Friday—Saturday, April 8–9, 9 am–6 pm in Hahn Hall 101, 6VµçÓ°Íø
A workshop sponsored by the Department of History, Department of Art History, Pacific Basin Institute, Middle Eastern Studies/Asian Studies, Benton Museum of Art at 6VµçÓ°Íø, and Environmental Analysis.
With its volcanic mountain passes and monsoonal seaports, monumental Indian and Islamic imperial architecture, vibrant arts and world-famous diamonds, the Deccan region of southern India has long been known for its spectacular landscapes and associated artistic production. The lands of the Deccan plateau have been mapped as a zone of encounter and exchange between Sanskritic and Persianate cultures, the edge of the Islamic world, and a global region at the heart of Indian Ocean maritime routes that connected histories between Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. This workshop explores the construction of a sense of place in the Deccan. It asks, in what ways was the Deccan written, collected, and built? Through the analysis of material culture, built environments, and texts, the workshop examines how the Deccan was made as a space and how space in turn shaped society. The papers presented in the workshop consider how the physical worlds of the Deccan were culturally produced and transformed through architecture, travel, science, language, and poetry.
Image: Khusraw Beholding Shirin Bathing, India, Deccan, Hyderabad, c. 1720-1740. The David Collection, Copenhagen, Denmark.