Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T05:10:58.101Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Temple Urbanism in Medieval South India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

James Heitzman
Get access

Extract

The Tamil country of South India experienced a flowering of political, economic, and cultural forces during the Chola period (849–1279). The environments supporting this expansion were nucleated settlements focused on temples, surrounded by verdant paddy fields with artificial irrigation networks. This article is a study of the sacred sites and nucleated settlements that were the heart of this medieval civilization. The purposes of the study are two: first, to portray the dynamics of early urbanism during a crucial period of regional integration in South Asia, and especially to portray the geography of early centers; second, to provide the basis for a comparative study of early South Indian urbanism and premodern urbanism in other world areas.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , November 1987 , pp. 791 - 826
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

List of References

Adams, Richard E., ed. 1977. The Origins of Maya Civilization. School of American Research Advanced Seminar Series. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.Google Scholar
Adams, Robert McC. 1966. The Evolution of Urban Society: Early Mesopotamia and Prehispanic Mexico. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Adams, Robert McC. 1972. “Patterns of Urbanization in Early Southern Mesopotamia.” In Man, Settlement, and Urbanism, ed. Ucko, Peter J., Tringham, Ruth, and Dimbleby, G. W.. London: Gerald Duckworth.Google Scholar
Adams, Robert McC. 1981. Heartland of Cities: Surveys of Ancient Settlement and Land Use on the Central Floodplain of the Euphrates. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Altekar, Anant Sadashiv. 1934. The Rāshṭrakūṭas and Their Times. Poona: Oriental Book Agency.Google Scholar
Appadorai, A. 1936. Economic Conditions in Southern India, 1000–1500 A.D. Madras: University of Madras.Google Scholar
Appadurai, Arjun. 1977. “Kings, Sects, and Temples in South India, 1350–1700 A.D.” Indian Economic and Social History Review 14, no. 1:47–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bagchi, Prabodh Chandra. 1955. India and Central Asia. Calcutta: National Council of Education, Bengal.Google Scholar
Blanton, Richard E. 1976. “Anthropological Studies of Cities.” Annual Review of Anthropology 5:249–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanton, Richard E. 1981. “The Rise of Cities.” In Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, ed. Sabloff, Jeremy A.. Vol. 1. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Bohle, Hans-Georg. 1981. Bewasserung und Gesellschaft in Cauvery-Delta (Südindien) [Irrigation and society in the Kaveri Delta (South India)]. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag.Google Scholar
Bray, Warwick. 1972. “Land-Use, Settlement Pattern, and Politics in Prehispanic Middle America.” In Man, Settlement, and Urbanism, ed. Ucko, Peter J., Tringham, Ruth, and Dimbleby, G. W.. London: Gerald Duckworth.Google Scholar
The Cambridge Economic History of India. 1982. Vol. 1:c. 1200–c. 1750. Ed. Raychaudhuri, T. and Habib, I.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Champakalakshmi, R. 1979. “Growth of Urban Centres in South India: KudamūkkuPaḺaiyāṞai, the Twin-City of the Colas. Studies in History 1, no. 1:1–30.Google Scholar
Childe, V. Gordon. 1950. “The Urban Revolution.” Town Planning Review 21, no. 1:3–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1984a. The Maya. New York: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1984b. Mexico. New York: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
Daniélou, Alain. 1969. Shilappadikaram [The ankle bracelet]. New York: New Directions.Google Scholar
Derrett, J. D. M. 1977. Essays in Classical and Modern Hindu Law. Vol. 1. Leiden: E. J. Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ennen, Edith. 1979. Trans. Fryde, Natalie. The Medieval Town. Europe in the Middle Ages: Selected Studies 15. New York: North-Holland Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Erdosy, George. 1985. “The Origin of Cities in the Ganges Valley.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 27, no. 1:81–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairservis, Walter A. Jr. 1975. The Roots of Ancient India: The Archaeology of Early Indian Civilization. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Février, Paul Albert et al. 1980. Histoire de la France urbaine [History of urban France]. Vol. 1. La ville antique des origines au IXe siècle. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.Google Scholar
