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

Abstract

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.

15. Trends in Economic History Writing of Early South Asia

“… Renfrew 1975.  Seneviratne 1981Chattopadhyaya 2003, 66-102;Basu Majumdar 2017. pire is generally thought to have filled this role by centralizing the state, and thus the fiscal regime. 69 Any connection of the center with a less developed region brought urban as well as administrative change to this region.…”

3. Early Historic South Asia

“… Prakash 1964;1971.  Seneviratne 1981Champakalakshmi 1996;Thapar 2003;Basu Majumdar 2017. no doubt inspired by the colonial idea of ruling and governing India as a single imperial unit. 29 Since the nineteenth century, the identification of the Mauryas as an empire, particularly under Aśoka, has been based on identifying the criteria for imperial status and arguing that the Mauryas fulfilled them.…”

“… Thapar 2003.  The suggested regions of impact are Bengal, Odisha, the Deccan, and the southern peninsula, as well as Sri Lanka, Thapar 2003, 211;Basu Majumdar 2017;Chakravarti 2017, 333-338.  The influence of Brahmanical ideals on the emergence of complex state structures is ascribed to the complex and hierarchical 'Brahmanical' social institutions, which contrast with simpler egali-The second method for studying this region calls for examining socio-cultural aspects of South Asia beyond the question of state formation and political expansion.…”