Hyderabad and the Deccan

Once a coveted and strategic location on the east-west trade route, the Deccan plains are located just to the south of India’s heartland and are a little-known yet culturally rich region of southern India. The historic city of Hyderabad was once the capital city of the 16th century Qutb Shahi rulers and the focus of Muslim power in south India. Today, the city has a vibrant, cosmopolitan character. It is an ideal base to explore the graceful British Residency, the sprawling impregnable Golconda fortress with its striking ruins of old palaces and military structures and the old city with its iconic Charminar and the teeming Laad Bazaar.

South of Hyderabad, the beautifully preserved 4th-century Chalukyan period monuments can be found at Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here, the spectacular cave temples demonstrate the evolution of Hindu rock-cut cave temples and temple architecture in India. With temples built in different styles next to each other, the area is popularly called the cradle of temple architecture. To the north of Badami, Bijapur has the largest concentration of late medieval Islamic ruins in southern India, including the Gol Gumbaz, with the second largest dome in the world, and the striking Ibrahim Rauza, with its impressive tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah II.

Between Bijapur and Hyderabad lies the ancient city of Gulbarga with its sprawling Gulbarga fort showcasing the massive strategically mounted cannons, the grand Jama Masjid, and dilapidated tombs that reveal the influence of Indo-Islamic art. Bidar, the 15th-century capital of the Bahamani rulers, lies east of Hyderabad. The ruins of the massive Bidar Fort, including its mosques and palaces with their original wooden columns and tile mosaics inlaid with mother of pearl, highlight the inspiration drawn from Central Asian architecture.