Question: What dominated in the south of the country where the director of The Mystic Masseur was born?

For two and a half centuries from the mid 13th, the politics in the Northern India was dominated by the Delhi Sultanate and in the Southern India by the Vijayanagar Empire which originated as a political heir of the erstwhile Hoysala Empire and Pandyan Empire. However, there were other regional powers present as well. In the North, the Rajputs were a dominant force in the Western and Central India. Their power reached to the zenith under Rana Sanga during whose time Rajput armies were constantly victorious against the Sultanate army. In the South, the Bahmani Sultanate was the chief rival of the Vijaynagara and gave Vijayanagara tough days many a times. In the early 16th century Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire defeated the last remnant of Bahmani Sultanate power after which the Bahmani Sultanate collapsed. It was established either by a Brahman convert or patronized by a Brahman and form that source it got the name Bahmani. In the early 16th century, it collapsed and got split into five small Deccan sultanates. In the East, the Gajapati Kingdom remained a strong regional power to reckon with, so was the Ahom Kingdom in the North-east for six centuries. <SEP> sultan bahu (‎; also spelled bahoo; ca 1630–1691) was a sufi mystic, poet, and scholar active during the mughal empire mostly in the present-day punjab province of pakistan. he belonged to qadiri sufi order, and founded the mystic tradition known as sarwari qadiri. <SEP> belarus (; , ), officially the republic of belarus (, ), formerly known by its russian name byelorussia or belorussia (), is a landlocked country in eastern europe bordered by russia to the northeast, ukraine to the south, poland to the west, and lithuania and latvia to the northwest. its capital and most populous city is minsk. over 40% of its is forested. its major economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing. until the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day belarus, including the principality of polotsk (11th to 14th centuries), the grand duchy of lithuania, the polish–lithuanian commonwealth, and the russian empire. <SEP> Mumbai Bombay Megacity Mumbai Top to bottom: Cuffe Parade skyline, the Gateway of India (L), Taj Mahal Palace Hotel (R), Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and the Bandra -- Worli Sea Link. Nickname (s): Bambai, Mumbai city, City of Seven Islands, City of Dreams, Gateway to India, Hollywood of India Mumbai Location of Mumbai in Maharashtra, India Mumbai Mumbai (India) Show map of Maharashtra Show map of India Show all Coordinates: 18 ° 58 ′ 30 ''N 72 ° 49 ′ 33'' E ﻿ / ﻿ 18.97500 ° N 72.82583 ° E ﻿ / 18.97500; 72.82583 Coordinates: 18 ° 58 ′ 30 ''N 72 ° 49 ′ 33'' E ﻿ / ﻿ 18.97500 ° N 72.82583 ° E ﻿ / 18.97500; 72.82583 Country India State Maharashtra District Mumbai City Mumbai Suburban First settled 1507 Named for Mumbadevi Government Type Mayor -- Council Body MCGM Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar (Shiv Sena) Municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta Area Megacity 603 km (233 sq mi) Metro 4,355 km (1,681.5 sq mi) Elevation 14 m (46 ft) Population (2011) Megacity 12,442,373 Rank 1st Density 21,000 / km (53,000 / sq mi) Metro 18,414,288 20,748,395 (Extended UA) Metro Rank 1st Demonym (s) Mumbaikar Time zone IST (UTC + 5: 30) PIN code (s) 400 001 to 400 107 Area code (s) + 91 - 22 Vehicle registration MH - 01 (South), MH - 02 (West), MH - 03 (Central), MH - 47 (North) GDP / PPP $368 billion (Metro area, 2015) Official language Marathi Website www.mcgm.gov.in <SEP> It is one of relatively few films directed by Ismail Merchant, who is better known as the producer in the Merchant Ivory partnership, and addresses issues of Hindu subculture in Trinidad and Tobago. <SEP> The Courtesans of Bombay is a 1983 British docudrama directed by Ismail Merchant. A collaboration by Merchant, James Ivory, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The film focuses on a Bombay compound known as Pavan Pool, where women aspiring to work in the entertainment industry dance for donations from a male audience by day and, it is broadly suggested although never specifically stated, work as prostitutes by night. It was broadcast by Channel 4 in the UK in January 1983 and went into limited theatrical release in the United States on 19 March 1986.