Indian Feudalism, C. AD 300-1200


Book Description

This book analyses the practice of land grants, which became considerable in the Gupta period and widespread in the post-Gupta period. It shows how this led to the emergence of a class of landlords, endowed with fiscal and administrative rights superimpos







History of Agriculture in India, Up to C. 1200 A.D.


Book Description

History of Agriculture in India (up to c.1200 AD), Part 1, reconstructs the evolution of agriculture in India up to c.1200AD. It is a synthesis and summation of existing knowledge on the history of agriculture in ancient India on the combined bases of archaeological and literary sources against the backdrop of Asian history in general. Besides summing up the existing knowledge, it opens new vistas for further research on many debated issues in the history of agriculture in ancient India. The volume addresses the vexed and controversial questions on the origin, antiquity and sources of Indian agricultural history. Based on researches from sites of Vindhya, Ganga Region, plant remains, agricultural tools, pots, dental pathology, and settlement remains, it is an informed and highly researched work on the origin and antiquity of cultivation in India. For a historical study of agriculture, Pali, Sangam. Sanskrit and the Graeco-Roman literatures have been utilized. Art and literary sources have also been used to reconstruct history.




Land and Society in Early South Asia


Book Description

This volume explores the process of social changes which unfolded in rural society of early medieval Bengal, especially the formation of stratified land relations and occupational groups which later got systematised as jātis. One of the first books to systematically reconstruct the early history of the region, this book presents a history of the economy, polity, law, and social order of early medieval Bengal through a comprehensive study of land and society. It traces the changing power relations among constituents of rural society and political institutions, and unravels the contradictions growing among them. The author describes the changing forms of agrarian development which were deeply associated with these overarching structures and offers an in-depth analysis of a wide range of textual sources in Sanskrit and other languages, especially contemporary inscriptions pertaining to Bengal. The volume will be an essential resource for researchers and academics interested in the history of Bengal, and the social and economic history of early South Asia.




Studying Early India


Book Description

A focal study of the methodological changes that confront historians of pre-colonial India.







Crime And Punishment In Ancient India


Book Description

This Study Is An Attempt To Focus Attention On That Aspect Of Society Which Arises Out Of Disobedience Of Established Norms And Rules Invoking Widespread Moral Indignation, Strain, Stress And Tension That Calls For Deterrents. Geographically The Study Is Chiefly Confined To Northern India While The Main Emphasis Is On A Specified Time Period Of History. The Work Is Divided Into Six Chapters. The First Chapter Deals With Source Materials And Their Respective Values. The Chapter On Crime Offers A Glimpse Of Various Crimes Prevalent During The Period From Petty Breaches Of Laws To Grave Offences Against Society And State. The Chapter On Punishment Notes The Nature And Modes Of Punishment And Remissions Of Punishment Under Prescribed Conditions. The Chapter On Police Organisation Deals With The Various Measures Employed By Police Administration To Detect Control And Prevent Crimes And The Role Of Different Officials In The Hierarchy. The Chapter On Judicial Administration Is A Survey Of The Factors Involved In The Intellectual Procedure By Which Judges Could Arrive At Decisions And Various Procedures Adopted Therefor. The Concluding Chapter Discusses Sources Of Hindu Law And Notes That Application And Interpretation Of Law Is Subject To Adjustment With Cycles Of Time And Political Changes, Which Determine The Social Attitude To Crime-Punishment Forms And Relations, Though Law Remains, Unchanged In Essence.




Excavations at Paithan, Maharashtra


Book Description

This book reports on excavations at Paithan in India revealed the development of two early Hindu temples from the 4th century to the 9th: the key formative phase of Hinduism. The temples started as small shrines but were elaborated into formal temples. In relation to these changes, the excavations revealed a sequence of palaeobotanical and palaeofaunal evidence that give insight into the economic and social changes that took place at that time.




The Routledge Handbook of the State in Premodern India


Book Description

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.




The Economic History of India


Book Description

The economic history of early India is a rich and diverse area of study, covering agricultural developments, trade, markets, occupation and professional groups, urbanization and the institutions that govern the economy. Recent research has expanded our understanding of the processes of transformation of the economy in different temporal contexts within the Indian sub-continent. They have particularly led us to explore connected histories given the trans-continental trading networks and movements of people from very early times. This volume seeks to draw attention to this vast and unexplored terrain in the economic history of early India, by bringing together essays on a new and rich historiography. Essays in the volume cover neglected regions, economic processes and structures. Scholars have looked at questions of settlements, crops that were cultivated and market orientation. Essays cover material culture and provide insights into how early Indians lived, what kinds of activities they were engaged in, and how they organised their production activities within and outside domestic spaces. Further the volume bring new insights on hierarchy of settlement types, nature of exchange, and the significance of a nodal site in exchange networks. Maritime history as well as the understanding of trade in its varied forms and manifestations are covered in several essays.