time,providinga fulsome
interpretation of
architecture.
Sohoni also looks
briefly at the literature,
visualcultureandcoinsof
theNizamShahs.It is in-
teresting to note that
Ahmednagarstartedmint-
ingits owncoinsonlyin
the secondhalfof the 16th
century, andthiswasdone
onlywhenit realisedthe
implicationsof Mughal ex-
pansionandhadto sym-
bolically demonstrate its
independent status.
Commencing his de-
tailedlookat the architec-
ture of Ahmednagar,
Sohoni dedicates a chapter
to urbanpatternsin six set-
tlements of Ahmednagar:
Junnar (thefirst capitalof
theNizam Shahis),Dau-
latabad(theoldercapital
of thenorthernDeccan),
Ahmednagar (thecapital
builtfromscratchby the
NizamShahis),Chaul(a
majorseaport),Parenda(a
fortified military centre
builtby the Bahmanis)and
SindkhedRaja (thehered-
itaryfief of theJadhavs,
Maratha nobles at the
courtof the NizamShahs).
He alsolooksat thewater
technologyandtheforti-
fications in these settle-
ments.
In the nextchapter,So-
honilooksat thepalaces
andmansionsof Ahmed-
nagarsuchas FarahBaksh
Bagh,a largebuildingori-
ginallyset on a raised plat-
formin a poolof water.
Sohoni spendssometime
on thismonumentbefore
moving on to detaileddis-
cussionsof othermonu-
mentssuchas theHasht
Bihisht Bagh, Manzar-
sumbah and
KalawantinichaMahal.
In a subsequent
chapter,Sohonidiscusses
the architecture of 12
mosques spread across
various settlements in
erstwhile Ahmednagar.
Interestingly, Sohoni
pointsoutthattherewas
no main congregational
mosque in Ahmednagar
where proclamations of
sovereignty could be made
on Friday, whichis some-
thinguniqueandcanbe
attributedto the Shiiteori-
entationof its rulers. In the
nextchapter,Sohoni looks
at tombs. Onewouldima-
ginethatliketheirroyal
forbearsandpeersamong
theDeccansultanates the
NizamShahiswouldalso
havegrandtombs,but bar-
ringthefirst kingof the
dynasty,noneof the other
kingsareburiedhereas
their bodies were em-
balmed and sent off to
Karbala(Iraq)in homage
to theirShiitebelief.
Thus, the 14 tombsthat
havebeendiscussedare of
the higher nobles who
wereburiedin theregion
andmemorials thatare at-
tributed to Maratha
nobles,suchas the ancest-
ors of Shivajiin Verulandthatof LakhujiJadhavin
Sindkhed Raja. Another
chapter is dedicatedto the
discussion of miscel-
laneousbuildings, includ-
ing royalhamams.
Sohoni doesnotclaim
to have cataloguedall the
extant buildingsfromthe
Ahmednagar era,buthis
listis fairly thorough and
includesall the prominent
monumentsin the region.
Through his work,the
author soundsan urgent
noteof cautionas manyof
these buildings are in a
poorstateof preservation
witha fewevenslated for
demolition. Severalnote-
worthy monuments are
notevenprotected by ar-
chaeological authorities.
Sohonihas providedac-
companying photographs
andarchitecturalplansfor
many of the monuments in
his work.Hisdetailedap-
pendix is alsousefulas it
providesan annotatedlist-
ingof inscriptions on sev-
eralmonuments.
Sohoni concludes by
providingan overviewof
what the Nizam Shahisrepresented.They werethe
lastmedievalstatethatthe
earlymodern Mughalstate
encountered as it swept
acrossthe Deccan.
He writes:“Thisstudy
locatesthe NizamShahsas
a criticalcomponentof the
architectural andpolitical
history of thesixteenth-
century Deccan,andhope-
fullycanrestoreto them
someof the statusthatthey
oncecommandedin their
owntime.”Drawinga dir-
ectlinkfromtheNizam
Shahis to the incipient
Marathi state that
emerged, Sohonicontra-
dictsreductive scholarship
thatseestheMarathasas
breaking froman Islamic-
atepast.Hewritesthat
“...itis possible to conclude
thattherewasno nation-
hoodor politybasedon an
ethnic identity, andthat
theirethnicidentitywasa
marker of social rise
throughmilitary service.
Theculturalforms of the
greaterIslamicateworld,
as expressedin the Deccan
by theBahmanis,theVi-
jayanagarkings,andthe
latersultanates,werealso
adopted by theMaratha
courts.In conception,exe-
cution,andornament, the
architecture of theearly
Marathaswasexactlythe
sameas thatof theirsul-
tanateoverlords andpeers.
Thestructural forms, dec-
orativedetails,andplan-
ninglogicconformto the
Islamicatearchitectureof
the Deccansultanates.”
Thisbookis valuable to
architectural historians
andhistorians of medieval
India.A logical expecta-
tionwouldbe for similar
research to be done on the
other Deccansultanates,
eachof which represented
robustregionalresistance
to theimperialpolicyof
the Mughals. $DAMDIMOSQUE(c. 1562). In one chapterof the book,
the authordiscusses the architecture of 12 mosques
spread across various settlementsin Ahmednagar.BYSPECIALARRANGEMENT