TITLE: Rare Deccan Paintings from European Collections This talk will showcase images of rarely seen Deccan sultanate era paintings from the seventeenth- and eighteenth centuries currently found in European collections. In particular, the talk will focus on the Rijksmuseum's Deccan origin Witsen Album made for Dutch consumption along with images from two Dakani manuscripts commissioned by female patrons and an ornate calligraphed page from a Dakani Qasidah (praise poem) dedicated to Golconda's Sultan 'Abdullah Qutb Shah housed at the the British Library, London. Through anecdotes and stories about the creation and movement of these paintings, this talk aims to broaden our understanding of the dynamic and rich history of painting and manuscript culture of the Deccan. Additionally, it will demonstrate how Hyderabad was plugged into regional and trans-regional artistic and oceanic networks between 1500-1800 CE.