Howes: Observing the Occident—Noted
Anton Howes: Observing the Occident https://antonhowes.substack.com/p/age-of-invention-observing-the-occident: ‘As for Europe’s Indian observers, one of the earliest full accounts is that of Mirza Shaikh Ictisam al-Din, sent to Britain by the Mughal emperor in the late 1760s.... Britain was already gaining a reputation for wealth and invention.... Ictisam al-Din noted that the poor French people he saw at Nantes and at Calais rarely wore any leather boots or shoes. They went in either wooden clogs or barefoot. As for the English, however, they were clearly better-fed, and he rarely saw any of them without shoes or boots... the wealth disparity was already obvious.... Ictisam al-Din had a chance to see a lot of Britain. He visited Scotland, perceiving that “the towns are daily augmenting and there is also an increment in the wealth”. It was a region on the make… .#noted #2020-07-06
