ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a partial complement to the more extensive study of Caitanya Vaisnava Hindu perceptions of Muslims in Bengal. It focuses on Caitanya Vaisnavas specifically, but rather treats of persons and events coming nearly a century after Caitanya’s lifetime, under an imperial Mughal regime rather than a Bengal-based sultanate, and in lands situated in the north of Bengal and Assam rather than in Nabadwip and Gaur. Mirza Nathan considered himself a good Muslim seems beyond question, even though he may have been a maverick in certain respects. The ruler was even exempted for reasons of state from observing the most basic of Muslim customs. Even though the majority of officers in the military forces of the Mughals in eastern India were Muslim, the reverse was the case among civil officers, especially those with financial responsibilities.
