How to use WatsApp on your PC

One of the limitations of WhatsApp is that you can only use it on your phone. Wat if you don’t carry your phone, you stuck without WhatsApp. Well it’s not a problem anymore.

WhatsApp has rolled out WhatsApp Web that lets you use WhatsApp inside your PC browser.  Here are instructions on how to setup WhatsApp Web. Read on.

Note that while this guide is for WhatsApp, you can run almost any Android app using this method. Just replace the apk file in step 5 with the apk of the Android app you want to run.

1. You're going to need an Android emulator app to accomplish this. We've tried it with Bluestacks App Player but it should work with any other emulator too. You'll also need a mobile phone to verify the WhatsApp account.

2. Download Bluestacks App Player on your computer.

3. Run the setup file to install it. During installation, Bluestacks will ask for App Store Access and App Notifications. You can uncheck both while installing.

4. Wait for the installation to finish (it takes several minutes). During the final stages of installation, Bluestacks will run in full-screen mode. Tap the diagonal line icon on the top-right to run it in windowed mode. This makes the next few steps easy.

5. Leave Bluestacks App Player running and go to your browser. Download the WhatsApp apk file.

6. Double-click the WhatsApp.apk file that's saved on your PC. The app will automatically install itself in Bluestacks App Player.

7. In Bluestacks, you'll find a grid of apps you've installed. Find and launch WhatsApp.

8. Enter your phone number and click Verify.

9. Now wait for 5 minutes as WhatsApp tries, and fails, to automatically verify using SMS.

10. After 5 minutes, WhatsApp will offer you an option for voice verification. Click Call me.

11. You'll get a phone call. Answer it and you'll hear the verification code being spoken in loop.

12. Enter the verification in WhatsApp.

13. None of your existing contacts will show up in WhatsApp if you use this method. You can still reply to any messages you receive.

14. You can add contacts individually to WhatsApp by clicking on the three dots icon on the top-right Contacts. Click the contact icon on the top-right, next to search. These contacts will be saved locally and will not show up on other devices. You can then start sending messages to these contacts as well.

15. Any groups you're a part of will also not show up on the PC. You will have to ask the group admin to add you to the group again.

8:01 PM - By yatra 0

How to Activate calling Feature in Whatsapp?

The only way to get the calling feature is you have to get a call from a user having Whatsapp with calling feature. Once he called, your WhatsApp will ask you to get update to the latest version. Once you got updated, you’ll get the calling feature. Hurray!!!

Note:
·         The WhatsApp calling feature doesn’t requires Android Lollipop. It also works on Android Kitkat.
·    The least Version for getting this feature is WhatsApp 2.11.528. But this is Buggy. Hence The     WhatsApp version 2.11.531 is Perfect.
·         Use 3G or 4G LTE for better Performance in Voice calling.

12:17 PM - By yatra 0

Facebook rolls out 'embed video' feature

Facebook has finally patched a long-awaited feature into it's code: embedding videos from the website onto other media. While the feature was originally "somewhat" available, it was quite a task to access. The new design is based off YouTube, allowing for easy embed code grabbing and pasting. 

Besides actually being embedded properly now, the Facebook videos appear in a new and fully functional player. As part of the website's push to draw in advertisers, this new feature could really go a long way, not to mention making things much simpler for everyday users. 

In addition, Facebook has also announced that it will soon offer 360-degree videos in its new player, allowing users to pan around a video and look in all directions while it's playing. This is pretty cool for PC, but the gem lies in its functionality for VR, specifically, the Facebook-owned Oculus Rift VR headset. The announcement comes close on the heels of Youtube rolling out 360-degree videos. 

11:39 AM - By yatra 0

Making the carbon nanotube brain electrode

Carbon Nanotube Fibers

The materials used in artificial joints, like knees or hips, not only determine what you will be able to do with the joint, but ultimately for how long. If you’re lucky, you will be a central part in deciding what goes inside you. The same considerations apply when it comes time to visit your local brain interface outfitter. As in the joint business, it now appears that we can do much better than the metal.

