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Power, Memory, Architecture: Contested Sites on India's Deccan Plateau, 1300-1600
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.
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.
424 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2014
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About the author
Richard M. Eaton
13 books89 followersRichard Maxwell Eaton is a Professor of History at the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA, where he has taught since 1972. His research interests focus on the social and cultural history of pre-modern India (1000-1800), and especially on the range of historical interactions between Iran and India, and on Islam in South Asia.
Professor Eaton has authored several significant monographs that have contributed substantially to the field. These include studies on the social roles of Sufis in the Indian sultanate of Bijapur (1300-1700), the growth of Islam in Bengal (1204-1760), the social history of the Deccan from 1300 to 1761, and the interplay between memory and art in the Deccan plateau between 1300 and 1600. His scholarly work encompasses a range of analytical approaches, including Weberian social thought, Annales School methodology, biography, and architectural history.
His most recent major publication is the second volume of the new Penguin history of India, titled "India in the Persianate Age, 1000-1765". This work explores the long-term interaction between the Persianate and Sanskritic worlds, the Iranian Plateau and South Asia, and the relationship between Islam and Indian religious traditions.
In addition to his work on Indian history, Professor Eaton is actively engaged in the fields of world history and comparative history. His teaching portfolio includes courses on the History of Medieval India, the History of Modern India and Pakistan, Comparative History, and World History.
Professor Eaton has authored several significant monographs that have contributed substantially to the field. These include studies on the social roles of Sufis in the Indian sultanate of Bijapur (1300-1700), the growth of Islam in Bengal (1204-1760), the social history of the Deccan from 1300 to 1761, and the interplay between memory and art in the Deccan plateau between 1300 and 1600. His scholarly work encompasses a range of analytical approaches, including Weberian social thought, Annales School methodology, biography, and architectural history.
His most recent major publication is the second volume of the new Penguin history of India, titled "India in the Persianate Age, 1000-1765". This work explores the long-term interaction between the Persianate and Sanskritic worlds, the Iranian Plateau and South Asia, and the relationship between Islam and Indian religious traditions.
In addition to his work on Indian history, Professor Eaton is actively engaged in the fields of world history and comparative history. His teaching portfolio includes courses on the History of Medieval India, the History of Modern India and Pakistan, Comparative History, and World History.
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August 21, 2019
Eaton does his magic again! This book is an ingenuous piece of cultural history. Eaton and Wagoner employ imagination that is rarely sighted in historiography. They affirm that history-writing is an area of art. How can one re-imagine the arrangement of ancient and medieval temple artefacts in a living city? How can inscriptions mean more than chronicles? The authors are able to think between centuries and dynasties and break the fetters of chronology and classification. The book argues that architecture is one of the tools in the building of genealogies for the sake of legitimacy. The Tughluqs built links with Chalukyas and so did the Aravidus and Adil Shahis they say. Likewise the Qutb Shahis saw themselves as successors to the Kakatiyas it seems. A few of the chapters in this book - I had to read for an earlier course of mine. After reading it then, I was certain that I would return to it. And there is more that I must return to: the sites themselves. I was awed by Hampi, Bijapur, and Warangal. Since Eaton, more intense light was thrown at these places and their fascinating pasts.
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