The Architecture of a Deccan Sultanate

The Deccan sultans left a grand architectural and artistic legacy. They commissioned palaces, mosques, gardens and tombs as well as decorative paintings and coins. Of these sultanates, the Nizam Shahs (r. 1490-1636) were particularly significant, being one of the first to emerge from the crumbling edifice of the Bahmani Empire (c. 1347-1527). Yet their rich material record remains largely unstudied in the scholarly literature, obscuring their cultural and historical importance. This book provides the first analysis of the architecture of the Nizam Shahs. Pushkar Sohoni examines the critical relationship between architectural production, courtly practice and royal authority in a period when the aspirations and politics of the kingdom were articulated through architectural expression. Based on new primary research from key sites including the urban settlements of Ahmadnagar, Daulatabad, Aurangabad, Junnar and the port city of Chaul, Sohoni sheds light on broader Islamicate ideas of kingship and shows how this was embodied by material artefacts such as buildings and sites, paintings, gardens, guns and coins. As well as offering a vivid depiction of sixteenth-century South Asia, this book revises understanding of the cultural importance of the Nizam Shahs and their place in the Indian Ocean world. It will be a vital primary resource for scholars researching the history of the medieval and early modern Deccan and relevant for those working in Art History, Islamic Studies, South Asian Studies and Archaeology.

Pushkar Sohoni is a Lecturer in South Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

CHAPTER 1 LOCATING FRAGMENTS: BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DECCAN The Deccan: a brief history Hindustan and the Deccan as diverse and unified landscapes Visual Culture of the Deccan Sultanates Continuities and ruptures: Purity and Hybridity of Architecture in the Deccan ­ CHAPTER 2 MULTIPLE PASTS: THE NIZAM SHAHS OF AHMADNAGAR The Nizam Shahs Architectural patronage under the Nizam Shahs Drawing boundaries: Historiography of the Nizam Shahs CHAPTER 3 CONSTRUCTING SOCIETY: SOCIETY AND ARCHITECTURAL KNOWLEDGE Methods to study architectural remains Guilds and movements of craftspeople recovered Sultanate architecture and regional variations Extra-regional Architectural Programs and Building Typologies Global Architecture and Local Construction Urgency to study, research and recover CHAPTER 4 LAYING THE LAND: PATTERNS OF URBAN SETTLEMENTS AND THEIR DIS-TRIBUTION Urban Design and Settlements Junnar Daulatabad Ahmadnagar Chaul Parenda Sindkhed Raja Urban Systems: Water Supply and civic buildings Military Design and Fortification CHAPTER 5 DESIGNS OF GRANDEUR: PALACES AND MANSIONS Palaces and Mansions Farah Bakhsh Bagh Hasht Bihisht Bagh Manzarsumbah Palace near Bhatavadi (Kalawantinicha Mahal) Architecture of Palaces for the Sultan CHAPTER 6 OTHER ARCHITECTURAL PROGRAMS Mosques Tombs Hammams, caravansarais and miscellaneous buildings CHAPTER 7 MATERIAL CULTURE BEYOND ARCHITECTURE AND SETTLEMENTS Visual space Ahmadnagar paintings Coins of the Nizam Shahs Texts Other contributions Cultural production and technological innovation CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSION: END OF AN OLD WORLD BIBLIOGRAPHY