Researchers at Rice University have perfected a technique they call ‘wet spinning’ to bundle millions of nanometer-sized carbon nanotubes into micron-sized threads. Depending on the precise mix used, they can tailor these threads for optimal strength, stiffness and conductivity. Group leader Matteo Pasquale had previously created nanotubes that have a higher ratio of both strength and conductivity, to weight, then copper. He made a name for himself in coming up with ways to measure and demonstrate the raw physical prowess of these composite nanotubes. A scaled-up carbon nanotube factory, if it existed, could provide cable that could replace the need for steel-reinforced copper in transmission lines. On smaller scales however, there are already applications that the current supply chain can meet.

The artificial joint business now recognizes that metal grinding on metal doesn’t last very long. It also generates a steady stream undesirable element that deposits themselves, courtesy of the bloodstream, in unfortunate places. Elements like cobalt used to fortify stainless steel, or the vanadium and other goodies used to alloy titanium. Supple plastics like PEEK, sliding on ultra-smooth ceramics have much more to offer. The reason we have gone on here about metals at interfaces in joints, is to set in our heads the fact that herein lies much the same problem we have with implanted electrodes.

In other words, despite their great properties of strength and intrinsic conductivity, they tend to fail at the boundaries. Traditional precious metals used in implants, like platinum and silver, hand off electrons with no problem when the neighbor is another metal. However the impedance shift across the gap to brain is not so smooth — over time there is generally both loss of material in some spots and buildup in others that eventually compromises the whole works. Impedance is a better way to characterize electrode performance than resistance for several reasons. Whereas resistance is only a measure of opposition to a DC current flow, we might imagine impedance as resistance to everything — resistance under different frequencies or waveforms of AC, to pulses, and across sundry materials, conditions, and charge carriers.

In making bidirectional electrodes (those capable of stimulating and recording) it can be difficult to do both well. We should point out that with metals, like the medieval-looking pincushion array to the right, a duty cycle where current is delivered by the electrode alternately in both directions might have some cleaning effect for a while. However when it is time to record, there will eventually be some significant performance loss. While there is no single best impedance, to isolate just a single nearby neuron from the background chatter, you want fairly high electrode impedance — especially if you have a dense array of other neighbor electrodes that can potentially sample the same field. In order to deliver current only where you intend to, the bulk of the electrode body is covered with insulating material. For metal electrodes, glass is often used for the coating, while the nanotubes here used a 3-micron layer of flexible biocompatible polymer.

On the other hand, to deliver current for stimulating neurons you want a low impedance for your electrode sources or sinks. The researchers found that their nanotubes could stimulate neurons using a much lower voltage than traditional electrodes. Nanotubes aren’t just a one-trick pony, though. Even more important to a viable implant technology is the ability to mechanically match the brain. Again the joint provides the perfect analogy: If the stem on your ceramic-coated titanium implant does not bend, i.e. has similar modulus of elasticity and/or geometry as the surrounding bone, you will quickly degrade the bond and the implant will fail.

For stiff electrodes, stiff enough to press down through the cortex anyway, it won’t necessarily be the implant that eventually fails, but rather your soft brain. Consider an average trip to the cross-fit gym. As you clean and jerk even modest weight about, your brain moves too. It’s not just the quickened beat of a pounding heart, but also any number of accelerations, impacts, and gravitational anomalies that you willfully subject your delicately suspended neural tissue to. The ensuing dehydration itself produces significant shrinkage effects, as even does the natural sleep-wake cycle — up to 10% by volume according to some measurements. All this can and would wreak havoc using a stiff implant, even if it is not rigidly bound to any internal or external fixation points.

The researchers demonstrated proof of principle using rats that had the rodent equivalent of Parkinson’s disease. While not qualified to discuss the more subtle points of what that means for the rat, we can report that the softer gentler electrodes stimulated neurons as effectively as metal electrodes that required 10 times the amount of current-delivering area. All without any detectable inflammatory response.

