Hindu and Muslim Religious Institutions


Book Description

About the Book Religious institutions in medieval Andhra have been little studied in depth. This book by Dr. R. Soma Reddy supplies a felt need. The author deals comprehensively with the general history, organization and functionaries, finances, relations with the state and society, of religious institutions like Temple, Maæha, Mosque, Khunqu, Darguh and usharkhuna of Hindus and Muslims, during the period from 1300 to 1600, on the basis of epigraphical sources and other original records in Persian and Urdu languages. The history of these institutions as "the custodians of Indian culture and carriers of Indian heritage" will be useful not only to scholars in the field but also to general readers. About the Author Dr. Ravula Soma Reddy (b. 1943) is a retired Professor of History from Osmania University, Hyderabad. He was former Head (1991-93), Chairman, Board of Studies (1993-95) and also Co-ordinator, (1994-2003) DRS/SAP, Department of History, Osmania University. He has long teaching and research career. He has a number of research papers to his credit and has written and edited several books on history. He is the author of Hindu and Muslim Religious Institions Andhra Desa 1300-1600. He was a member of Indian Historical Records Commission, New Delhi and Archival Advisory Board, National Archives, Government of India, New Delhi. He was the President of the Medieval Section of Andhra History Congress (1994) and also President of the Socio-economic Section of South Indian History Congress (2001).







Shree Sharanabasaveshwara Samsthana Kalaburagi : An Overview


Book Description

One of the distinguishing features of an organised religion as against the folk religion is the presence of well organised socio-religious institutions through which the religion functions and prospers. Cristianity functioned through the church, buddhism prospered through the sangha and hinduism survived due to the mathas. The church, the sangha, and matha are the socio-religious institutions of their respective religions. Similarly, veerasaivism could prosper through its socio-religious organisations, like pancha pithas, the mathas and the rectories. Unlike other religions of the world, veerasaivism is one which never dependended on royal patronage. It, on the other hand, flourished and prospered through cough the mathas and the rectories. "sri sharanabasaveshwara dasoha maha mane" at kalburgi is on of such great rectories of veerasaivism which has played a determining role in the struggle for the survival and prosperity of this religious sect in hyderabad karnataka and adjoining areas, especially at the face of muslim rule. It is proposed to make a critical study of the role played by this rectory in maintaining the integrity of veerasaivism, preserving its socio religious institutions and values through several religious and educational programmes and institutions. We start with the assumption that hinduism is general and veerasaivism in particular would not have survived in this area, but for this great religious institution.




Vedic Voices


Book Description

For countless generations families have lived in isolated communities in the Godavari Delta of coastal Andhra Pradesh, learning and reciting their legacy of Vedas, performing daily offerings and occasional sacrifices. They are the virtually unrecognized survivors of a 3,700-year-old heritage, the last in India who perform the ancient animal and soma sacrifices according to Vedic tradition. In Vedic Voices, David M. Knipe offers for the first time, an opportunity for them to speak about their lives, ancestral lineages, personal choices as pandits, wives, children, and ways of coping with an avalanche of changes in modern India. He presents a study of four generations of ten families, from those born at the outset of the twentieth century down to their great-grandsons who are just beginning, at the age of seven, the task of memorizing their Veda, the Taittiriya Samhita, a feat that will require eight to twelve years of daily recitations. After successful examinations these young men will reside with the Veda family girls they married as children years before, take their places in the oral transmission of a three-thousand-year Vedic heritage, teach the Taittiriya collection of texts to their own sons, and undertake with their wives the major and minor sacrifices performed by their ancestors for some three millennia. Coastal Andhra, famed for bountiful rice and coconut plantations, has received scant attention from historians of religion and anthropologists despite a wealth of cultural traditions. Vedic Voices describes in captivating prose the geography, cultural history, pilgrimage traditions, and celebrated persons of the region. Here unfolds a remarkable story of Vedic pandits and their wives, one scarcely known in India and not at all to the outside world.




