Between the 14th and 18th centuries, a multitude of magnificent buildings were erected in the Deccan region of India by the Islamic Sultanates. Dr. Philon’s discussion on this architectural heritage will focus on the Bahamanis (with their courts in Gulbarga and Bidar) and the more versatile cultural legacy of the Adil Shahis (a prominent group that succeeded the Bahamanis with their capital in Bijapur), and will illustrate how the complex cultural environment of the Deccan, with a Hindu and multiethnic Muslim community, was a place where Persianate and Hindu traditions were reciprocally re-interpreted and shaped the identity of the Sultanates.

Image: Interior views, The Great Mosque, Gulbarg, Gulbarg City, Karnataka, India, 1407 CE. Photo credit, S.N. Barid. A Wikimedia Commons file