As with joints, electrode arrays cannot be a one-size-fits-all affair. Perhaps the first sign we will know these products will be ready for prime time is when researchers figure out not only where they want to put them, but also what stimulation protocols to use. Things like that are critical to determining the ideal electrode geometry and also how much ‘effective stimulation lifetime’ needs to built into it. As for location, we would suggest that a gray matter array cannot possibly be the same one you want to use for the white matter. Within gray itself you want different properties for unmyelinated versus the myelinated axons, and in the white — as in the cortex for example — you want a different style for the deep layer neuron bodies than you would want for the surface layer neurites.

There are also other promising materials on the horizon to use in these kinds of arrays. Graphene is one that already has shown potential not just in the electrical and optical interface environment, but also in the larger clinical setting. While many of the things raised here are issues for tomorrow, when we eventually start to see them being commonly discussed, we might know it is almost time to shop.

11:28 AM - By yatra 0

Google exec: Here’s where Glass went wrong

Google’s Astro Teller was on hand at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas recently to give a talk on the value of failure. It’s something he knows a bit about as the head of Google’s secretive Google X department. Teller, sometimes jokingly called “Captain of Moonshots,” spoke about a number of projects to help make his point, one of which was Google Glass. While he didn’t outright call Glass a failure, he did explain where Google went wrong. According to Teller, Google got one thing right and another very wrong with Glass.

Teller says the Explorer program was a positive influence on the product — this is what Google got right. There’s only so much even the cleverest engineers can do absent outside input. He pointed to several examples of internal projects that went on far too long, and ultimately had to be scrapped. Getting Glass in the hands of real people was essential to learning where it needed improvement.

Google learned a number of things from the Explorer Program, like the battery life was more important than Google engineers had expected. When people got in the habit of wearing Glass, they wanted to be able to wear it all the time. The measly 570mAh lithium-ion cell in Glass wasn’t up to the task.

Google also learned a lot about cameras and the effect of public perception. Right from the start there were concerns about the ability of Glass to record video. It was far from the first discrete consumer-level device capable of shooting video, but there was something about having it right there at eye-level that made people uneasy. That’s not the sort of thing Google would have expected, and without the Explorer program, engineers wouldn’t have fully appreciated the delicacy of the situation.

This leads to Google’s big mistake with Glass — they treated it like a finished product when it was far from ready. Teller was referring to promotional events early in Glass’ life like the runway show with Diane Von Furstenberg. Having Glass-equipped skydivers land on the roof of the Moscone Center and run down to join co-founder Sergey Brin on stage at Google I/O 2012 was probably ill-conceived as well.

The $1500 price tag was supposed to make Glass look like a prototype technology from the future — something not for the faint of heart. Instead, the promotion and high price of Glass simply gave it the allure of a super-premium product. That was something the Explorer Edition could never live up to, though it wasn’t supposed to. Still, selling Glass through Google Play only strengthens this incorrect assumption. Even some of those who joined the Explorer Program seemed to expect Glass to become a consumer product quickly.

It would not be fair to say Glass as a product is dead, but you certainly can’t call it a success when the head of Google X discusses the Explorer Edition in a talk on failure. This incarnation of Glass failed, but Google X might have learned enough to nail it next time.

11:05 AM - By yatra 0

Solar energy could soon get a boost with tandem cells

Tandom Cell

While Europe has embraced solar power technology to the point that an eclipse can cause mild panic, the efficiency of the best solar cells is still hovering around a mere 25%. That’s a lot of free energy that isn’t being harvested. Past research has pointed to a plentiful mineral known as perovskite as a possible solution to the poor performance of solar cells, and now a team of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University have put theory into action by constructing tandem silicon-perovskite solar cells.

Tandem solar cells (sometimes known as multi junction cells) are composed of more than one semiconductor material. They have the potential to boost efficiency considerably, but their use has been very limited thanks to manufacturing complications and high cost. The Stanford/MIT team focused on these designs because they felt there is a great deal of room for improvement.

Perovskite is a crystalline organometal mineral that can be produced inexpensively in the lab, and also exists in geological deposits all over the world. Scientists have known that perovskite has light absorbing and semiconductor properties for decades, but only in 2009 was it first used in solar cells. The main advantage of using perovskite in a solar cell is that it can be integrated in layers as thin as one micrometer.

