The Routledge Handbook of the State in Premodern India
The Routledge Handbook of the State in Premodern India

Author: Hermann Kulke

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-01-13

Total Pages: 594

ISBN-13: 1000485145

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This handbook presents a multilayered and multidimensional history of state formation in premodern India. It explores dense and rich local and subregional historiography from the mid-first millennium BC to the eighteenth century in South Asia. Shifting the focus away from economic and political factors, this handbook revises the conventional understanding of states and empires and locates them in their quotidian conduct and activity on socio-cultural and concomitant factors. Comprehensive in scope, this handbook addresses a range of themes connected with the idea of state formation in the subcontinent. It includes discussions and debates on ritual practices and the Brahmanical order in early India; the Delhi Sultanate and role of Sultans among the Hindu kings; the cosmopolitan ‘Islamicate’ cultural influences on Puranic Hinduism; cultural background of the Mughal state. The handbook examines new questions and ideologies of state formation, such as: · facets of violence and resistance; · the significance of the autonomous spaces and forests; · regional elites, including ‘Little kings’; tribal background of some famous cults; · trade and maritime commerce; · royal patronage, courtly manners, lineage formation; · imperial architecture, monuments, and temple, among others. Featuring case studies from different part of the India subcontinent, and with contributions by renowned historians, this authoritative handbook will be an indispensable reading for teachers, scholars, and students of early India, medieval India, premodern India, South Asian history, Asian history, historiography, economic history, historical sociology, and South Asia studies.

Comprehensive History and Culture of Andhra Pradesh: Medieval Andhradesa, AD 1000-1324
Comprehensive History and Culture of Andhra Pradesh: Medieval Andhradesa, AD 1000-1324

Author: M. L. K. Murty

Publisher:

Published: 2016-08-01

Total Pages: 572

ISBN-13: 9788189487812

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The year AD 973 marked the rise of Kalyana Chaluka power in Andhra, followed by a period of wars between the Kalyana Chalukyas and the Cholas of Thanjavur for over a century. The decline of these powers made way for the rise of Velanati Chodas, the Nellore Chodas and the Kakatiyas in Andhradesa; the Yadavas in the upper deccan; and the Hoysalas south of the Tungabhadra river. From the middle of the twelfth century the Kakatiyas became the dominant power, and Warangal emerged as the premier cultural and political center. The Kakatiyas consolidated their power by defeating defiant feudatories and bestowing administrative power on loyal subordinates, and by entering into matrimonial alliances with families of conquered local chieftans. Under their rule different social groups migrated to the coastal Andhra region from the neighbouring Tamil country, resulting in the creation of new sub-sects. Further, social groups came to be named on the basis of local identity, such as the Pakanati and Velanati brahmins, the Penugonda vaisyas, and the Panta and Pakanati reddis, to mention a few. Based on a centralized bureaucracy, the Kakatiya state could be broadly characterized as feudal. The mainstay of the economy was agriculture and there was a substantial increase in irrigation facilities. Trade flourished under a system of guilds and led to the growth of a number of urban centers. The institution of the temple gained significance, facilitated by royal patronage. Buddhism witnessed a decline even as Sri Vaishnavism and Vira Saivism gained ground, and Andhradesa came to be known as Trilinga - the land of the three Saivite shrines at Kalesvaram, Srisailam, and Draksharama. In architecture the vesara mode flourished under the Kakatiyas, while the phamsana form was popular in the construction of monuments in the Telangana region. In the field of language and literature, the Telugu script underwent significant changes, and classical Telugu literature developed with the translation of the Mahabharata by Nannaya Bhatta, and the rise to eminence of several Telugu poets and writers.

Narrative Traditions of a Telugu Epic: Paln?tiv?rula Katha
Narrative Traditions of a Telugu Epic: Paln?tiv?rula Katha

Author: Aruna Bommareddi

Publisher: Notion Press

Published: 2019-10-29

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 1646787331

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In the current climate of increasing absence of resistance from within traditions as that of Hinduism, this book offers a fresh read for those who look for resisting narratives that break free from the fold of larger narratives. The ‘little narrative’ here is an oral epic of the Telugu peoples that itself has spawned a flowing tradition of its own, with several other written texts, performances, plays and songs, and even movies based on it. However, what this book foregrounds is not the popularity of this Telugu oral epic tradition, but the problems involved when the oral tradition in all its variety of storytelling and performative renditions undergoes a cultural translation and appropriation by the dominant textual tradition. For instance, there have been attempts to bring all the different versions of the Palna?tivi?rula Katha under one textual rubric. This book, gently suggests that there must be a cultural politics at work behind such attempts and within the ambit of its five chapters and the attendant annexures, presents the oral epic narrative in all its multiplicities of story lines as also presentations. The larger effort here is to highlight the resistance offered by a people in terms of the creation and production of local narratives that have stood the test of time and, more importantly, the retrieval of the consciousness of a people by revisiting and foregrounding these creations. This book, as one turns its last page, certainly gets the reader in touch with a Telugu consciousness, for gaining a sense of which we need not search inside the books in a library but must restore to the people their oral stories and performances in all their varieties and contradictions.

