A Social History of the Deccan, 1300-1761


Book Description

In this fascinating account of one of the least known parts of South Asia, Eaton recounts the history of the Deccan plateau in southern India from the fourteenth century to the rise of European colonialism. He does so, vividly, through the lives of eight Indians who lived at different times during this period, and who each represented something particular about the Deccan. In the first chapter, for example, the author describes the demise of the regional kingdom through the life of a maharaja. In the second, a Sufi sheikh illustrates Muslim piety and state authority. Other characters include a merchant, a general, a slave, a poet, a bandit and a female pawnbroker. Their stories are woven together into a rich narrative tapestry, which illumines the most important social processes of the Deccan across four centuries. This is a much-needed book by the most highly regarded scholar in the field.




Settlement and Local Histories of the Early Deccan


Book Description

This book is a detailed account of the multi-faceted history of the Deccan. Beginning with its historical foundations it goes on to delineate how it is the key to understanding its social, economic, political and ideological evolution. Containing nine essays, this volume attempts to look at regional history from the perspective of given localities that provides the many facets of early Deccani society and culture. Hitherto, this was mainly articulated in terms of the broad categories of language and religion in the many historical studies of present-day linguistic states. In focussing on local spatial contexts as the primary layer of historical reality, the book has relied on multiple sources of information, largely extant archaeological material while also drawing information from inscri­ptions, textual material and oral memory. The book also reflects on the important events of various periods by placing them as part of larger social and economic processes emanating from the local. The essays in this collection have been presented thematically moving from general issues discussed in Part I to the more particular in Part II and finally, to reflect on the multiplicity and simultaneity of different kinds of processes in a constant state of negotiation, in Part III. The historical sensibilities of people in various locations right from Kotalingala and Dhulikatta to Phanigiri, Patancheru, Kondapur and Nanakramguda and from Thotlakonda to Nagarjunakonda, Amaravati, Vaddamanu and Shravan Belgola have been recounted. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.




The Courts of the Deccan Sultanates


Book Description

Illuminates the centrality of courtliness in the political and cultural life of the Deccan in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.




Mediaeval Deccan History


Book Description

The Volume Contains Research Papers And A Few Original Documents Relating To Various Aspects Like Religions, Society And Culture, Economy, Polity And Administration Of The History Of Deccan. These Fresh Studies Would Help Scholars In Better Understanding Of Various Aspects Of Deccan History.




A Short History of Persian Literature


Book Description

This is a seminal book, first published in 1961. Over the past six decades, T.N. Devare's work has been widely recognised as a pioneering study to re-discover the glorious heritage of Persian in the Deccan, following the first comprehensive and critical survey completed by the author of Persian manuscript sources and literary works scattered across numerous libraries, archives and repositories in India and abroad. The book convincingly argues that, the Deccan’s multilingual and multi-religious traditions shaped the evolution of Indo-Persian and produced over nearly four centuries, a distinct literary and cultural world marked by a syncretic character which defied social, political or religious boundaries. The author also makes the case for collaboration between Persian and the regional languages of India, particularly Marathi. It is the rich legacy of Persian in the Deccan Courts with their vast treasures of literature that is preserved in Dr Devare’s work. The book has been regarded and continues to remain a foundational text for studying the Deccan, be it in the field of history, literature or culture. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka




A Prehistory of Hinduism


Book Description

This book is a pioneering attempt to understand the prehistory of Hinduism in South Asia. Exploring religious processes in the Deccan region between the eleventh and the nineteenth century with class relations as its point of focus, it throws new light on the making of religious communities, monastic institutions, legends, lineages, and the ethics that governed them. In the light of this prehistory, a compelling framework is suggested for a revision of existing perspectives on the making of Hinduism in the nineteenth and the twentieth century.




Local States in an Imperial World


Book Description

Focusing on the Deccan Sultanates of 16th- and 17th-century central India, Local States in an Imperial World promotes the idea that some polities of the time were not aspiring to be empires. Instead of the universalist and hierarchical vision typical of the language of empire, the sultanates presented another brand of state - one that prefers negotiation, flexibility and plurality of languages, religions and cultures. Building on theories of early modernity, empire, cosmopolitanism and vernaculars, Roy Fischel considers the components that shaped state and society: people, identities and idioms. He presents a frame for understanding the Deccan Sultanates as a rare case of the early modern non-imperial state, shedding light both on the region and on the imperial world surrounding it.




Power, Memory, Architecture


Book Description

Chalukya emperors, Delhi sultans, 1000-1350 -- Temples and conquest, 1296-1500 -- Reviving the Chalukya imperium at sixteenth-century Vijayanagara -- Bijapur's revival of Chalukya imperium -- Shitab Khan and the restoration of Kakatiya cults and temples -- Qutb Shahi Warangal and the foundation of Hyderabad -- The military revolution in the Deccan -- The political functions of city gates.




Temples of Deccan India


Book Description

* A visually stunning exploration of the Deccan Indian architectural history* A matching companion book to Islamic Architecture of Deccan India (ACC Art Books, 2018)* Blueprint-style plans of temples accompany 300+ photographs* Contains maps guiding would-be travelers to these temple sitesThis beautifully illustrated book showcases the Hindu and Jain temples of Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka built prior to the invasion of peninsular India by the Delhi sultans at the end of the 13th century. Unlike temples in many other parts of India, those of the Deccan are well preserved, with their wealth of figural and decorative carvings miraculously intact. They demonstrate the development of Indian sacred architecture and art over a span of more than 600 years. Focusing on some 50 historical sites, the Temple Architecture of Deccan India begins with artificially excavated "cave" shrines dedicated to various Hindu deities, before proceeding on to examine free-standing Hindu and Jain monuments sponsored by successive rulers of the Deccan. Attention is paid to the beautiful sculptures found on temple basements, walls, brackets and ceilings. Carved in crisp relief, and sometimes even in three dimensions, these carvings are among the greatest glories of Indian stone art. Among the featured highlights are the cave temple on the island of Elephanta, with its stupendous representation of three-headed Sadashiva; the colossal, monolithic Kailasa temple at Ellora, a technical feat unsurpassed in the entire history of Indian architecture; the magnificent columned pavilion at Hanamkonda, now currently being reconstructed; and the temple at Belur, with its exquisitely carved female figural brackets. Specially commissioned plans of temple layouts accompany 300+ photographs. and clarify the succession of dynasties that governed the Deccan during the centuries covered here. Maps locate the temple sites, while passages of text illuminate the succession of dynasties that governed the Deccan from the 7th to 13th centuries. Educational, accessible and beautifully illustrated, this book will be of interest to anyone fascinated by Indian architecture.




Iran and the Deccan


Book Description

In the early 1400s, Iranian elites began migrating to the Deccan plateau of southern India. Lured to the region for many reasons, these poets, traders, statesmen, and artists of all kinds left an indelible mark on the Islamic sultanates that ruled the Deccan until the late seventeenth century. The result was the creation of a robust transregional Persianate network linking such distant cities as Bidar and Shiraz, Bijapur and Isfahan, and Golconda and Mashhad. Iran and the Deccan explores the circulation of art, culture, and talent between Iran and the Deccan over a three-hundred-year period. Its interdisciplinary contributions consider the factors that prompted migration, the physical and intellectual poles of connectivity between the two regions, and processes of adaptation and response. Placing the Deccan at the center of Indo-Persian and early modern global history, Iran and the Deccan reveals how mobility, liminality, and cultural translation nuance the traditional methods and boundaries of the humanities.