Based on a vast, virtually unstudied archive of Indian writings alongside visual sources, the book presents the first history of music and musicians in late Mughal India c.1748–1858 and takes the lives of nine musicians as entry points into six prominent types of writing on music in Persian, Brajbhasha, Urdu and English, moving from Delhi to Lucknow, Hyderabad, Jaipur and among the British. It shows how a key Mughal cultural field responded to the political, economic and social upheaval of the transition to British rule, while addressing a central philosophical question: can we ever recapture the ephemeral experience of music once the performance is over? These diverse sources shine new light on the wider historical processes of this pivotal transitional period, and provide a new history of music, musicians and their audiences during the precise period in which North Indian classical music coalesced in its modern form.

“Schofield’s pathfinding work represents the most authoritative and comprehensive social history of music in Mughal india. Weaving a range of untapped archival materials with artful interpretation, it presents fresh and insightful perspectives on North Indian music in the early modern and colonial periods. This masterful work is unlike any other and sure to become thhe standard-bearer in the field” — Professor Davesh Soneji, University of Pennsylvania

Dr Schofield was recently appointed as Head of the Department of Music at King's- the first woman to have held this position in the Department’s 60 year history.