Join “A Drink with the Idler” as we chat with Nandini Das about one of the most important encounters in the history of colonialism: the British arrival in India in the early seventeenth century.

When Thomas Roe arrived in India in 1616 as James I’s first ambassador to the Mughal Empire, the English barely had a toehold in the subcontinent. Their understanding of South Asian trade and India was sketchy at best, and, to the Mughals, they were minor players on a very large stage.

We’ll be talking to Oxford Professor Nandini Das about the early diplomatic relationship between England and India and the first official encounters between the Jacobeans and the Mughals.Nandini’s book Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire shines a spotlight on Sir Thomas Roe, the first ever British ambassador to the Mughal courts, and the beginning of Britain’s history with India.

The discussion between Nandini and Idler editor Tom Hodgkinson will be followed by a live Q&A, and the Idler Academy’s Head of Philosophy Dr Mark Vernon will present a short “thought for the week” to get our brains fizzing. The event will be hosted by Idler Academy director Victoria Hull.

This is an online event. It should be like meeting up in the pub for an interesting conversation. We leave the meeting open at the end so you can carry on chatting.

Nandini Das is a professor at the faculty of English at the University of Oxford. She studied at Jadavpur University in India and the University of Oxford before completing her doctorate at the University of Cambridge. Her publications range across sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature, travel, migration and cross-cultural encounters, and she regularly presents television and radio programmes on topics related to her research. Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire won the 2023 British Academy Book Prize.

Tom Hodgkinson is editor of the Idler and author of the best-selling manuals, How to Be Idle and How to Be Free. Other publications include a book on parenting, the Ukulele Handbook and a manual for creative entrepreneurs, Business for Bohemians.

Dr Mark Vernon is a psychotherapist, writer, broadcaster, and teacher. He presents several Idler Academy online courses. He has a PhD in philosophy, and degrees in theology and physics. His most recent books include The Idler Guide to Ancient Philosophy (Idler Books), Love: All that Matters (Hodder) and Jung: How to Believe (Guardian Shorts) – and he has books on friendship, belief and the good life too. Mark can often be heard on Radio 4’s Moral Maze. He began his professional life as a priest in the Church of England. For more, visit markvernon.com.

Victoria Hull is director of the Idler Academy, producing the Idler’s live and online events and courses.