Jos J. L. Gommans is Professor of Colonial and Global History at Leiden University. He is the author of The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire, 1710-1780, (1999, 3rd edition 2018), Mughal Warfare: Indian Frontiers and High Roads to Empire (2002), The Indian Frontier: Horse and Warband in the Making of Empires (2018), The Unseen World: The Netherlands and India from 1550 (2018) and co-editor of Exploring the Dutch Empire; Agents, Networks and Institution, 1600-2000 (2005).