<P> From the 6th to 8th century the Deccan was ruled by the Chalukya dynasty which produced great rulers like Pulakesi II who defeated the north India Emperor Harsha or Vikramaditya II whose general defeated the Arab invaders in the 8th century . From the 8th to 10th century the Rashtrakuta dynasty ruled this region . It led successful military campaigns into northern India and was described by Arab scholars as one of the four great empires of the world . In the 10th century the Western Chalukya Empire was established which produced scholars like the social reformer Basava, Vijñāneśvara, the mathematician Bhāskara II and Someshwara III who wrote the text Manasollasa . From the early 11th century to the 12th century the Deccan Plateau was dominated by the Western Chalukya Empire and the Chola dynasty . Several battles were fought between the Western Chalukya Empire and the Chola dynasty in the Deccan Plateau during the reigns of Raja Raja Chola I, Rajendra Chola I, Jayasimha II, Someshvara I and Vikramaditya VI and Kulottunga I . </P> <P> In 1294, Alauddin Khalji, emperor of Delhi, invaded the Deccan, stormed Devagiri, and reduced the Yadava rajas of Maharashtra to the position of tributary princes (see Daulatabad), then proceeding southward to conquer the Andhra, Carnatic . In 1307, a fresh series of Muslim incursions led by Malik Kafur began in response to unpaid tributes, resulting in the final ruin of the Yadava power; and in 1338 the conquest of the Deccan was completed by Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq . The imperial hegemony was brief, as soon Andhra and Karnataka reverted to their former masters . These defections by the Hindu states was soon followed by a general revolt of the Muslim governors, resulting in the establishment in 1347 of the independent Muslim dynasty of Bahmani . The power of the Delhi sultanate evaporated south of the Narmada River . The southern Deccan came under the rule of the famous Vijayanagara Empire which reached its zenith during the reign of Emperor Krishnadevaraya . </P> <P> In the power struggles which ensued, the Hindu kingdom of Andhra fell bit by bit to the Bahamani dynasty, who advanced their frontier to Golkonda in 1373, to Warangal in 1421, and to the Bay of Bengal in 1472 . Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire defeated the last remnant of Bahmani Sultanate power after which the Bahmani Sultanate collapsed . When the Bahmani empire dissolved in 1518, its dominions were distributed into the five Muslim states of Golkonda, Bijapur, Ahmednagar, Bidar and Berar, giving rise to the Deccan sultanates . South of these, the Hindu state of Carnatic or Vijayanagar still survived; but this, too, was defeated, at the Battle of Talikota (1565) by a league of the Muslim powers . Berar had already been annexed by Ahmednagar in 1572, and Bidar was absorbed by Bijapur in 1619 . Mughal interest in the Deccan also rose at this time; Ahmadnagar was partially incorporated in the Empire in 1598 and as fully in 1636, Bijapur in 1686, and Golkonda in 1688 . </P> <P> In 1674, Shivaji laid the foundation of the Maratha Empire which within 75 years of his death covered territory of over 250 million acres (1 million km2) or one - third of the Indian sub-continent . Marathas under Shivaji directly challenged the foreign rule of the Bijapur Sultanate and ultimately the mighty Mughal empire . Once the Bijapur Sultanate stopped being a threat to the Maratha Empire, Marathas became much more aggressive and began to frequently raid Mughal territory . The Marathas had conquered part of central and western India by Shivaji's death in 1680 . After Shivaji, Sambhaji defended the Maratha empire from the Mughal onslaught led by Aurangzeb . Marathas defeated Mughals in the prolonged war . After 1707, the Marathas acquired the right to levy tribute in southern India . After the death of Chhatrapati Shahu, the Peshwas became the de facto leaders of the Empire from 1749 to 1761, while Shivaji's successors continued as nominal rulers from their base in Satara . The Marathas kept the British at bay during the 18th century . By 1760, with the defeat of the Nizam in the Deccan, Maratha power had reached its zenith . However, dissension between the Peshwa and their sardars (army commanders) saw a gradual downfall of the Empire leading to its eventual annexation by the British East India Company in 1818 after the three Anglo - Maratha wars . </P>

The hills that lie to the north east of the southern plateau are