Deccan | |
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Region | |
Deccan | |
Nickname: The Southern Country | |
States | Maharashtra Telangana Andhra Karanataka |
Largest City | Hyderabad |
Demonym | Deccani/Dakhini |
Demographics | |
• Ethnic groups | Telugus, Marathis, Kannadigas, Deccanis, Hyderabadis, Lambadis, Gonds |
• Languages | Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Deccani Urdu |
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Deccanis |
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Deccan, or the Deccan, is a historical and socio-political [1] region of the Indian Subcontinent. [2] Roughly corresponding to the geographic boundaries of the Deccan Plateau, it is often used to refer to lands and cultures north of Tamilakam, and south of the Vindhyas. Various polities including the Bahmanis, Deccan Sultanates, and Hyderabad Deccan have used this term to refer to their country. [3]
Historians have defined the term Deccan differently. These definitions range from a narrow one by R. G. Bhandarkar (1920), who defines Deccan as the Marathi speaking area lying between the Godavari and Krishna rivers, to a broad one by K. M. Panikkar (1969), who defines it as the entire Indian peninsula to the south of the Vindhyas. [4] Firishta (16th century) defined Deccan as the territory inhabited by the native speakers of Kannada, Marathi, and Telugu languages. Richard M. Eaton (2005) settles on this linguistic definition for a discussion of the region's geopolitical history. [5]
Stewart N. Gordon (1998) notes that historically, the term "Deccan" and the northern border of Deccan has varied from Tapti River in the north to Godavari River in the south, depending on the southern boundary of the northern empires. Therefore, while discussing the history of the Marathas, Gordon uses Deccan as a "relational term", defining it as "the area beyond the southern border of a northern-based kingdom" of India. [6]
The word Deccan is an anglicized version of the word dakkhaṇa, found in many languages of the Deccan [7] [8] It has etymological roots in the Sanskrit dakṣiṇa and the later Prakrit dakkhin (दक्षिण), which mean the "south". [9]
Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent is conventionally said to start in 712, after the conquest of Sindh and Multan by the Umayyad caliphate. It began in the Indian subcontinent in the course of a gradual conquest. The perfunctory rule by the Ghaznavids in Punjab was followed by Ghurids, and Sultan Muhammad of Ghor (r.1173–1206) is generally credited with laying the foundation of Muslim rule in Northern India.
The large Deccan Plateau of the Indian Subcontinent is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges.
Deccani or Deccani Urdu, is a language spoken in the Deccan region of India and the native language of the Deccani people. A variety of Urdu, the historical form of Deccani sparked the development of Urdu literature during the late-Mughal period. Deccani arose as a lingua franca under the Delhi and Bahmani Sultanates, as trade and migration from the north introduced Old Urdu to the Deccan region. It later developed a literary tradition under the patronage of the Deccan Sultanates.
The Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, running from Daman at the mouth of Daman Ganga River in the north to Anjediva and Karwar in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau in the east. The hinterland east of the coast has numerous river valleys and riverine islands among the hilly slopes leading up into the tablelands of the Deccan. The region has been recognised by name, since at least the time of Strabo in the third century C.E., and was a thriving mercantile port with Arab tradesmen from the 10th century. The best-known islands of Konkan are Ilhas de Goa, the site of the Goa state's capital at Panjim, and the seven islands of Bombay, on which lies Mumbai, the capital of the state of Maharashtra.
The Peshwa was the appointed prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati ; later, under the Bhat family, they became the de facto leaders of the Maratha Confederacy, with the Chhatrapati becoming a nominal ruler. During the last years of the Maratha Empire, the Peshwas themselves were reduced to titular leaders, and remained under the authority of the Maratha nobles and the British East India Company.
The Vindhya Range is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India.
The Bahmani Sultanate was a Sunni Muslim empire that ruled the Deccan Plateau in South India. The Bahmani Sultanate came to power in 1347 during the Rebellion of Ismail Mukh after Ismail Mukh abdicated in favor of Zafar Khan, who would establish the Bahmani Sultanate. The Bahmani Sultanate would be distinguished off its perpetual wars with its neighbors, including its rival, the Vijayanagara Empire, which would outlast the Sultanate.
The Qutb Shahi dynasty was a Persianate Shia Islamic dynasty of Turkoman origin that ruled the Sultanate of Golkonda in southern India. After the collapse of Bahmani Sultanate, the Qutb Shahi dynasty was established in 1512 AD by Sultan-Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk, better known though less correctly referred to in English as "Quli Qutb Shah".
