The book focuses on an important aspect of medieval Indian history that has current relevance. Islam has acquired a popular dimension in the present times and has been a subject of contemporary debate, for more reasons than one. A fair amount of Islamic political culture was prevalent in medieval India that articulated itself in the dynamics of the time. In any process of state formation, religion plays a very important role. The Mughal Empire itself, however, was a purely Indian historical experience. Mughal culture blended Perso-Islamic and regional Indian elements into a distinct whole. The study of the interaction between the two elements, religion and state, involves an attempt to understand the significance and dynamics of such a relationship that is almost purely mutual.