analyze a missionary account of Jesuits at the Mughal court of Akbar the Great and place them within the larger global context by demonstrating how stereotypes derived from the neighboring Ottoman empire influenced the way Jesuit authors wrote about Indian Muslims. By placing the Jesuits at the Mughal court, this study attempts to understand the global Jesuit endeavor and its manifestations in various parts of the world. The study also will expand on research done on Jesuits in India which is scarce compared to other regions and time periods.