Fritz, John M., Michell, George, and Rao, M. S. Nagaraja. 1985. Where Kings and Gods Meet: The Royal Centre at Vijayanagara, India. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.Google Scholar
Geertz, Clifford. 1980. Negara: The Theatre State in Nineteenth Century Bali. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Ghosh, A. 1973. The City in Early Historical India. Simla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study.Google Scholar
Hall, Kenneth. 1980. Trade and Statecraft in the Age of the Colas. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications.Google Scholar
Hall, Kenneth. 1982. “Peasant State and Society in Chola Times: A View from the Tiruvidaimarudur Urban Complex.” Indian Economic and Social History Review 18, nos. 3 and 4:393–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Kenneth. 1984. “Merchants, Rulers, and Priests in an Early South Indian Sacred Center: Cidambaram in the Age of the CōḺas.”Paper presented at the South Asian Seminar of the University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Hall, Kenneth, and Spencer, George. 1980. “The Economy of Kāñchīpuram—A Sacred Center in Early South India.” Journal of Urban History 6, no. 2:127–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammond, Norman. 1974. “The Distribution of Late Classic Maya Major Ceremonial Centres in the Central Area.” In Mesoamerican Archaeology: New Approaches, ed. Hammond, Norman. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman. 1975. “Maya Settlement Hierarchy in Northern Belize.” In Studies in Ancient Mesoamerica, ed. Graham, John A.. Vol. 2. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility 27:40–55.Google Scholar
Hara, Tadahiko, and Komoguchi, Yoshimi. 1981. “Socio-Economic Studies of Two Villages; Esanakorai and Peruvalanallur, Lalgudy Taluk.” Studies in Socio-cultural Change in Rural Villages in Tiruchirapalli District, Tamilnadu, India, vol. 2. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa.Google Scholar
Heitzman, E. James. 1984. “Early Buddhism, Trade, and Empire.” In Studies in Archaeology and Paleoanthropology of South Asia, ed. Kennedy, Kenneth A. R. and Possehl, Gregory L.. New Delhi: Oxford IBH Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Heitzman, E. 1985a. “Gifts of Power: Temples, Politics, and Economy in Medieval South India.” Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International.Google Scholar
Heitzman, E. 1985b. “Socio-Economic Formations in Pre-Modern South India: Case Studies and Methodology.” Peasant Studies 13, 1:47–60.Google Scholar
Hilton, Rodney. 1966. A Medieval Society: The West Midlands at the End of the Thirteenth Century. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.Google Scholar
Hilton, Rodney. 1975. The English Peasantry in the Later Middle Ages. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Hohenberg, Paul M., and Lees, Lynn Hollen. 1985. The Making of Urban Europe, 1000–1950. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Indian Archaeology—A Review. 1969–72. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India.Google Scholar
Kanakasabhai, V. [1904] 1956. The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago. Reprint. Tirunelvel: The South Indian Saiva Siddhanta Works Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Karashima, Noboru. 1984. South Indian History and Society: Studies from Inscriptions, A.D. 850–1800. Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Karashima, Noboru, and Subbarayalu, Y.. 1983. “Valangai/idangai, Kaniyalar, and Irajagarattar: Social Conflict in Tamilnadu in the Fifteenth Century.” In Socio-Cultural Change in Villages in Tiruchirapalli District, Tamilnadu, India, ed. Karashima, Noboru. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa.Google Scholar
Karashima, Noboru, Subbarayalu, Y., and Matsui, Tom. 1978. A Concordance of the Names in the CoḺa Inscriptions. Madurai: Sarvodaya Ilakkiya Pannai.Google Scholar
Kasinathan, N. 1981. Kalappirar [The Kalabhras]. Madras: Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology.Google Scholar
Kirāmankalḷiṉ akara varicaippaṭṭi (Alphabetical List of Villages). 1972. Madras: Government of Tamil Nadu.Google Scholar
