George Michell

Helen Philon

The buildings erected in the Deccan region of India belonged to a number of pre-Mughal kingdoms that reigned in the Deccan from the middle of the 14th century onwards. The monuments testify to a culture where local and imported ideas, vernacular and pan-Islamic traditions fused and re-interpreted, to create a majestic architectural heritage with exceptional buildings on the edge of the Islamic world. Many are still standing - yet outside this region of peninsular India, they remain largely unknown.0General publications on Indian Islamic architecture usually devote a single chapter to the Deccan. Even specialist monographs can only cover a portion of the region, due to the sheer number of sites. While it is impossible to encompass the full breadth of the subject in a single volume, this book aims to embrace the visual diversity of the Deccan without sacrificing the rigour of academic study. Structures of historical or architectural significance are placed in their context, as the authors discuss building typologies, civic facilities and ornamental techniques, from plaster and carved stone to glazed tiles and mural painting. A chapter is dedicated to each principal Deccan site, interweaving the rise and fall of these cities with a pictorial journey through their ruins, and each building is accompanied by an overhead plan view.0.

Islamic Architecture of Deccan India

This book examines the private and ceremonial structures found in the five principal dynastic capitals and administrative centres of the Deccan during the 14th-19th centuries. For the first time the Indo-Islamic courtly cultures of the different dynasties that ruled the Deccan, with their surrounding garden areas and water resources, have been considered as one entity. The authors present much new data and interpretations based on recent research. The articles and photographs offer a fresh look at both familiar and unfamiliar buildings, capturing the architectural inventiveness and dazzling details of these now silent but splendid palaces.

Helen Philon

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