The Courts of the Deccan Sultanates: Living Well in the Persian Cosmopolis

Cover
Half-title page
Title page
Copyright page
Dedication
Contents
List of
Figures
Acknowledgements
Note on Transliteration
Chronology of the Deccan Sultanate
Rulers
List of
Abbreviations
Introduction: Cosmopolitanism, Courtliness and Ethics in the Deccani Sultanates
	Historical Background
	The Court, Courtiers and Courtly Societies
	Ethics
	‘The Persianate’ and the ‘Persian Cosmopolis’
	Structure of the Book
Part I Courtly Society
	1 Courtly Disposition
		A ‘Cosmopolitan’ Education
		An Ethical Education
		A Courtly Disposition
		Knowledge and Action
		Courtly Bodies
		Bodies and Objects
		Conclusion
	2 Networks, Patrons and Friends
		Travel and Knowledge
		Immigration to the Bahmani Sultanate
		Nimdihi’s Network
		Immigration to the Successor Sultanates
		The Poet as Peripatetic Courtier
		Patronage, Family and Friendship
		Promoting New Courtiers: Mahmud Gavan
		Friendship and Sociability123
		The Majlis: Performative Sociability
		Sociable Stimulants and Bodily Anxieties
		Conclusion
	3 Courts, Merchants and Commodities
		Trade in Sultanate Deccan
		Elite Involvement in Trade
		Horse Trader, Kingmaker and Governor: Khalaf Hasan Basri
		‘Prince of Merchants’, Vizier and Scholar: Mahmud Gavan
		Bijapuri Kingmaker, Portuguese Banker: Asad Khan Lari
		Courtly Traders
		Conspicuous Courtly Consumption
		Trade, Titles and Courtly Rhetoric
		‘Mercantilisation’ and ‘Courtisation’
		Exchange and Ethics
		Conclusion
Part II Courtly Skills
	4 Scribal Skills
		Letter Writing as a Courtly Skill
		Epistolographic Networks
		The Development of Insha
		Defining Insha in the Bahmani Sultanate: The Manāz̤īr al-Inshāʾ
		The Transformative Powers of Speech
		Insha and the Science of Letters
		Transforming the Social World
		Language Choices in the Persian Cosmopolis
		The ‘True Munshi’
		Bodily Transformations
		Conclusion
	5 Esoteric Skills
		Defining the Esoteric Sciences
		Powerful and Effective Forces
		‘Necessary Medicine for their Lives’
		Triangular Gardens
		Planetary Associations
		Reading Chakram: Practical Courtly Tools
		Enchantment, Submission and Control: Invocations and Talismans
		The Esoteric Sciences as Ethical Training
		Esoteric Bodily Practices
		Olfactory Transformations
		Esoteric Sciences in Bijapur
		Commensurable Cosmologies
		A Deccani Courtly Culture
		Vernacularisation, Cosmopolitanism and the Cosmos
		Conclusion
	6 Martial Skills
		The Ambiguity of Youth
		Javanmardi and Futuvat
		An Ethical Ideal
		Javanmardi in the Deccan
		Consolidating Martial Knowledge
		Wrestling and Javanmardi
		A Courtly Wrestler: Yusuf Adil Shah
		Critiquing the Ethical Ideal
		Conclusion
Concluding Remarks
Select Bibliography of Primary Sources
Index