Dictionary of islamic architecture

dargah or dukka
Covered courtyard in traditional Cairene houses.
Deccan
Region of southern India famous for its distinctive pre-
Mughal Islamic architecture.
The Deccan includes the modern Indian states of
Maharashtra, northern Andhra Pradesh, northern
Karnataka and Goa. Physically the Deccan
comprises a plateau bordered by the Arabian Sea
to the west and the Bay of Bengal to the east. Each
of these coasts is bordered by a range of hills known
as the western and eastern Ghats. The central
plateau is watered by the Krishna and Godavari
rivers which flow eastwards into the Bay of Bengal.
The region has a long history of monumental
religious architecture with Buddhist cave art at
Ajanta and numerous medieval Hindu shrines.
Although the coastal regions were exposed to Islam
from an early period it was not until the thirteenth
century that there were any significant Islamic
conquests in the area. In the early fourteenth century
the Tughluq ruler of Delhi destroyed the power of
the Hindu Hoysala kingdom and for the first time a
major Muslim presence was established in the area.
In 1338 after his victories in the region Muhammad
Tughluq Shah II decided to move his capital from
Delhi to Daulatabad, and although the transfer was
unsuccessful and most of the population returned
to Delhi the conquest established permanent Muslim
rule in the region.
Muslim rule in the Deccan was complex and
fragmentary, with dynasties established at various
capitals gaining the upper hand at different times,
until the late seventeenth century when the area was
brought into the Mughal Empire. From 1347 to 1422
the central Deccan was ruled by the Muslim
Bahmani kings from the newly established fortress
city of Gulbarga. In 1424 Sultan Ahmad Shah
Bahmani moved the capital to another fortress city
Bidar. In 1487 the Bahmani kings were overthrown
by the Barid Shahi dynasty who ruled the city until
the seventeenth century. However, in 1512 real
power passed to the Qutb Shahi sultans who ruled
from their capital of Golconda. Although the
Mughal conquests effectively ended the
independence of the Deccani sultans, the city of
dam

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Hyderabad managed to survive into the twentieth
century as an autonomous state.
The earliest Muslim architecture of the region was
derivative of local architecture, thus the mosque of
Daulatabad incorporates many of the features of a
Hindu temple. However, the architecture of the
newly established fortress cities of Bidar, Golconda,
Gulbaraga and Bijapur was a distinctive mixture of
Indian and Middle Eastern styles. The defensive
architecture of the cities was highly sophisticated
using concentric planning and bent entrances.
Decoration was in the form of coloured tiles
imported from Kashan (Iran), and Persian
calligraphers were used to decorate the façades of
tombs and mosques. The area developed a distinctive
bulbous dome form with petals around the base (or
drum) and heavy tiered finials rising from a moulded
lotus-shaped apex. Other distinctive architectural
features are the use of huge decorative battlements
and complex stucco forms. The standard tomb form
was a domed square with engaged towers or minar
at each corner the finest example of which is the Gol
Gumbaz at Bijapur.