Introduction: cosmopolitanism, courtliness and ethics in the Deccani Sultanates; Part I. Courtly Society: 1. Courtly disposition; 2. Networks, patrons and friends; 3. Courts, merchants and commodities; Part II. Courtly Skills: 4. Scribal skills; 5. Esoteric skills; 6. Martial skills; Concluding remarks.
Illuminates the centrality of courtliness in the political and cultural life of the Deccan in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Emma J. Flatt is Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
'The Courts of the Deccan Sultanates shifts the spotlight from
South Asian kingship and rulers to the courtly environments they
inhabited. Challenging Orientalist stereotypes of Indo-Muslim
courts as mired in luxury and decadence, the book examines the
courts of the early modern Deccan on their own terms, showing how
the syncretic sensibilities and skills they cultivated accommodated
the wide range of peoples who served in them. A marvellous
achievement and a convincing exploration in historical
anthropology.' Richard Eaton, University of Arizona
'In this magisterial work, Emma J. Flatt skillfully opens up for us
the 'black box' of Persianate court culture. Always recognized as
important but never before theorized or understood in any detail,
the social networks and bodily practices of Persianate courtly
culture now stand illuminated in all their fascinating complexity.'
Phillip B. Wagoner, Wesleyan University, Connecticut
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