The tandem cells created in this experiment also incorporated advances in manufacturing tech to improve the connection between silicon and perovskite layers. This connecting layer, or “tunnel junction,” is composed of heavily doped p-type and n-type silicon that makes the energy barrier between the two layers almost zero. An additional titanium-dioxide layer allows electrons from the perovskite solar cell to flow freely into the silicon tunnel junction, where they recombine with the electrons from the silicon panel.

A tandem solar cell based on silicon and perovskite can absorb a larger segment of solar energy. Tandem solar panels like these minimize a phenomenon known as thermalization. That’s what happens in a solar cell when the energy of photons is released as heat until it reached the absorbing material’s bandgap. Silicon is great at absorbing photons toward the top of the solar energy spectrum (high bandgap), while perovskite is adept at capturing photons from the lower infrared segment (lower bandgap). These specialized absorbing layers can convert the sun’s light into electricity more efficiently than a single absorber could.

As for the observed efficiency, the cells in this experiment performed at the top of the predicted range. The individual silicon and perovskite designs used were not the most advanced, but the increase in efficiency shows promise. A perovskite solar cell with an efficiency of 12.7 percent was stacked on top of a mid-range silicon cell with an efficiency of just 11.4 percent. The tandem cell was able to reach 17 percent, a 50% increase. The researchers believe that refining the perovskite layer and using more advanced silicon solar cells could result in even better gains down the road.

10:32 AM - By yatra 0

How USB Charging Works

USB Connector Types

The tech world has finally coalesced around a charging standard, after years of proprietary adapters and ugly wall wart power supplies. Well, sort of: We’re already seeing some fragmentation in terms of the new USB-C connector, which could eventually replace USB, as well as what is thankfully turning out to be a short-lived obsession Samsung had with larger USB Micro-B connectors for its Galaxy line. But aside from that, and with the obvious exception of Apple’s Lightning connector, micro USB has destroyed the industry’s penchant for custom ports.

There are now four USB specifications — USB 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 3.1 — in addition to the new USB-C connector. We’ll point out where they significantly differ, but for the most part, we’ll focus on USB 3.0, as it’s the most common. 

The other important fact is that in any USB network, there is one host and one device. In almost every case, your PC is the host, and your smart phone, tablet, or camera is the device. Power always flows from the host to the device, but data can flow in both directions.

Okay, now the numbers. A USB socket has four pins, and a USB cable has four wires. The inside pins carry data (D+ and D-), and the outside pins provide a 5-volt power supply. In terms of actual current (milliamps or mA), there are three kinds of USB port dictated by the current specs: a standard downstream port, a charging downstream port, and a dedicated charging port. The first two can be found on your computer (and should be labeled as such), and the third kind applies to “dumb” wall chargers.

In the USB 1.0 and 2.0 specs, a standard downstream port is capable of delivering up to 500mA (0.5A); in USB 3.0, it moves up to 900mA (0.9A). The charging downstream and dedicated charging ports provide up to 1500mA (1.5A). USB 3.1 bumps throughput to 10Gbps in what is called Super Speed+ mode, bringing it roughly equivalent with first-generation Thunderbolt. It also supports power draw of 1.5A and 3A over the 5V bus.

USB-C is a different connector entirely. First, it’s universal; you can put it in either way and it will work, unlike with USB. It’s also capable of twice the theoretical throughput of USB 3.0, and can output more power. Apple is joining USB-C with USB 3.1 on its new Mac Book, and so is Google with the new Chrome book Pixel. But there can also be older-style USB ports that support the 3.1 standard.

The USB spec also allows for a “sleep-and-charge” port, which is where the USB ports on a powered-down computer remain active. You may have noticed this on your desktop PC, where there’s always some power flowing through the motherboard, but some laptops are also capable of sleep-and-charge.

Now, this is what the spec dictates. But in actual fact there are plenty of USB chargers that break these specs — mostly of the wall-wart variety. Apple’s iPad charger, for example, provides 2.1A at 5V; Amazon’s Kindle Fire charger outputs 1.8; and car chargers can output anything from 1A to 2.1A.

