[3] Further ancestry can also be traced from immigrant Muslims referred to as Afaqis,[4] also known as Pardesis who came from Central Asia, Iraq and Iran and had settled in the Deccan region during the Bahmani Sultanate (1347).

[7] Following the demise of the Bahmanis, the Deccan Sultanate period marked a golden age for Deccani culture, notably in the arts, language, and architecture.

[9][10] After the Partition of India and the annexation of Hyderabad, large diaspora communities formed outside the Deccan, especially in Pakistan, where they make up a significant portion of the Urdu speaking minority, the Muhajirs.

[12] The Bahmanid empire was founded by Hasan Gangu, or also known as Zafar Khan, a ruler of Afghan or Turk origin.

[21] The Bahmanids' aggressive confrontation with the two main Hindu kingdoms of the southern Deccan, Warangal and Vijayanagar, made them renowned among Muslims as warriors of the faith.

The Vijayanagar empire, which had subdued the Madurai Sultanate after a conflict lasting four decades, found a natural enemy in the Bahmanids of the northern Deccan, over the control of the Godavari-basin, Tungabadhra Doab, and the Marathwada country, although they seldom required a pretext for declaring war.

[37] Muslim military men with Deccani background were much sought after by the Marava and Kallar warrior chiefs of the south Indian hinterland.

Hyder Ali had initially served as an ordinary soldier for the Hindu Wadiyar Kingdom of Mysore and became a cavalry officer in 1749.

Having styled himself as sultan in 1761, Hyder Ali launched a preemptive war against the Marathas, westernizing the army of Mysore in the process and developing the first successful iron-cased rockets as an artillery weapon.

With the withdrawal of Madhav Rao, he overran the borderlands between the kingdoms and seized land and immense booty, increasing his power.

God-gifted kingdom) would be defeated by an alliance of the British, Hyderabad and the Marathas, and the Wadiyars were reinstated on the Mysori throne.Deccani style painting originated in the 16th century in the Deccan region, containing an insightful native style with the blend of Persianate techniques and is similar to neighbouring Vijayanagara paintings.