Nandini Das’s Courting India nominated for two prestigious book prizes

Published in March of this year, Tutorial Fellow in English Professor Nandini Das’s debut book Courting India: England, Mughal India, and the Origins of Empire has been nominated for the British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding and longlisted for the Cundill History Prize. Described as “a triumph of writing and scholarship,” Courting India looks at the British arrival in India in the early 17th century and how it served as a turning point in the history of the British empire.

The British Academy Book Prize celebrates “ground-breaking research-based works of non-fiction that have made an outstanding contribution to the public understanding of world cultures and the ways in which they interconnect.” The prize is in its 11th year, and Courting India was one of six books shortlisted from a record number of over 200 entries. Charles Tripp, chair of this year’s jury for the Prize, said “We were greatly impressed by the exceptional quality of writing in this year’s shortlist and the ability of the authors to unearth extraordinary new discoveries and to find new perspectives on old perceptions.”

Administered by McGill University in Montreal, the Cundill History Prize is one of the world’s most prestigious history prizes. Professor Das’s book is one of 14 titles on the 2023 longlist. Faith Wallis, Advisory Committee and Triage Committee member states, “A Cundill book is a game-changer; the fresh perspective that its original findings offer on the given topic consequentially alter our way of considering not only the past that it describes, but also the present and future with which its vital links are powerful and manifest.”

Exeter College warmly congratulates Professor Das on Courting India’s well-deserved recognition.