Krishnaswami Aiyangar, S. 1931. Evolution of Hindu Administrative Institutions in South India. Madras: University of Madras.Google Scholar
Kulke, Hermann. 1969. “Funktionale Erklärung eines südindischen Māhātmyas: Die Legende Hiranyavarmans und das Leben des CōḺa-Königs Kulottunga I” [Functional analysis of a South Indian Māhātmya: The legend of Hiranyavarman and the life of the CōḺa king Kulottunga I]. Saeculum 20:412–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kulke, Hermann. 1979. Jagannātha-Kult und Gajapati Königtum: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte religiöser legitimation hinduistischer Herrscher [The Jagannātha cult and the Gajapati kingdom: A study of the history of the religious legitimation of the Hindu ruler]. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag.Google Scholar
Kumar, Dharma. 1985. “Private Property in Asia? The Case of Medieval South India.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 27, no. 2:340–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Latouche, Robert. 1961. Trans. Wilkerson, E. M.. The Birth of Western Economy. London: Methuen and Company.Google Scholar
Liu, Xinru. 1985. “Early Commercial and Cultural Exchanges Between India and China, First–Sixth Centuries A.D.” Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International.Google Scholar
Ludden, David. 1985. Peasant History in South India. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Mahalingam, T. V. 1954. South Indian Polity. Madras: University of Madras.Google Scholar
Michell, George, and Filliozat, Vasundhara. 1982. Splendours of the Vijayanagara Empire: Hampi. Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Humanities Press.Google Scholar
Minakshi, C. 1977. Administration and Social Life Under the Pallavas. Madras: University of Madras.Google Scholar
Minakshisundarar, T. P., and Pandarathar, T. V. Sadasiva. 1951. “Palaiyaru, the Chola Capital.” Journal of the Annamalai University 16:26–36.Google Scholar
Mines, Mattison. 1984. The Warrior Merchants: Textiles, Trade, and Territory in South India. Cambridge: University Press.Google Scholar
Nagaswamy, R. 1978. “South Indian Temple as an Employer.” In Studies in Ancient Tamil Law and Society, ed. Nagaswamy, R.. Madras: Institute of Epigraphy, State Department of Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu.Google Scholar
Nilakantha Sastri, K. A. 1955. The CōḺas. Madras: University of Madras.Google Scholar
Nilakantha Sastri, K. A. 1958. A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Palat, Ravi Arvind. 1981. “The Agrarian System of Jayankondacolamandalam Under Vijayanagara Rule.” M. Phil, diss., Jawaharlal Nehru University.Google Scholar
Palat, Ravi Arvind. 1986. “Popular Revolts and the State in Medieval South India: A Study of the Vijayanagara Empire (1360–1566).” Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde [Contributions to the study of language, land, and peoples] 142:128–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pandarathar, T. V. Sadasiva. 1958–61. Piṟkālac cōḺar viralāṟu [History of the later CōḺas]. Annamalainagar: Annamalai University.Google Scholar
Pirenne, Henri. 1956. Trans. Halsey, Frank D.. Medieval Cities. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday Anchor Books.Google Scholar
Possehl, Gregory, ed. 1979. Ancient Cities of the Indus. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House.Google Scholar
Raghotham, Venkata. 1983. “Religious Networks and the Legitimation of Power in Fourteenth Century South India: A Study of Kumara Kampana's Politics of Intervention and Arbitration.” In Studies in Religion and Change, ed. Sen, Madhu and Rao, N. S. A.. New Delhi: Books and Books.Google Scholar
Reynolds, Susan. 1977. An Introduction to the History of English Medieval Towns. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Sanders, William T., and Price, Barbara J.. 1968. Mesoamerica—The Evolution of a Civilization. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Sarkar, H. 1974. The Kampaharesvara Temple at Tribhuvanam. Madras: Department of Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu.Google Scholar
Sharma, R. S. 1972. “Decay of Gangetic Towns in Gupta and Post-Gupta Times.” Indian History Congress. Proceedings of the Thirty-third Session, Muzaffarpur.Google Scholar
Sharma, R. S. 1983. Perspectives in Social and Economic History of Early India. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal.Google Scholar
