India is generally regarded as a civilization with a set of intrinsic attributes that emerged in ... more India is generally regarded as a civilization with a set of intrinsic attributes that emerged in the age of the Vedas or, better still, in the Harappan times. In recent decades, historical studies have moved away from rigid perspectives of singularity in origin and expansion; the emphasis now is on pluralities and long-term processes spanning centuries and millennia. There is also an influential school of thought which rejects antiquity claims such as these and holds that India is a construct of the colonial and nationalist imagination. In his radical reinterpretation of India's past, Manu V. Devadevan moves away from these reifying assessments to examine the evolution of institutions, ideas and identities that are characterized, typically, as Indian. In lieu of endorsing their Indianness, he traces their emergence to specific conditions that developed in India between 600 and 1200 CE, a period which historians now call the 'early medieval'.
The story of the origin of the Lingayats, and the current demand of the community seeking minorit... more The story of the origin of the Lingayats, and the current demand of the community seeking minority status, lies in the late M. M. Kalburgi's thesis. Manu V. Devadevan explores the thesis and cautions against the historical claims made as part of the current demand for minority status.
Towards the close of the first millennium CE, thinkers in India began to reflect upon the nature ... more Towards the close of the first millennium CE, thinkers in India began to reflect upon the nature of time. Coevally, there arose a set of other practices. One of them was recording historical time, which paved way for the appearance of calendars by the second and the third centuries CE. Another practice was the articulation of systems of cosmic time, such as the four yugas described in the Mahābhārata and the scheme of utsarpiṇī and avasarpiṇi in Jaina texts such as the Jaṃbudvīpaprajñapti. Yet another practice was the production of narratives that enabled the imagination of time in novel ways. These developments let to complex understandings concerning the nature of time and its relationship with existence. By the fifth century, it enabled the grammarian Bhartṛhari to evolve a refined theory of time, and by the ninth century, when Jinasēna II wrote his Pūrvapurāṇa, time and the past had come to be seen as sources of knowledge. This paper presents a historical overview of this process.
The evolution of territorial self-consciousness was among the most significant and historically f... more The evolution of territorial self-consciousness was among the most significant and historically far-reaching developments of the later half of the first millennium CE in the Indian subcontinent. However, discussions concerning this complex process have not had the benefit of systematic exploration. Although a handful of perspectives exist, they have been presented impressionistically in the context of debates on feudalism and state formation. In this article, this question is examined in relation to the rise of territoriality in the eastern Indian region of Kalin · ga. On the basis of the evidence occurring in the inscriptions from the region, it is argued that large-scale expansion of agriculture and the spread of landed property, the prospects thus generated by the political control that could be exercised over its resources and the consolidation of such prospects at different local, supralocal and regional levels were the causes that resulted in the rise of Kalin · ga as a geopolitically self-conscious territory. In the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, Kaliṅga was the name of a lineage group, and in extension, the country inhabited by the group. The situation on the eve of Aśōka's invasion of the region in the mid third century BCE was not different enough to a degree that merits serious reflection. However, towards the close of the first millennium BCE, the first signs of a transition towards a new order were beginning to be felt. By the sixth century CE, Kaliṅga had come to represent a territory that was self-conscious of its geo-political position in the contemporary networks of monarchies and chiefdoms. This was a transformation of fundamental historical significance, continues as it does to resonate well into our times. How did the transformation take place, and what insights does it Article Indian Historical Review 44(2) 1–25
Between the fourth and sixth centuries CE, Pallava statecraft in South India revolved largely aro... more Between the fourth and sixth centuries CE, Pallava statecraft in South India revolved largely around the practice of making land grants to bra hman a beneficiaries. These activities were concentrated in the rural agrarian belts of coastal Andhra and parts of Karnataka. The image of the king in these grants was stereotypical: a chivalrous ruler, wedded to the ideals of valour, protecting his people and swearing devotion towards his father and god. These were ideals that might have appealed to the imagination of a rural world in an agrarian milieu. However, in the early seventh century CE, when South Asia witnessed a 'third phase of urbanization', the Pallavas turned towards Tamil Nadu, where a powerful class of peasant proprietors, the na ttt a r, existed. In this changed historical setting, the Pallavas moved away in a significant manner from the practice of awarding land grant and making interventions into the production relations and other regimes of agrarian control. Instead, they turned towards the creation of a refined urban aesthetic infrastructure centring on the cult of the royal personality. This involved the propagation of newer images of the king, extending patronage to literary practices, drama and music, and building temples for a gamic deities such as S iva and Vis n u on a scale large enough to promote ingenious forms of architecture and iconography. This new aesthetic infrastructure was widely influential, eventually spread to other parts of the subcontinent, transforming the practice of statecraft in South Asia.