Indo-Persian culture refers to a cultural synthesis present in India and Pakistan. It is characterised by the absorption or integration of Persian aspects into the various cultures of South Asia. The earliest introduction of Persian influence and culture to the subcontinent was by various Muslim Turko-Persian rulers, such as the 11th-century Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, rapidly pushed for the heavy Persianization of conquered territories in northwestern India, where Islamic influence was also firmly established. This socio-cultural synthesis arose steadily through the Delhi Sultanate from the 13th to 16th centuries, and the Mughal Empire from then onwards until the 19th century. Various Muslim dynasties of Turkic, local Indian and Afghan origin patronized the Persian language and contributed to the development of a Persian culture in India. The Delhi Sultanate developed their own cultural and political identity which built upon Persian and Indic languages, literature and arts, which formed the basis of an Indo-Muslim civilization.
Deshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and North Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Brahmins are also concentrated in the states of Telangana (which was earlier part of Hyderabad State and Berar Division), Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh (Which was earlier part of Central Provinces and Berar) Historian Pran Nath Chopra and journalist Pritish Nandy say, "Most of the well-known saints from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were Deshastha Brahmins". The mother tongue of Deshastha Brahmins is either Marathi, Kannada or Telugu.
Dakshinapatha is a historical region which is an ancient equivalent of present day South India or Deccan plateau and which may mean;
Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of western states of Republic of India. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative division includes the states of Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra along with the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, while the Ministry of Culture and some historians also include the state of Rajasthan. The Geological Survey of India includes Maharashtra but excludes Rajasthan whereas Ministry of Minority Affairs includes Karnataka but excludes Rajasthan.
The Musunuri Nayakas were Telugu chieftains of 14th-century South India who were briefly significant in the region of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Musunuri Kapaya Nayaka is said to have taken a leadership role among the Andhra chieftains and driven out the Delhi Sultanate from Warangal. But his rise was soon challenged by the Bahmani Sultanate and he was defeated. The Recherla Nayakas wrested power from him in 1368.
The Mughal–Maratha Wars was a conflict between the Mughal Empire and the descendants of the Maratha ruler Shivaji from the time of Shivaji's death in 1680 until the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707. Shivaji was a central figure in what has been called "the Maratha insurgency" against the Mughal state. Both he and his son, Sambhaji, or Shambuji, typically, alternated between rebellion against the Mughal state and service to the Mughal sovereign in an official capacity. It was common practice in late 17th-century India for members of a ruling family of a small principality to both collaborate with the Mughals and rebel.
The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Nagpur was the primary winter capital while Pachmarhi served as the regular summer retreat. It became the Central Provinces and Berar in 1903.
The recorded history of Andhra Pradesh, one of the 28 states of 21st-century India, begins in the Vedic period. It is mentioned in Sanskrit epics such as the Aitareya Brahmana. Its sixth-century BCE incarnation Assaka lay between the Godavari and Krishna Rivers, one of sixteen mahajanapadas. The Satavahanas succeeded them, built Amaravati, and reached a zenith under Gautamiputra Satakarni.
The Geography of South India comprises the diverse topological and climatic patterns of South India. South India is a peninsula in the shape of a vast inverted triangle, bounded on the west by the Arabian Sea, on the east by the Bay of Bengal and on the north by the Vindhya and Satpura ranges.
Maharashtra is a state in the western region of India. It is India's second-most populous state and third-largest state by area. The region that comprises the state has a long history dating back to ca. 1300–700 BCE, although the present-day state was not established until 1960 CE.
The history of Telangana, located on the high Deccan Plateau, includes its being ruled by the Satavahana Dynasty, the Kakatiya Dynasty (1083–1323), the Musunuri Nayaks (1326–1356), the Delhi Sultanate, the Bahmani Sultanate (1347–1512), Golconda Sultanate (1512–1687) and Asaf Jahi dynasty (1724-1950).
The Deccanis or Deccani People are an ethnoreligious community of Urdu-speaking Muslims who inhabit, or trace their ancestry from, the Deccan region of Southern and Central India, and speak the Deccani dialect. The community traces its origins to the shifting of the Delhi Sultanate's capital from Delhi to Daulatabad in 1327 during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq. The migration of Hindavi-speaking people to the Deccan, and the conversion of local Hindus to Islam, led to the creation of a new community of Urdu-speaking Muslims, known as the Deccani, who would come to play an important role in the politics of the Deccan. Their language, Deccani Urdu, emerged as a language of linguistic prestige and culture during the Bahmani Sultanate, further evolving in the Deccan Sultanates.