The Heirs of Vijayanagara

Court Politics in Early Modern South India
Erscheinungsjahr 2022
ISBN: 978-90-8728-371-1
Verlag: Leiden University Press

Buch, Englisch, 596 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Colonial and Global History through Dutch Sources

"This comparative study investigates court politics in four kingdoms that succeeded the s outh Indian Vijayanagara empire during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries: Ikkeri, Tanjavur, Madurai, and Ramnad. Building on a unique combination of unexplored Indian texts and Dutch archival records, this research offers a captivating new analysis of political culture, power relations, and dynastic developments. In great detail, this monograph provides both new facts and fresh insights that contest existing scholarship. By highlighting their competitive, fluid, and dynamic nature, it undermines the historiography viewing these courts as harmonic, hierarchic, and static. Far from being remote, ritualised figures, we find kings and Brahmins contesting with other courtiers for power. At the same time, by stressing continuities with the past, this study questions recent scholarship that perceives a fundamentally new form of Nayaka kingship. Thus, this research has important repercussions for the way we perceive both these kingdoms and their ‘medieval’ precursors. "

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bes, Lennart

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsgeschichte, Recht der Antike
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Maps and Tables
List of Illustrations
List of Abbreviations
Notes on Spelling and Citation
Maps
Introduction
Historical Background
Sources
Historiography
Structure
Chapter 1. Foundations and Foundation Myths
Vijayanagara
Sangamas
Saluvas, Tuluvas, and Aravidus
Successor States
Nayakas of Ikkeri
Nayakas of Tanjavur
Bhonsles of Tanjavur
Nayakas of Madurai
Setupatis of Ramnad
Conclusions
Chapter 2. Dynastic Successions
Vijayanagara
Sangamas and Saluvas
Tuluvas
Aravidus
Successor States
Nayakas of Ikkeri
Nayakas of Tanjavur
Bhonsles of Tanjavur
Nayakas of Madurai
Setupatis of Ramnad
Conclusions
Chapter 3. The Power of Courtiers
Vijayanagara
Sangamas and Saluvas
Tuluvas
Aravidus
Successor States
Nayakas of Ikkeri
Nayakas of Tanjavur
Bhonsles of Tanjavur
Nayakas of Madurai
Setupatis of Ramnad
Conclusions
Chapter 4. Court Protocol and Insults
Vijayanagara
Successor States
Nayakas of Ikkeri
Nayakas of Tanjavur
Bhonsles of Tanjavur
Nayakas of Madurai
Setupatis of Ramnad
Conclusions
Chapter 5. Influences from Sultanate Courts
Vijayanagara
Successor States
Nayakas of Ikkeri
Nayakas of Tanjavur
Bhonsles of Tanjavur
Nayakas of Madurai
Setupatis of Ramnad
Conclusions
Chapter 6. Mutual Relations
Conclusion
Epilogue
Aravidus of Vijayanagara
Nayakas of Ikkeri
Nayakas of Tanjavur
Bhonsles of Tanjavur
Nayakas of Madurai
Setupatis of Ramnad
Sources and Literature
Unpublished Sources
Published Sources
Secondary Literature
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Lennart Bes is an Indologist and historian studying political culture in south India. He teaches Asian history, Dutch overseas history, and archival studies at Leiden University.