10:21 AM - By yatra 0

How to boost your WiFi speed

Wireless networks have come a long way in the past 15 years. And yet, sustained WiFi speeds are still a vexing problem in a lot of situations. A number of things can come into play, such as the way your router is set up, whether there’s nearby interference, if you live in an apartment building or a separate house, and how far apart your devices are from the router. Fortunately, there’s always a way to fix slow transfer speeds.

If you’ve ever messed around with your WiFi router’s settings, you’ve probably seen the word channel. Most routers have the channel set to Auto, but I’m sure many of us have looked through that list of a dozen or so channels and wondered what they are, and more importantly, which of the channels are faster than the others. Well, it turns out some channels are indeed much faster — but that doesn’t mean you should go ahead and change them just yet. Read on to find out more about 802.11 channels, interference, and the massive difference between 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi.

Channels 1, 6, and 11

First of all, let’s talk about 2.4GHz, because as of the start of 2015, almost all WiFi installations still use the 2.4GHz band. 802.11ac, which debuted in 2013, is driving adoption of 5GHz — but thanks to backwards compatibility and dual-radio routers and devices, 2.4GHz will continue to reign for a while.

All of the versions of WiFi up to and including 802.11n (a, b, g, n) operate between the frequencies of 2400 and 2500MHz. These paltry 100MHz are separated into 14 channels of 20MHz each. As you’ve probably worked out, 14 lots of 20MHz is a lot more than 100MHz — and as a result, every 2.4GHz channel overlaps with at least two (but usually four) other channels (see diagram above). As you can probably imagine, using overlapping channels is bad — in fact, it’s the primary reason for awful throughput on your wireless network.

Fortunately, channels 1, 6, and 11 are spaced far enough apart that they don’t overlap. On a non-MIMO setup (i.e. 802.11 a, b, or g) you should always try to use channel 1, 6, or 11. If you use 802.11n with 20MHz channels, stick to channels 1, 6, and 11 — if you want to use 40MHz channels, be aware that the airwaves might be very congested, unless you live in a detached house in the middle of nowhere.

What channel should you use in a built-up area?

If you want maximum throughput and minimal interference, channels 1, 6, and 11 are your best choice — but depending on other wireless networks in your vicinity, one of those channels might be a much better choice than the others.

For example, if you’re using channel 1, but someone next door is annoyingly using channel 2, then your throughput will plummet. In that situation, you would have to change to channel 11 to completely avoid the interference (though 6 would be pretty good as well). It might be tempting to use a channel other than 1, 6, or 11 — but remember that you will then be the cause of interference (and everyone on 1, 6, and 11 will stomp on your throughput, anyway).

In an ideal world, you would talk to your neighbors and get every router to use channels 1, 6, or 11. Bear in mind that interior walls do a pretty good job of attenuating (weakening) a signal. If there’s a brick wall between you and a neighbor, you could probably both use channel 1 without interfering with each other. But if it’s a thin wall (or there’s lots of windows), you should use different channels.

There are tools that can help you find the clearest channel, such as Vistumbler, but it’s probably easier to just switch between channels 1, 6, and 11 until you find one that works well. (If you have two laptops, you can copy a file between them to test the throughput of each channel.)

9:41 AM - By yatra 0

ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA

About the Election Commission

·         The Election Commission is autonomous, quasi-judiciary constitutional body.

·         Its mission is to conduct free and fair elections in India.

·         The Election Commission was established on 25 Jan 1950 under Article 324 of the Constitution.

Powers of the Election Commission

·         The EC enjoys complete autonomy and is insulated from any interference from the Executive.

·         It also functions as a quasi-judiciary body regarding matters related to elections and electoral disputes.

·         Its recommendations are binding on the President of India.

·         However, its decisions are subject to judicial review by High Courts and the Supreme Court acting on electoral petitions.

·         During the election process, the entire Central and state government machinery (including paramilitary and police forces) is deemed to be on deputation to the Commission.

·         The Commission takes effective control of government personnel, movable and immovable property for successful conduct of elections.

Functions of the Election Commission

·         Demarcation of constituencies.