India and Beyond


Book Description

First published in 1997. The International Institute for Asian Studies (lIAS) is pleased to introduce a new series 'Studies from the International Institute for Asian Studies'. This present volume, India and Beyond; Aspects of Literature Meaning, Ritual and Thought, contains more than 30 contributions from well-established scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds. These essays are in honour of one of the founding fathers of the lIAS, Frits Staal, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and South Asian Languages, University of California at Berkeley. This volume is edited by Dick van der Meij, editor of the Indonesian-Netherlands Cooperation in Islamic Studies Programme at Leiden University.




Kalyana Mitra: Volume 2


Book Description

Volume II Early and Medieval Indian History: The volume contains 28 articles covering studies on Early, Early medieval, Medieval, late Medieval and Modern History contributed by eminent scholars. The topics covered include. Vedic studies, Gupta history, Hereditary grants, Warfare in Vijayanagara period, Irrigation during the medieval period and polity in late medieval periods. This Volume serves as a valuable source book for students, research scholars and teachers of historical studies for the people who want to know about the evolution of mankind in different perspectives. This volume also highlights the love and affection of Prof. P. Chenna Reddy enjoys in the intellectual world. The felicitation Volume is brought out in a series of 12 independent books covering a total of 460 articles. Every volume contains two sections. The first section contains the biographical sketch of Prof. P. Chenna Reddy, his achievements and contribution to archaeology, history and Society. The second section of each volume is subject specific, E.g., Volume-I on Archaeology, Volume II on Early and Medieval Indian History, Volume III on Modern Indian History, Volume IV on Epigraphy and Numismatics, Volume V on Art, Volume VI on Architecture, Volume VII on Religion and Philosophy, Volume VIII on Economy, Trade and Commerce, Volume IX on Literature, Volume X Tribalore and Folklore, Volume XI Contemporary India and Diaspora, Volume XII, Tourism and contains as many as 460 articles.




History of Medieval Andhradesa


Book Description

The book is based on the sculptural and monumental data which brings into light various views of the early historians on the problems of Viceroyalty in the vengi region, succession to the Chola throne. Political system, historicity of Draksharama inscriptions and land transactions.







The Political Economy of Craft Production


Book Description

The study of specialized craft production has a long tradition in archaeological research. Through analyses of material remains and the contexts of their production and use, archaeologists can examine the organization of craft production and the economic and political status of craft producers. This study combines archaeological and historical evidence from the author's twenty years of fieldwork at the imperial capital of Vijayanagara to explore the role and significance of craft production in the city's political economy of the fourteenth to the seventeenth century. By examining a diverse range of crafts from poetry to pottery, Sinopoli evaluates models of craft production and expands upon theoretical and historical understandings of empires in general and Vijayanagara in particular. It is the most broad-ranging study of craft production in South Asia, or in any other early state empire.




Recent Trends in Historical Studies


Book Description

This volume is felicitate Prof. Ravula Soma Reddy, by two of his Ekalavyastudents of Prof. Ravula. Soma Reddy During his career in the Dept. of History,Osmania University, Hyderabad, he has rendered yeomen service both as anacademician, researcher, teacher as well as an administrator. The papers in thisVolume written by distinguished scholars highlight the warmth of affection theyhold towards Prof. Ravula Soma Reddy. A long cherished wish of the Editorswas to present a volume of essays written to felicitate him. The articles 47 innumber are arranged in six sections thematically and chronologically. Section I-Society and Culturecontains 5 papers dealing with medieval and modernperiods. Section II-Religion and Philosophy carries six papers which dealt withvarious facets of religion-Hindu, Buddhist and Christian. Section Ill-Economycontains 11 papers dealing with the nature of economic changes during medievaland modern periods. Section IV-Administration and PolityConsists of 8 papers.They dealt with various aspects of polity and administration during modernperiod-Princely states, freedom struggle, state policy during British period,press and its role in vernacular literature, Ambedkars philosophy etc., SectionV- Archaeology, Art and Architecture contains 10 papers, dealing with themultifaceted aspects of Art, Architecture, Prehistory, Buddhist Art andIconography etc. Section VI-Historiographycontains 5 papers, which dealwith folklore in the local histories of Temples, private ownership of land anddisputes in medieval period, Mughal and Persian documents and their significanceetc in this volume . This Volume will prove indispensable to scholars andstudents of Indian History.,and book will be useful addition to all libraries interestedin the political history, administration, social, economic, anthropological andsociological studies in India and also to a general reader.