India is generally regarded as a civilization with a set of intrinsic attributes that emerged in ... more India is generally regarded as a civilization with a set of intrinsic attributes that emerged in the age of the Vedas or, better still, in the Harappan times. In recent decades, historical studies have moved away from rigid perspectives of singularity in origin and expansion; the emphasis now is on pluralities and long-term processes spanning centuries and millennia. There is also an influential school of thought which rejects antiquity claims such as these and holds that India is a construct of the colonial and nationalist imagination. In his radical reinterpretation of India's past, Manu V. Devadevan moves away from these reifying assessments to examine the evolution of institutions, ideas and identities that are characterized, typically, as Indian. In lieu of endorsing their Indianness, he traces their emergence to specific conditions that developed in India between 600 and 1200 CE, a period which historians now call the 'early medieval'.
The story of the origin of the Lingayats, and the current demand of the community seeking minorit... more The story of the origin of the Lingayats, and the current demand of the community seeking minority status, lies in the late M. M. Kalburgi's thesis. Manu V. Devadevan explores the thesis and cautions against the historical claims made as part of the current demand for minority status.
Towards the close of the first millennium CE, thinkers in India began to reflect upon the nature ... more Towards the close of the first millennium CE, thinkers in India began to reflect upon the nature of time. Coevally, there arose a set of other practices. One of them was recording historical time, which paved way for the appearance of calendars by the second and the third centuries CE. Another practice was the articulation of systems of cosmic time, such as the four yugas described in the Mahābhārata and the scheme of utsarpiṇī and avasarpiṇi in Jaina texts such as the Jaṃbudvīpaprajñapti. Yet another practice was the production of narratives that enabled the imagination of time in novel ways. These developments let to complex understandings concerning the nature of time and its relationship with existence. By the fifth century, it enabled the grammarian Bhartṛhari to evolve a refined theory of time, and by the ninth century, when Jinasēna II wrote his Pūrvapurāṇa, time and the past had come to be seen as sources of knowledge. This paper presents a historical overview of this process.
The evolution of territorial self-consciousness was among the most significant and historically f... more The evolution of territorial self-consciousness was among the most significant and historically far-reaching developments of the later half of the first millennium CE in the Indian subcontinent. However, discussions concerning this complex process have not had the benefit of systematic exploration. Although a handful of perspectives exist, they have been presented impressionistically in the context of debates on feudalism and state formation. In this article, this question is examined in relation to the rise of territoriality in the eastern Indian region of Kalin · ga. On the basis of the evidence occurring in the inscriptions from the region, it is argued that large-scale expansion of agriculture and the spread of landed property, the prospects thus generated by the political control that could be exercised over its resources and the consolidation of such prospects at different local, supralocal and regional levels were the causes that resulted in the rise of Kalin · ga as a geopolitically self-conscious territory. In the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, Kaliṅga was the name of a lineage group, and in extension, the country inhabited by the group. The situation on the eve of Aśōka's invasion of the region in the mid third century BCE was not different enough to a degree that merits serious reflection. However, towards the close of the first millennium BCE, the first signs of a transition towards a new order were beginning to be felt. By the sixth century CE, Kaliṅga had come to represent a territory that was self-conscious of its geo-political position in the contemporary networks of monarchies and chiefdoms. This was a transformation of fundamental historical significance, continues as it does to resonate well into our times. How did the transformation take place, and what insights does it Article Indian Historical Review 44(2) 1–25
Between the fourth and sixth centuries CE, Pallava statecraft in South India revolved largely aro... more Between the fourth and sixth centuries CE, Pallava statecraft in South India revolved largely around the practice of making land grants to bra hman a beneficiaries. These activities were concentrated in the rural agrarian belts of coastal Andhra and parts of Karnataka. The image of the king in these grants was stereotypical: a chivalrous ruler, wedded to the ideals of valour, protecting his people and swearing devotion towards his father and god. These were ideals that might have appealed to the imagination of a rural world in an agrarian milieu. However, in the early seventh century CE, when South Asia witnessed a 'third phase of urbanization', the Pallavas turned towards Tamil Nadu, where a powerful class of peasant proprietors, the na ttt a r, existed. In this changed historical setting, the Pallavas moved away in a significant manner from the practice of awarding land grant and making interventions into the production relations and other regimes of agrarian control. Instead, they turned towards the creation of a refined urban aesthetic infrastructure centring on the cult of the royal personality. This involved the propagation of newer images of the king, extending patronage to literary practices, drama and music, and building temples for a gamic deities such as S iva and Vis n u on a scale large enough to promote ingenious forms of architecture and iconography. This new aesthetic infrastructure was widely influential, eventually spread to other parts of the subcontinent, transforming the practice of statecraft in South Asia.