Late Medieval Andhra Pradesh, AD 1324-1724
Late Medieval Andhra Pradesh, AD 1324-1724

Author: V. Ramakrishna

Publisher: Comprehensive History and Cult

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 763

ISBN-13: 9789382381389

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This volume on Andhra Pradesh covers the period 1324 to 1724, which witnessed the rise of large regional state powers such as the Vijayanagara kingdom, the Bahmanis, Gajapatis, Musunuris, Recherlas, Reddis, and Later Gangas. The political formations of the period were military-centered as witnessed by the well-organized nayamkara system, which revolved around the creation of nayamkaras or military chiefs, and was the mainstay of the Vijayanagara rulers. There was large-scale expansion of agriculture with the introduction of new crops like tobacco, tomato, potato and chillies, and phenomenal growth of trade in commodities like cotton and indigo. The trading and artisanal communities were organized in powerful guilds. The constant flux of peoples of different languages, faiths, cultural modes, and professions led to a liberal spirit of tolerance. Telugu literature flourished, and new genres were introduced in which outstanding works were created. A significant feature of the times was the evolution of a composite Dakhni (Deccani) culture. Rulers, Hindu and Muslim alike, patronized religious institutions but did not allow religion to interfere in matters relating to administration. Sri Vaishnavism, which won royal support during the reign of Saluva Narasimha, was established in the royal house and court during Krishnadeva Raya's rule. Numerous royal grants were given to Vaishnava temples and mathas. During Aravidu rule, the Tirumala temple occupied a premier position. Ahobalam was another centre in western Andhra that wielded great influence. The patronage of ruling chiefs of Shudra varna to Sri Vaishnava acharyas and temples fundamentally influenced their social and ritual ranking. The sixteenth-century temple was an organized complex of sanctuaries and mandapas. Tadipatri, Lepakshi and Ahobalam deserve mention as examples. Placing a chariot in stone in the temple complex was a contribution of the Vijayanagara period. The Aravidu period contributed the gopura as a dominant feature of the temple complex. The detached gopura of Govindarajaswami Temple, Tirupati, is a fine example. The rulers of medieval Andhra seldom violated established norms of dharma, thereby ensuring the security and stability of their kingdoms.

World Development Report 2011
World Development Report 2011

Author: World Bank

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2011-05-01

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 0821384406

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The 2011 WDR on Conflict, Security and Development underlines the devastating impact of persistent conflict on a country or region's development prospects - noting that the 1.5 billion people living in conflict-affected areas are twice as likely to be in poverty. Its goal is to contribute concrete, practical suggestions on conflict and fragility.

The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean
The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean

Author: Raoul McLaughlin

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2014-09-11

Total Pages: 491

ISBN-13: 1473840953

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This study of ancient Roman shipping and trade across continents reveals the Roman Empire’s far-reaching impact in the ancient world. In ancient times, large fleets of Roman merchant ships set sail from Egypt on voyages across the Indian Ocean. They sailed from Roman ports on the Red Sea to distant kingdoms on the east coast of Africa and southern Arabia. Many continued their voyages across the ocean to trade with the rich kingdoms of ancient India. Along these routes, the Roman Empire traded bullion for valuable goods, including exotic African products, Arabian incense, and eastern spices. This book examines Roman commerce with Indian kingdoms from the Indus region to the Tamil lands. It investigates contacts between the Roman Empire and powerful African kingdoms, including the Nilotic regime that ruled Meroe and the rising Axumite Realm. Further chapters explore Roman dealings with the Arab kingdoms of southern Arabia, including the Saba-Himyarites and the Hadramaut Regime, which sent caravans along the incense trail to the ancient rock-carved city of Petra. The first book to bring these subjects together in a single comprehensive study, The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean reveals Rome’s impact on the ancient world and explains how international trade funded the legions that maintained imperial rule.

World Development Report 1978
World Development Report 1978

Author:

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1978

Total Pages: 135

ISBN-13: 0821372823

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This first report deals with some of the major development issues confronting the developing countries and explores the relationship of the major trends in the international economy to them. It is designed to help clarify some of the linkages between the international economy and domestic strategies in the developing countries against the background of growing interdependence and increasing complexity in the world economy. It assesses the prospects for progress in accelerating growth and alleviating poverty, and identifies some of the major policy issues which will affect these prospects.