This book studies transitional south Indian society during the critical Chola age, c.875-1279, when there was notable evolution of pre-existing as well as new societal institutions. Networks of Trade, Polity, and Societal Integration in Chola-Era South India, c.875-1279 considers issues of emic ('local') and etic ('external') agency; the origin of urban communities relative to movements of material and ideational 'commodities'; confrontations between alien cultures, formation of plural societies, dual loyalties, and multiple affiliations. Specifically, this book highlights the south Indian epigraphic sources that document the purposeful creation of clearly defined market and temple districts adjacent to settled agricultural societies, which were to be populated by multi-ethnic merchants, artisans, warriors, rulers, agriculturalists, and priests from the various regions of the south Indian downstream river basins and their hinterlands, as well as the Indian Ocean.
About the Author
Kenneth R. Hall is Professor of History at Ball State University. His books include A History of Early South-East Asia: Maritime Trade and Societal Development, c. 100-1500; An Economic History of Early Southeast Asia (Cambridge History of South-East Asia) and many more. He has authored numerous professional journal and collected volume studies, and is on the advisory board of the Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient.
Loading...
