DAVID ARMITAGE is the Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History at Harvard University, USA. He is the author or editor of ten books, including The Ideological Origins of the British Empire, The Declaration of Independence: A Global History and (ed) The British Atlantic World, 1500-1800 (2nd edition). SANJAY SUBRAHMANYAM is Professor and Doshi Chair of Indian history at UCLA. His recent publications include Explorations in Connected History and (with Muzaffar Alam) Indo-Persian Travels in the Age of Discoveries, 1400-1800.