Architecture and Art of the Deccan Sultanates

The first overall survey of the architectural and artistic heritage of the Deccan Sultanate.

George Michell (Author), Mark Zebrowski (Author)

9780521563215, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 June 1999

324 pages, 200 b/w illus. 16 colour illus. 1 map
25.5 x 18.1 x 2.3 cm, 0.88 kg

'In this scholarly desert, The Art and Architecture of the Deccan Sultanates in the New Cambridge History of India is a major landmark. It is also one of the most beautifully written works of Indian art history published for many years, combining rigorous scholarship with an aesthetic sensitivity and a feeling for language all too rare in modern academia. One of the authors, Mark Zebrowski, died shortly after finishing it. The power of his prose and the perception of his eye are amply demonstrated by the remarkable chapters he has contributed to this book. As scholars of the period are already discovering, his death has created a gap it will be very difficult to fill.' The Times Literary Supplement

The Muslim kingdoms of the Deccan plateau flourished from the fourteenth to eighteenth centuries. During this period, the Deccan sultans built palaces, mosques and tombs, and patronised artists who produced paintings and decorative objects. Many of these buildings and works of art still survive as testimony to the sophisticated techniques of their craftsmen. This volume is the first to offer an overall survey of these architectural and artistic traditions and to place them within their historical context. The links which existed between the Deccan and the Middle East, for example, are discernible in Deccani architecture and paintings, and a remarkable collection of photographs, many of which have never been published before, testify to these influences. The book will be a source of inspiration to all those interested in the rich and diverse culture of India, as well as to those concerned with the artistic heritage of the Middle East.

Introduction
1. Historical framework
2. Forts and palaces
3. Mosques and tombs
4. Architectural decoration
5. Miniature painting: Ahmadnagar and Bijnapur
6. Miniature painting: Golconda and other centres
7. Textiles, metalwork and stone objects
8. Temples
9. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Architectural structure & design [AMC]