Sharma, R. S. 1985. “How Feudal Was Indian Feudalism?” The Journal of Peasant Studies 12, nos. 2 and 3:19–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sitaraman, B., Karashima, Noboru, and Subbarayalu, Y.. 1976. “A List of the Tamil Inscriptions of the Chola Dynasty.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 11:87–181.Google Scholar
Spencer, George. 1983. The Politics of Expansion: The Chola Conquest of Sri Lanka and Sri Vijaya. Madras: New Era Publications.Google Scholar
Srinivasan, S. 1980. “A Study of the History of Tirukkoyilur down to A.D. 1600.” Ph.D. diss., Karnatak University, Dharwad.Google Scholar
Stein, Burton. 1960. “Economic Functions of a Medieval South Indian Temple.” Journal of Asian Studies 19, no. 2:163–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, Burton. 1975. “The State and the Agrarian Order in Medieval South India.” In Essays on South India, ed. Stein, Burton. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, Burton. 1977. “The Segmentary State in South Indian History.” In Realm and Region in Traditional India, ed. Fox, Richard G.. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Stein, Burton. 1978. “All the King's Mana: Perspectives on Kingship in Medieval South India.” In Kingship and Authority in South Asia, ed. Richards, J. F.. Madison: University of Wisconsin Department of South Asian Studies.Google Scholar
Stein, Burton. 1980. Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Stein, Burton. 1985a. “Politics, Peasants, and the Deconstruction of Feudalism in Medieval India.” The Journal of Peasant Studies 12, nos. 2 and 3:54–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, Burton. 1985b. “State Formation and Economy Reconsidered.” Modern Asian Studies 19, no. 3:387–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Subbarayalu, Y. 1973. The Political Geography of the Chola Country. Madras: State Department of Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu.Google Scholar
Subbarayalu, Y. 1976. “The State in Medieval South India, 600–1350.” Diss., Madurai: Kamaraj University.Google Scholar
Subbarayalu, Y. 1981. “Land Measurement in Tamilnadu from 700 to 1350.” Historia: Proceedings of the Madurai Historical Society 1: 97–105.Google Scholar
Subbarayalu, Y. 1982. “The CōḺa State.” Studies in History 4, no. 2:265–306.Google Scholar
Suresh, B. 1965. “Historical and Cultural Geography and Ethnography of South India, with Special Reference to Cola (Chola) Inscriptions.” Ph.D. diss., Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute.Google Scholar
Suresh, B. 1968. “The Raajaraajeesvaram at Tancaavuur.” Proceedings of the First International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies. Kuala Lumpur: International Association of Tamil Research.Google Scholar
Tamil Lexicon. 1982. Madras: University of Madras.Google Scholar
Thakur, Vijay Kumar. 1981. Urbanisation in Ancient India. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications.Google Scholar
Thapar, Romila. 1966. A History of India. Vol. 1. Baltimore: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Thapar, Romila. 1984. From Lineage to State. Bombay: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tirukkōvalūr sthala purāṇam [History of Tirukkōvalūr]. 1978. Ed. Tiruvenkataramanujaccariyar, Sri. Tirukkoyilur: Sri Emperumanar Jiyar Matam.Google Scholar
Tirumalai, R. 1981. Studies in the History of Ancient Townships of Pudukkottai. Madras: Institute of Epigraphy, State Department of Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu.Google Scholar
Trautmann, Thomas R. 1981. Dravidian Kingship. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wheatley, Paul. 1971. The Pivot of the Four Quarters: A Preliminary Enquiry into the Origins and Character of the Ancient Chinese City. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Wheatley, Paul. 1972. “The Concept of Urbanism.” In Man, Settlement, and Urbanism, ed. Ucko, Peter J., Tringham, Ruth, and Dimbleby, G. W.. London: Gerald Duckworth.Google Scholar
Wheatley, Paul. 1978. From Court to Capital: A Tentative Interpretation of the Origins of the Japanese Urban Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Wheatley, Paul. 1983. Nāgara and Commandery: Origins of the Southeast Asian Urban Traditions. University of Chicago Department of Geography Research Paper 207–8. Chicago: University of Chicago Department of Geography.Google Scholar
Wheeler, Sir Mortimer. 1968. The Indus Civilization. Cambridge: The University Press.Google Scholar
Wheeler, Sir Mortimer. 1971. Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontiers. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar