A Social History of the Deccan, 1300-1761: Eight Indian Lives, Part 1, Volume 8

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Cambridge University Press, Nov 17, 2005 - History - 221 pages
In this fascinating account of one of the least known parts of South Asia, Eaton recounts the history of the Deccan plateau in southern India from the fourteenth century to the rise of European colonialism. He does so, vividly, through the lives of eight Indians who lived at different times during this period, and who each represented something particular about the Deccan. In the first chapter, for example, the author describes the demise of the regional kingdom through the life of a maharaja. In the second, a Sufi sheikh illustrates Muslim piety and state authority. Other characters include a merchant, a general, a slave, a poet, a bandit and a female pawnbroker. Their stories are woven together into a rich narrative tapestry, which illumines the most important social processes of the Deccan across four centuries. This is a much-needed book by the most highly regarded scholar in the field.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
Regional kingdoms of the Deccan 11901310 Page
10
Muslim piety
33
Direct and indirect Tughluq rule 132747
35
The Vijayanagara and Bahmani kingdoms 13471518
44
Bahmani dynasty Page
49
Deccanis and Westerners
59
élite mobility in a Persianized world
78
Nizam Shahi dynasty and its patrons abbreviated
116
Western Deccan in the time of Aurangzeb 16361707
117
nonBrahmin religious movements
129
social banditry in Mughal
155
Eastern Deccan in the time of Aurangzeb 16361707
161
the rise of Brahmins in politics
177
Tarabai and the Bhosle family Satara and Kolhapur branches
178
Select bibliography
203

Tuluva and Aravidu dynasties of Vijayanagara
89
The Deccan in 1565
93
the rise and fall of military slavery
105

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About the author (2005)

Richard Eaton is one of the premier scholars of pre-colonial India. His many publications include The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760 (1993), India's Islamic Traditions, 711-1750 (2003) and Temple Desecration and Muslim States in Medieval India (2004).