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Epigraphic Practices in Sultanate India: A View from Chanderi

Figure 1. Map of Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, India, Credits : Saarthak Singh

 

Strategically positioned within the forested hills of central India, the city of Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh offers an unparalleled view of epigraphic practices during the period of Sultanate rule (Fig. 1). Annexed from the Pratihāra kings, the city and hill fortress became the seat of a governorate (iqāʾ) under the Sultans of Delhi (1310–1398), and rapidly grew from a garrison town (qasba) into a capital city under the Sultans of Mandu (1401–1565). By the end of the 15th century, its urban topography comprised a citadel (qala‘), a castle (hiṣār), a walled town (shahr), and a walled suburb (bīrūn shahr) with numerous reservoirs, stepwells, mosques, caravanserais, and palatial garden estates. These urban foundations are documented by a voluminous corpus of inscriptions in Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, and Hindi languages, which provide one of the richest repositories for architectural calligraphy produced for a variety of patrons, places, and publics in the provinces of Hindustan.

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