DECCAN (or Dakhan, Pers. Dakan < Sk. dakshiṇa, “right [hand],” i.e., south), the south-central plateau of India, bounded on the north by the Narbada river, on the west by the Sea of Oman, on the east by the Bay of Bengal, and on the south by the Tungabhadra river. The main plateau is divided into three regions: Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telang-Andhra.
i. Political and literary history.