Although the Vaṭeśvara Siddhānta survives only in a solitary manuscript found at Lahore, it seems... more Although the Vaṭeśvara Siddhānta survives only in a solitary manuscript found at Lahore, it seems to have been a widely read work for a long time. Its influence is seen on major astronomers like Śrīpati, Bhāskara II and Kamalākara Bhaṭṭa. Vaṭeśvara was an Āryabhaṭan by persuasion, and adopted several stances taken by the great pioneer. For instance, most astronomers divide the Mahāyuga of 43,20,000 years into the four yugas, the Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali in a 4 : 3 : 2 : 1 ratio. But Vaṭeśvara followed Āryabhaṭa and assigned a period of 10,80,000 each for the four yugas. In doing so, he made a strong attempt to refute Brahmagupta's criticism of Āryabhaṭa. In 1326 verses divided into eight chapters, the Vaṭeśvara Siddhānta covers a wide range of issues related to astronomy, including mean motion, true motion, calculation of aeonary days, corrections to mean planet, diurnal motion, eclipses, heliacal rising, lunar horns, and conjunction of celestial bodies. The chapters are further divided into shorter sections devoted to different aspects of astronomy, which is not to be seen in any other astronomical treatise from India. Vaṭeśvara set very high standards for the professional astronomer. For instance, he held that an ace astronomer must be able to determine the ahargaṇa (number of days elapsed in an era) on the basis of solar days alone, without taking recourse to lunar months, intercalary months etc. The astronomer was also expected to find lunar days from civil days, solar days from lunar days, and sidereal days from solar days. Not only was the astronomer required to know how to arrive at the longitude of the sun and the moon, but also determine the sun's longitude from the moon's and the moon's from the sun's! Vaṭeśvara offered a number of innovative methods and fresh interpretations, which along with its encyclopedic character, made his treatise an important source of reference for astronomers in India for a long time.
Mahendra Sūri was patronized by the Tughlak ruler of Delhi, Firūz Shāh (r. 1351-1388), who evince... more Mahendra Sūri was patronized by the Tughlak ruler of Delhi, Firūz Shāh (r. 1351-1388), who evinced keen interest in astronomy. Firūz Shāh had earlier caused the Bṛhatsaṃhitā of Varāhamihira to be translated into Persian. At the sultan's instance, Mahendra Sūri studied the astrolabe and introduced it to the Sanskrit audience in 1370 in his Yantrarāja. The Sanskrit orthodoxy seems to have accorded the work a lukewarm welcome, though. Its circulation was largely, if not wholly, confined to astronomers who worked within the Islamic and Ptolemaic traditions. The Yantrarāja is best described as an astrolabe user's manual. It explains how this king (rāja) of instruments (yantra) is to be constructed and commissioned for purposes of observation. The saumya yantra (northern instrument) projected from the South Pole and the yāmya yantra (southern instrument) projected from the North Pole are discussed separately, followed by a description of the phaṇīndra yantra (the serpentine instrument), which combines both. A detailed discussion on the application of the astrolabe is found in Malayendu Sūri's commentary on the Yantrarāja. This commentary is also interesting because it provided, for the first time to the Indian astronomers, tables for ready reference, which helped simplify calculations. The commentator gave latitudes of 75 cities. Islamic traditions is said to have recorded latitudes for as many as 1022 stars. Malayendu made a list of latitudes for 32 stars, which were identified as relevant for purposes of calculations in India.
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