Architectural Traditions in the Deccan

Abstract Reflecting the richness of the new architectural history of Mughal India, this chapter will add another perspective on the significance of building practices in the regional polities of the Deccan between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. The chapter will interpret choices of architectural style and building practice not only in terms of subtle political negotiations with rivals and overlords, but also in terms of inherited knowledge of architects and builders, and the circulation of such knowledge across political boundaries. The Mughals architectural style would eventually be used across the Deccan, replacing the characteristic architecture of the sultanates that they replaced. Most of the polities of the Deccan in the eighteenth centuries, such as the resurgent Marathas and the emergent Asaf Jahs of Hyderabad, would borrow from the architectural legacy of the Mughals.