Emperors, Saints and People: Revisiting Deccan History

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The Deccan Plateau has diverse ecological formations that have shaped human ecology, politics, philosophies, trade and urbanization. With thirteen meticulously researched contributions, Emperors, Saints and People: Revisiting Deccan History tells the story of the region from the earliest remains of hominins in and around the Bhima and Krishna rivers of prehistoric times to the paintings of gender-based marginalized sections in the Nizam's Dominion of the twentieth century. The contributions explore archaeological and historical remains and examine rulers and their administrative reforms, art and architectural influences, Sufi saints and their contributions to the flowering of Indo-Persianate traditions. The volume also investigates the lives of common people-an aspect that has consistently been considered peripheral to the historical reconstruction of the region. This volume highlights the interwoven fabric of the Deccan through all these facets, delineating continuities and transformation through the ages.

Mohammad Nazrul Bari is Associate Professor at the Department of History, Centre of Advanced Study, Aligarh Muslim University and specializes in ancient history and archaeology. He is a recipient of the Nicholas Lowick Memorial Fund, Royal Numismatic Society for his research at the British Museum and Ashmolean Museum. He has authored a book titled Material Life of Northern India (c.600 BCE-300 CE) and edited two volumes, Enduring Civilizational Encounter: A Study of Indo-Iranian Relations and Deccan: Culture, Heritage and Archaeology.

R. Arjun is Assistant Professor at the Department of History and Archaeology, Central University of Karnataka. He specializes in the prehistoric archaeology of the central-southern Deccan Plateau and Western Ghats and is involved in research projects with the National Geographic Society, Washington DC; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Luigi and Dallapiccola Foundations, Scotland, and Indian Council for Historical Research, New Delhi. He regularly gives talks and lectures on the prehistory of south India.

The thirteen chapters in Emperors, Saints and People are to help academics and enthusiasts revisit the lesser-known history of Deccan's social and cultural vibrancies. This volume has received contributions from well-researched scholars to bring together different sources and narratives in order to gain for a holistic understanding of the historical of the Deccan Plateau across the ancient and medieval periods.

The Deccan Plateau is a semi-arid, dry decidious geographical region bordering the Western and Eastern Ghats. It houses commercially rich mineral formations bearing gold, iron and copper. The pockets of black soil in the Godavari, Krishna and Tungabhadra river basins are fertile and have been the backbone for the cultivation of millets of various kinds and cotton, mainly for commercial purposes. The 'Deccan' is a popular term with political connotations that stretches across the Nizam's administrative dominion from Aurangabad in the north to Ballari in the south as well as parts of present-day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

This region's social and cultural fabric has witnessed

continuous civilizational developments from the prehistoric

to the early medieval periods. From traces of early Stone Age

cultures, early agricultural and pastoral communities to the

emergence of the Satavahanas and Chalukyas of Badami show

the transformation from nomadism to semi-nomadism, to

semi-capitalistic economies and well-structured empires and

administrations. These transformations are explored in the first

five chapters, by K. Paddayya, Kanti Kumar Pawar, Bhairabi

Prasad Sahu, K. Rajashekara and Malini Adiga, respectively. In

the following two chapters, M.A Nayeem and Sara Mondini

discuss the synchronism of Persian art and architecture in the

regional characteristics of the Deccan Plateau after the emergence of the Bahmani Sultanates. The early medieval transition into the late medieval during the reign of the Marathas, Mughals and Nizams as well as various literary sources, coinages, court paintings, urban settlements, Sufi saints and the role of marginalized women are the focus of the chapters by B. Lavanya, Rekha Pande, Jigar Mohammed, Danish Moin, Bina Sengar and Mohammed Suleman Siddiqi.