This book reconstructs the historical transition in the undivided Panjab during the 16th and 17th centuries. The work relies on evidence from the Persian chronicles, Mughal newsletters, Sufi writings, Sikh literature and Punjabi folklore.

Surinder Singh has taught at the Department of History, Panjab University, Chandigarh. His last publication was The Making of Medieval Panjab: Politics, Society and Culture, c. 1000-c. 1500.

1. Introduction 2. State Formations and Tribal Resistance 3. Consolidation of the Mughal State 4. Renunciation, Monasticism and Patronage 5. Continuity and Change in Sufi Lineages 6. Spiritual Discourses in Poetic Idiom 7. Uplift of Depressed Castes among the Sikhs 8. Love, Suffering and Death 9. Material and Cultural Life in the City of Lahore 10. The Mughal Quest for Supremacy 11. Conclusion