The Architecture of a Deccan Sultanate: Courtly Practice and Royal Authority in Late Medieval India Authors: Pushkar Sohoni

Description

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. Cover Author Biography Editorial Title page Copyright Dedication Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Preface 1. Locating Architecture: Social History and Historiography of the Deccan The Deccan: A Brief History Hindustan and the Deccan as Diverse and Unified Landscapes The Visual Culture of the Deccan Sultanates Continuities and Ruptures: The Purity and Hybridity of Architecture in the Deccan Methods to Study Architectural Remains Guilds and Movements of Craftspeople Recovered Sultanate Architecture and Regional Variations Extra-regional Architectural Programmes and Building Typologies Global Architecture and Local Construction The Urgency to Study, Research, and Recover 2. Multiple Pasts: The Nizam Shahs of Ahmadnagar Drawing Boundaries: Historiography of the Nizam Shahs The Nizam Shahs Paintings Coins of the Nizam Shahs Literature at the Court 3. Urban Patterns, Water Supply Systems, and Fortification Urban Design and Settlements Junnar Daulatabad Ahmadnagar Chaul Parenda Sindkhed Raja Urban Systems: Water Supply and Civic Buildings Military Design and Fortification 4. Palaces and Mansions Farah Bakhsh Bagh Hasht Bihisht Bagh Manzarsumbah Palace near Bhatavadi (Kalawantinicha Mahal) Architecture of Palaces for the Sultan 5. Mosques: Piety and Prayer Soneri Mosque in the Bara Imam Kotla (Ahmadnagar) Agha Bihzad or Kari Masjid (Ahmadnagar) Damdi Mosque (Bhingar) Mosque of Sanjar Khan (Dharur) Mahdavi Mosque (Rohankheda) Mahdavi Mosque (Fathkheda/Sakharkheda) Kali Mosque (Ahmadnagar) Qasim Khan’s Mosque (Ahmadnagar) Kamani Mosque (Ahmadnagar) Kamani Mosque (Shivneri) Jamiʾ Mosque (Chaul) Dilawar Khan’s Mosque (Rajgurunagar/Khed) 6. Tombs Bagh Rauza – Tomb of Ahmad Nizam Shah I (Ahmadnagar) Saudagar Gumbaz (Junnar) Sarje Khan’s Tomb – DōBōti Chirā (Ahmadnagar) Tomb of Changiz Khan (Ahmadnagar) Tomb of Bava Bangali Tomb of Salabat Khan Rumi Khan’s Tomb Tomb Attributed to Ahmad Nizam Shah I (Khuldabad) Shah Sharif’s Tomb (Ahmadnagar) Tomb of Haji Hamid (Ahmadnagar) Bhonsale Memorials (Verul) Dilawar Khan’s Tomb (Rajgurunagar/Khed) Lakhuji Jadhav’s Tomb (Sindkhed Raja) Malik Ambar’s Tomb (Khuldabad) 7. Miscellaneous Buildings The Water System of Ahmadnagar The Waterworks at Manzarsumbah Āb Anbār and Bā dgir at Savedi Hammam at Chaul Shahi Hammam at Daulatabad The Dam near Daulatabad Khufiya Bavdi The Caravanserai at Chaul Chini Mahal Chitakhana Conclusion: End of an Old World Appendix Notes Bibliography