The New Cambridge History of India
Vijayanagara

Stein addresses the central question of the extent to which Vijayanagara, as a medieval Hindu kingdom can be viewed.

Burton Stein (Author)

9780521619257, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 17 February 2005

184 pages
22.5 x 15 x 1.2 cm, 0.292 kg

"...thanks to his success in interweaving his analysis of 'structural changes' together with a narrative synopsis of political history, the potential audience has been expanded beyond the narrow circle of specialists to include anyone who desires an intelligent overall introduction to the period." Phillip B. Wagoner, Newsletter of the Society for South Indian Studies

The Vijayanagara rajas ruled a substantial part of the southern peninsula of India for over three hundred years, beginning in the mid-fourteenth century, and during this epoch the region was transformed from its medieval past towards a modern colonial future. Concentrating on the later sixteenth- and seventeenth-century history of Vijayanagara, Burton Stein details the pattern of rule established in this important and long-lived Hindu kingdom, which was followed by other, often smaller, kingdoms of peninsular India until the onset of colonialism. Through an analysis of the politics, society and economy, Stein addresses the central question of the extent to which Vijayanagara, as a medieval Hindu kingdom, can be viewed as a prototype of the polities and societies confronted by the British in the late eighteenth century. This work thus presents an understanding of one of the great medieval kingdoms of India, and a more general assessment of the nature of the state, society and culture on the eve of European colonial rule.

List of illustrations
General editor's preface
Preface maps
1. Introduction
2. The medieval past: continuity and disjunction
3. The city and the kingdom
4. Political economy and society: the sixteenth century
5. Imperial collapse and aftermath: 1542–1700
6. Conclusion
Bibliographical essay
Index.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]