Amazon cover image
Image from Amazon.com

The hollow crown : ethnohistory of an Indian kingdom

By: Publication details: Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, ©1987Description: xix, 458 p. ; 22 cmISBN:
  • 9780521053723
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 954 DIR-H
Contents:
1. introduction
2. History and ethnohistory
3. A little kingdom in the old regime
4. Social relations of a little kingdom
5. Colonial mediations : contradictions under the raj
6. Conclusion.
Summary: A pioneering piece of ethnohistory, The Hollow Crown uses a variety of interdisciplinary means to reconstruct the sociocultural history of a warrior polity in south India between the fourteenth and the twentieth centuries. Central to the book is the belief that comparative sociology has systematically denied the importance of the Indian state and obscured the political basis of Indian society by representing caste as fundamentally a religious system. In reconstructing the history of the polity that eventually became the colonial princely state of Pudukkottai, Dr Dirks therefore raises a whole series of issues concerning the methodologies of history and anthropology, the character of Tamil kingship and social organization, the relationship between politics and ritual, the impact of colonialism and 'modernization', and the dynamics of the whole last millennium of south Indian history.
Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.
Star ratings
    Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds Course reserves
Books Books IIITD Reference History REF 954 DIR-H (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Not for loan 013101

Advanced Political Anthropology (New) UG & PG MNS24

Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references (p. 435-446) and index.

1. introduction

2. History and ethnohistory

3. A little kingdom in the old regime

4. Social relations of a little kingdom

5. Colonial mediations : contradictions under the raj

6. Conclusion.

A pioneering piece of ethnohistory, The Hollow Crown uses a variety of interdisciplinary means to reconstruct the sociocultural history of a warrior polity in south India between the fourteenth and the twentieth centuries. Central to the book is the belief that comparative sociology has systematically denied the importance of the Indian state and obscured the political basis of Indian society by representing caste as fundamentally a religious system. In reconstructing the history of the polity that eventually became the colonial princely state of Pudukkottai, Dr Dirks therefore raises a whole series of issues concerning the methodologies of history and anthropology, the character of Tamil kingship and social organization, the relationship between politics and ritual, the impact of colonialism and 'modernization', and the dynamics of the whole last millennium of south Indian history.

There are no comments on this title.

to post a comment.
© 2024 IIIT-Delhi, library@iiitd.ac.in