Islamic Architecture of Deccan India

One of the first in-depth studies on the Deccan: a major survey on unpublished Islamic buildings. Stunningly illustrated, featuring high-quality, full-color photographs of palaces, mosques and tombs, taken by Antonio Martinelli, as well as architectural plans for almost every featured building. Compiled by leading academics in the field, this book is sure to become a seminal textThe 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. General 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 rigor 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.