Political Processes and Structure of Polity in Early Medieval India: Problems of Perspective

Chattopadhyaya, Brajadulal

doi:10.2307/3520317

Cited by 27 publications

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“…These are (a) a considerable degree of agrarian expansion, providing the vital resource base of newly emerging polities at local and regional levels (including the 'regional imperial kingdoms'), (b) the consolidation of the varna-jati hierarchy in marginal areas and (c) cult appropriation, that is, the taking-over of non-Brahmanical divinities into Brahmanical pantheon, especially by devotional (bhakti) sectarian cults. 20 The last aspect was manifest as a prolonged process with the growing popularity of Puranic religion, leading to the immense prominence of Vaishnavism, Saivism and the worship of goddesses (devi).…”

Section: The Local-level Politymentioning

confidence: 99%

State formation and religious processes in the north–south corridor of Chhattisgarh (from first century bc to eighth century ad)

Majumdar

2017

Studies in People's History

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Chhattisgarh in central India, a hilly and forested region, offered passages connecting the Gangetic basin with the Deccan, which opened it to influences from both the north and the Deccan. This made possible a secondary stage of state formation, marked by royalty, bureaucracy and army, with offices and practices influenced by those in vogue in the established states in the surrounding regions. The paper examines the process in the light mainly of epigraphic evidence. Such state formation created superior landed classes, mainly through land grants. The dynastic rulers patronised Vishnavism and Śaivaism, which were Brahmanical intrusions into the area, rather than any local deities or cults.

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Section: The Local-level Politymentioning

confidence: 99%

State formation and religious processes in the north–south corridor of Chhattisgarh (from first century bc to eighth century ad)

Majumdar

2017

Studies in People's History

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“…Relational interpretations can also be seen in the work of several other historians in their depiction of the Mauryan state structure. Chattopadhyaya suggests that several locations (which are either sites of edicts or groups of people mentioned in the edicts) served as “nodes” in a dynamic Mauryan state, which is “schematized in the mandala concept of political theories that locates the vijigisu (‘conquered place’) at the core of the mandala” (Chattopadhyaya :213). In a later essay, he also discusses the different “spaces of authority” in premodern India that created autonomous spaces within a state structure and “even when sharply different from one another, existed in a relationship of constant interaction and change” (Chattopadhyaya :147).…”

Section: Interpreting the Mauryan Statementioning

confidence: 99%

9 Conquests of Dharma: Network Models and the Study of Ancient Polities

Sugandhi

2012

Archaeological Papers of the American

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The Mauryan Empire, an early South Asian polity, was once presumed to have exerted control over most of the Indian subcontinent. A reexamination of both archaeological and historical evidence suggests a different interpretation of Mauryan imperialism -one that has less to do with territorial control and instead looks to a relational network perspective. This perspective allows a view of the Mauryan polity that goes beyond the political dimension to examine long-term patterns of interaction during the Early Historic period (ca. 600 B.C.E.-C.E. 600). Additionally, this model may be extended to include parallel networks of interaction that existed independently of political authority and would endure beyond the decline of various dynastic powers. [Mauryan Empire, sovereignty, territoriality, Early Historic period, South Asia]

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“…In the last couple of decades several historians of medieval South Asia have explored this dynamic aspect of the process of legitimation of power in the making of early medieval kingdoms (Chattopadhyaya 1983). B.D.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Power was thus legitimated in various ways: through temple building, writing of genealogies, forging of market networks, practice of rituals, and exchange of gifts and honours (Teuscher 2002;Chattopadhyaya 1983). In this work I focus on one element: the relationship of kings to a deity, a holy place and the priests who are situated there over a certain period of time.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In historical literature the discussion of this process is linked up with the question of Rajput power. SeeChattopadhyaya (1976) andMita (1999). I am not convinced that the term Rajput was ever used in the modern sense widely before the fifteenth century.4 For a deeper analysis of this, seeTeuscher (2003).5 The information on this is mainly deduced from the eastern neighbours of the Guhilas, the Chamnas of Marwar.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Changing Eklingji

Teuscher¹

2005

Studies in History

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This article examines the relationship between a Śaiva cult—that of Eklingji—and processes of legitimation in the context of early medieval Rajasthan. It focuses on the multiple strategies of legitimation associated with the Guhilas of Mewar, and explores the complex ways in which the history of the lineage and the cult centre was interwoven. The study shows how the cult and the sacred site acquired different meanings over the early medieval period, and how the heterodox ascetics—the Śaiva Pāśupatas—were displaced by Brahmans after the thirteenth century. These changes are located within the broader cultural, social and political contexts of the seventh to the fifteenth centuries.

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Political Processes and Structure of Polity in Early Medieval India: Problems of Perspective

Cited by 27 publications

References 0 publications

State formation and religious processes in the north–south corridor of Chhattisgarh (from first century bc to eighth century ad)

State formation and religious processes in the north–south corridor of Chhattisgarh (from first century bc to eighth century ad)

9 Conquests of Dharma: Network Models and the Study of Ancient Polities

Changing Eklingji

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