Power, Memory, Architecture

Most studies of the history of the early modern Deccan focus on struggles between the region's primary centers, that is, the great capital cities such as Bijapur, Vijayanagara, or Golconda. This study, by contrast, examines the political histories and material culture of smaller, fortified strongholds both on the plains and atop hills, the control of which was repeatedly contested by rival primary centers. Exceptionally high levels of conflict over such secondary centers occurred between 1300 and 1600, and especially during the turbulent sixteenth century when gunpowder technology had become widespread in the region. The authors bring two principal objectives to the enquiry. One is to explore how political power, monumental architecture, and collective memory interacted with one another in the period under study. The study's authors-one trained in history, the other in art history and archaeology-argue for systematically integrating the methodologies of history, art history, and archaeology in attempts to reconstruct the past. The study's other aim is to radically rethink the usefulness of Hindu-Muslim relations as the master key by which to interpret this period of South Asian history, and to propose instead a model informed by Sanskrit and the Persian literary traditions.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ; LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ; NOTE ON TRANSLATION, TRANSLITERATION, AND ABBREVIATIONS ; INTRODUCTION ; I. ORIENTATIONS ; 1. Chalukya Emperors, Delhi Sultans, 1000-1350 ; 2. Temples and Conquest, 1296-1500 ; II. KALYANA AND THE CHALUKYA LEGACY ; 3. Reviving the Chalukya Imperium at Sixteenth-century Vijayanagara ; 4. Bijapur's Revival of the Chalukya Imperium ; III. WARANGAL AND THE KAKATIYA LEGACY ; 5. Shitab Khan and the Restoration of Kakatiya Cults and Temples ; 6. Qutb Shahi Warangal and the Foundation of Hyderabad ; IV. THE RAICHUR DOAB IN THE AGE OF GUNPOWDER ; 7. The Military Revolution in the Deccan ; 8. The Political Functions of City Gates ; CONCLUSION ; APPENDIX 1: NOTES ON METHOD ; APPENDIX 2: AN OVERVIEW OF THE THREE PRIMARY STUDY SITES ; SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY ; INDEX ; ABOUT THE AUTHORS