·         Preparation of electoral rolls.

·         Supervision, direction and control of elections to Parliament, Legislatures, President/Vice-President.

·         Scrutiny of nomination papers.

·         Scrutiny of election expenses of candidates.

·         Establish rules for elections.

·         Issue notification of election dates and schedules.

 Determine code of conduct

·         Allot symbols and accord recognition to political parties.

·         Render advice to the President and Governors regarding disqualification of MPs and MLAs.

·         Postpone or countermand elections for specific reasons.

·         Resolve election disputes.

·         Allot schedules for broadcast and telecast of party campaigns.

·         Grant exemptions to persons from disqualifications imposed by judicial decisions.

Composition of the Election Commission

·         The Election Commission is a multimember Commission, the Chief Election Commissioner acts as the Chairperson.

·         All members of the Election Commission enjoy equal vote, while the CEC. additionally also enjoys casting vote. Decisions of the EC are to be based on unanimity or majority.

·         The CEC is appointed by the President.

·         Other members of the Commission are appointed by the President in consultation with the CEC.

·         The CEC can be removed from office only in the manner of a Judge of the Supreme Court. Other members can be removed by the President in consultation with the CEC.

·         The President may appoint Regional Election Commissioners in consultation with the CEC before elections to the Parliament or Assemblies.

Terms of service

·         The tenure of Election Commissioners is six years or up to age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

·         The CEC cannot hold any office of profit after retirement. Other ECs cannot hold any office of profit after retirement, except as CEC.

·         The CEC cannot be reappointed to the post.

·         The allowances and salaries of the CEC are drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India.

3:18 PM - By yatra 0

ELECTIONS IN INDIA

Overview

·         India is the largest democracy in the world (in terms of electorate).  

·         The first General Elections were held in 1951.

·         The control and conduct of all elections to the Parliament, to the state legislatures and to the offices of the President and Vice-President fall under the purview of the Election Commission of India.

·         Panchayat elections are conducted by respective State Election Commissions.

  

Constitutional provisions for elections

·         Article 324 stipulates that the superintendence, direction and control of elections shall be vested in the Election Commission.

·         Article 325 provides a single electoral roll for every constituency. Also stipulates that no person shall be eligible or ineligible for inclusion in electoral rolls on the basis of race, religion, caste or sex.

·         Article 326 stipulates that elections shall be held on the basis of adult suffrage. Every person who is a citizen of India and is not less than 18 years of age shall be eligible for inclusion.

Election process

·         The Election Commission announces the schedule of elections, but the election process only starts with the notification by the President (or Governors).

·         Model Code of Conduct comes into force the day election dates are announced.

·         No party is allowed to use government resources for campaigning. Campaigning to be stopped 48 hours prior to polling day.

·         The Collector of each district is in charge of polling.

·         The indelible ink used to mark fingers is produced by the Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd.

·         Currently, India does not have an absentee ballot system. To enroll as a voter, a person needs to be an ‘ordinary resident’ i.e. reside in a particular constituency for at least 6 months.

·         A period of eight days is allowed for filing nominations. Two days are allowed for withdrawal of candidature.

·         Candidates to a particular constituency can be from anywhere in the country. However, voters in the constituency must be residents of that constituency.

·         A candidate may contest from two constituencies at most.

Political parties

·         Registration of the People Act 1951 provides for registration of political parties with the Election Commission.

·         To be recognized as a National Party, a party must satisfy all the following criteria

                  o   secure 6% of votes polled in four or more states (in General Elections of Assembly Elections).

o   win at least 4 seats to the Lok Sabha.

o   win at least 2% of Lok Sabha seats from at least three different states (i.e. min of 11 MPs in the Lok Sabha).

·         To be recognised as a State Party, a party must satisfy all the following

o   Secure at least 6% of votes polled in that particular state.

o   Wins at least 3 seats to the Legislative Assembly or at least 3% of Assembly seats, whichever is higher.

Judicial Review of election disputes

·         Technically, the decisions of the Election Commission can be challenged in High Courts or the Supreme Court.

·         However, by tradition, the Judiciary does not intervene in the conduct of elections once the process of elections has begun.

