Abstract
Over the span of the last few decades, a surreptitious but sure change within the historiography of pre- modern India has been the increasing scholarly attention being paid to the history of the regions, as opposed to a style of history writing which had oriented itself towards a heavy focus on the metropolis and its power-wielders, that is, the imperial court and capital, along with its hinterlands in the Ganga–Yamuna plains of the North. This has especially been true of Medieval Indian history. However, with the increased attention being paid to the historical analyses of regions, and the consequent further enrichment of our knowledge concerning the histories of those regions, the imbalance has come to be somewhat made good, although it must be confessed that a lot yet remains to be done in this direction. With the increasingly popular approaches of regional history and connected history, which as an analytical approach takes an interconnected view of the historical relations between regions and sub-regions, newer avenues of scholarly endeavour have emerged. Particularly, in the case of the Medieval and Early Modern Deccan, although magisterial studies such as those by the H. K. Sherwani on the Deccan Sultanates, Nilakanta Sastri on the Vijayanagara Empire and B. R. Kulkarni and Hiroshi Fukuzawa on the Maratha country have long been in circulation, the need was felt for a historical study which could synthesize the existing scholarship, point towards the historical role of the Medieval Deccan beyond merely being a ‘region’ of purely local importance and as an important determinant of the entire Indian sub-continent’s historical trajectory, as well indicate the further possible areas of scholarly foray. The book presently under review, Deccan in Transition, has endeavoured to perform this very task.
The author has taken upon the ambitious task of reconstructing a multi-dimensional history of the Deccan, including the political, economic and socio-cultural aspects of the region’s history, spanning the Medieval and Early Modern periods, with a particular focus on the history of the Marathas. The uniqueness of the present study lies in the fact that the historical role of the Marathas has been seen to have a pan-Indian, and one might even say, an international scope, as opposed to viewing them simply within the framework of regional power. Thus, the various twists and turns of the region’s history as it progressed through its medieval phase have been shown to have moulded the region as it stood at the turn of British mastery over the entirety of the subcontinent, and through its various actors, is believed to have exerted its influence beyond the confines of the region into a wider arena.
The wide array of source material utilized by the author is impressive. The study combines within itself a skilful use of both secondary sources of vital scholarly importance and primary sources, a noteworthy aspect in this connection being the marshalling of a wide range of archival sources, not only concerning the Marathas and the British, but also those sources which originate within the circles of other European commercial powers who were struggling to gain a foothold in the region, such as the French, the Portuguese and the Dutch. It is this aspect which gives this research a unique orientation.
The subject matter of the research has been divided into five chapters. The first chapter, entitled ‘Instrumenting Power: Maratha Synergy and Diplomacy’, delves deeply into the theory and practice of diplomacy under the Marathas. After providing the historical context of the emergence of Maratha diplomacy, and how it was forged in a backdrop of political and military consternation, as various powers sought to exploit the situation to their own advantage after the fall of the two great imperial powers within the Deccan, that is, the Vijayanagara Empire and the Bahamani Sultanate. The roots of the Maratha diplomatic praxis are demonstrated to have begun not under Shivaji, but under his father, Shahji himself, as he emerged as an influential actor and force to reckon with. Along with consolidating the Maratha diplomatic praxis and giving it a practical orientation, Shivaji, it has been noted, also provided it with a theoretical and ideological basis in the form of his cry of Maratha Swarajya, or autonomous rule within the Deccan. What then follows is a military and diplomatic account of the Marathas’ dealings with the various Indian powers, such as the Siddis of Janjira, the Nizam of Hyderabad and the rulers of Mysore, and subsequently moving on to an account of their diplomatic dealings with the European powers such as the Portuguese, the Dutch and the French. The various stages through which these diplomatic relations are believed to have progressed have also been discussed in detail. An account of the military prowess of the Marathas, and its various facets such as artillery, fortification and the use of espionage concludes the chapter.
The second chapter, entitled ‘Maritime Frontiers—Challenges, Conflicts and Collaborations: Sovereignty at Sea’, proceeds to provide an account of the maritime history of the region, with particular attention being devoted to the Marathas and their naval interactions with the contemporary European powers operating within the Indian waters. The chapter begins with an explanation of how the Maratha naval policy emerged as a response to two principal historical processes unfolding within the maritime history of the contemporary Deccan—first, the nearly complete apathy of the Mughal Empire, as a land-based agrarian polity, to the development of a worthwhile naval policy and military as well as commercial infrastructure; and second, the increasing domination of the European commercial powers in the Indian seas and coastal regions, backed by a formidable military force at their own disposal, which could easily flip any confrontation and contestation to their advantage. In view of these developments, it had become absolutely necessary for the Marathas to formulate their own robust naval policy and to develop a worthy naval military infrastructure which could successfully hold its own against the formidable European challenge. What subsequently follows is an account of the evolution of the Maratha navy under successive rulers and its naval interaction between the Marathas and the various European powers.
The third chapter, entitled ‘Prospects and Perspectives of Symbiosis: Osmosis of Deccan Society and Culture’, dwells upon the Deccan’s cultural history, in particular, that of the medieval Maratha country. The author has meticulously shown how different strands of cultural influences interacted together to result in a process of cultural fusion which gave the region its unique cultural form, thus making it a ‘melting pot of cultures’ in the truest sense. What is also interesting is the analysis of the interaction between the Europeans and the Deccan’s indigenous culture.
The fourth chapter, entitled ‘Efflorescence and Manifestations: Art and Architecture in Deccan’, begins with a survey of the architecture as evolved under the Europeans—the Portuguese, the Dutch and the French—and finally moves on to the architecture under the Marathas. It also includes a survey of Marathi painting and sculpture as art forms and concludes with a survey of Medieval Marathi literature.
The fifth and the last chapter, entitled ‘Trajectories of Entrepreneurship: Trade and Commerce in Deccan’ begins with a survey of Deccan’s maritime as well as inland trade, and subsequently dwells upon Deccan’s indigenous crafts, especially the diamond industry. The engagement of the European companies—the Portuguese, the Dutch and the French—with Deccan’s economy has been discussed at length. The crucial role of bankers and banking institutions in the Medieval Deccan has also been thoroughly discussed. The book finally concludes with appendices on a genealogy of the Bhosales, a chronology of key events, and the various governors-general of the European companies in contemporary India.
To conclude, we see that the importance of this book lies in the new kind of intervention it has sought to make. Whereas previously the major chunk of attention to European influence over the Deccan was devoted to the British and their conquests, this work has sought to de-centre that gaze towards the activities of the other European powers at work on the contemporary scene. The extensive range of the book also means that it shall serve as a useful reference to all the students of the Medieval Deccan’s history, right from the undergraduate to the research levels.