"This book is a collection of 28 articles from eminent scholars spread in various parts of the world who have done some serious work on the history of the Deccan during the medieval and modern periods. Professor A.R. Kulkarni to whom this work is dedicated as a felicitation volume has done commendable service to the world of scholars interested in the study of medieval and modern Deccan. Various aspects of the history of the Deccan such as society, polity, economy, culture, education, art and monetary system are discussed in this work. The emphasis of this work has not been to present as chauvinistic history of a region, but to illuminate its history so as to give some coherence to this volume. This region has been chosen on the basis of the fact that Professor A.R. Kulkarni, in his long and distinguished career as Professor and founder head of the Department of History, Poona University, Chairman, Indian Council of Historical Research and Vice-Chancellor of Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, has illuminated unexplored parts of this geographical segment helping us to understand our past. He inspired a number of scholars to take up the history of this region for their research and teaching. This justifies the title of the book and its contents."