·         After declaration of election results, the Election Commission cannot reverse the results on its own.

·         The results of the elections to Parliament and state legislatures can only be reviewed by filing election petitions at the High Courts.

·         For elections of President and Vice-President, election petitions can only be filed with the Supreme Court. 

3:10 PM - By yatra 0

DECCAN SULTANATES

Overview

• The Deccan Sultanates were five Muslim ruled kingdoms located in the Deccan plateau.
• They ruled south central India from 1527 to 1686.
• The Deccan Sultanates were established following the breakup of the Bahmani Sultanate in 1527.
• The five kingdoms of the Deccan Sultanates were
• Ahmadnagar (1490-1636)
• Bijapur (1490-1686)
• Berar (1490-1572)
• Golkonda (1518-1687)
• Bidar (1528-1619)
• The Deccan Sultanates were generally rivals but united against the Vijayanagara Empire in the Battle of Tallikota in 1565.
• An important cultural contribution of the Deccan Sultanates was the development of Dakhani Urdu – drawn from Arabic, Persian, Marathi, Kannada and Telugu.
• The period is also famous for the development of Deccani miniature paintings, which flourished in Ahmadnagar, Bijapur and Golkonda.

Ahmadnagar Sultanate

• The Ahmadnagar Sultanate was located in northwestern Deccan, between the Gujarat and Bijapur sultanate.
• The Sultanate was established by Malik Ahmad in 1490, who founded the Nizam Shahi dynasty.
• The capital city of the Sultanate was initially Junnar, which was later shifted to Ahmadnagar.
• The earliest examples of miniature paintings are found in the manuscript Tarif-i-Hussain Shahi (c. 1565).
• This period is also known for the encyclopaedia Nrisimha Prasada written by Dalapati.
• The Ahmadnagar Sultanate was annexed into the Mughal Empire by Aurangzeb (during the reign of Shah Jahan) in 1636.

Berar Sultanate

• The Berar Sultanate was established by Imad-ul Mulk in 1490.
• It was annexed by the Ahmadnagar Sultanate in 1572.

Bidar Sultanate

• The Bidar Sultanate was established by Qasim Barid in 1490.
• Bidar was sandwiched between the Ahmadnagar, Bijapur and Golconda sultanates.
• Bidar was annexed by Ibrahim Adil Shah II of the Bijapur Sultanate in 1619.
• An important type of metalwork called Bidri originated in Bidar. These metalworks were carried out on black metal (mainly zinc) with inlaid designs of silver, brass and copper.

Bijapur Sultanate

• The Bijapur Sultanate was established by Yusuf Adil Shah in 1490, who founded the Adil Shahi dynasty.
• The Bijapur Sultanate was located in northern Karnataka, with its capital at Bijapur.
• Under the Adil Shahi dynasty, Bijapur became an important centre of commerce and culture in India.
• The Begum Talab was a 234 acre tank constructed by Mohammad Adil Shah in 1651 in memory of Jahan Begum. Underground pipes, encased in masonry supplied water from the tank to the city residents.
• Ibrahim Adil Shah II wrote a book of songs in Dakhani urdu called Kitab-i-Navras. This work contains a number of songs set to different ragas.
• The Bijapur Sultanate was annexed into the Mughal Empire by Aurangzeb in 1686.

  

   Qutb Shahi Tombs, Hyderabad

Golconda Sultanate

• The Golconda Sultanate was established in 1518 by Qutb-ul-Mulk, who founded the Qutb Shahi dynasty.
• The Golconda Sultanate was located in northern Andhra Pradesh.
• The capital city was Hyderabad.
• The Qutb Shahi dynasty was responsible for the construction of the Jami Masjid (1518), Charminar (1591) and Mecca Masjid (1617).
• Another famous structure from the period is the fort of Golconda.
• The Shahi dynasty was instrumental in the development of Dakhani urdu.
• Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah wrote the Kulliyat-i-Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah in Dakhani urdu.
• Golconda was annexed into the Mughal Empire by Aurangzeb in 1687.

11:56 AM - By yatra 0