The western state of Gujarat has been a hub of religious and trading activity from the eighth century onwards. The medieval history of Gujarat unlike other states in India is not very well known. The present book analyses the religious changes in early medieval Gujarat and examines the social context especially in reference to the rise of Brahmanism, Jainism and Buddhism and their support from the local kings and chieftains.
Conventional wisdom says that integration into the global marketplace tends to weaken the power of traditional faith in developing countries. But, as Meera Nanda argues in this path-breaking book, this is hardly the case in today’s India. Against expectations of growing secularism, India has instead seen a remarkable intertwining of Hinduism and neoliberal ideology, spurred on by a growing capitalist class. It is this “State-Temple-Corporate Complex,” she claims, that now wields decisive political and economic power, and provides ideological cover for the dismantling of the Nehru-era state-dominated economy. According to this new logic, India’s rapid economic growth is attributable to a special “Hindu mind,” and it is what separates the nation’s Hindu population from Muslims and others deemed to be “anti-modern.” As a result, Hindu institutions are replacing public ones, and the Hindu “revival” itself has become big business, a major source of capital accumulation. Nanda explores the roots of this development and its possible future, as well as the struggle for secularism and socialism in the world’s second-most populous country.
Land grants were issued on a large scale by the Chaulukya and Vaghela rulers from c. 900–1350 CE to religious institutions in Gujarat. A study of these inscriptions are a valuable source of ideology and society prevalent during this period. These charters or land grants have been studied extensively by the author. The changes are valuable in understanding the transformation and proliferation of subsects in religious belief and the Varna system in Western India and particularly in Gujarat.
The present book offers an exhaustive treatment of the political, social, economical and cultural history of Malwa from the earliest times to 1305 A.D. Herein for the very first time the author has arrenged systematically and discussed and relevant historical material in the form of archaeological antiquities, inscriptions, coins and literature.
This book highlights emerging trends and new themes in South Asian history. It covers issues broadly related to religion, materiality and nature from differing perspectives and methods to offer a kaleidoscopic view of Indian history until the late eighteenth century. The essays in the volume focus on understanding questions of premodern religion, material culture processes and their spatial and environmental contexts through a study of networks of commodities and cultural and religious landscapes. From the early history of coastal regions such as Gujarat and Bengal to material networks of political culture, from temples and their connection with maritime trade to the importance of landscape in influencing temple-building, from regions considered peripheral to mainstream historiography to the development of religious sects, this collection of articles maps the diverse networks and connections across regions and time. The volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of history, archaeology, museum and heritage studies, religion, especially Hinduism, Sufism and Buddhism, and South Asian studies.
