Symbols of substance : court and state in Nāyaka period Tamilnadu

The book looks at the three major Nayaka states--ruled from Senji, Tanjavur and Madurai, Tiruccirappalli--as well as at minor states located at their periphery. While these states had differing life-spans, developmental patterns, geo-ecological environments, and distinct forms of historical experience, they also shared salient structural and cultural features. At their height, in the early seventeenth century, they encompassed the greater part of the Tamil country. Early chapters set out the fundamental tensions of the period: the social flux caused by the resurgence of certain groups, which had either intruded into the area from the Telugu country, or entered the mainstream of Nayaka society from a marginal position. Related to this is the central paradox of Nayaka kingship-- the tension between inflated claims and the limited scale of kingship. Later sections set out these themes in some detail, and also delineate how such states were founded, what their resource base was, and how this base was portrayed and managed. The book's ambit extends considerably beyond the economic and political, to consider how the social flux of the epoch also found its counterpart in the central themes of Nayaka literature. Specifically, there is a focus on perceptions of the body and bodily mutilation and regeneration (here termed Nayaka anthropology), and on the parodic dialectic that underpins the rhetoric of kingship. Other chapters deal with contestation and war. The final chapter looks to the post-Nayaka transition, focusing once again on the kingdom that appears most of all to epitomize the Nayaka spirit: Tanjavur. What is distinctive about the Nayakas? How do they fit into the wider realities of their time? From what do they derive? How can we understand the emergence of new institutional patterns, of the striking artistic and especially literary creations at the Nayaka courts, of a novel historiography and culture? Supplementing standard sources by an imaginative use of Dutch, Portuguese, Tamil, Sanskrit, and Telugu sources, the authors show how the Nayakas witnessed, and partly produced, a profound shift in the conceptual and institutional bases of South Indian civilization. 00000001.tif.3 1 00000004.tif.3 4 00000007.tif.3 7 00000010.tif.3 10 00000013.tif.3 13 00000016.tif.3 16 00000019.tif.3 19 00000022.tif.3 22 00000025.tif.3 25 00000028.tif.3 28 00000031.tif.3 31 00000034.tif.3 34 00000037.tif.3 37 00000040.tif.3 40 00000043.tif.3 43 00000046.tif.3 46 00000049.tif.3 49 00000052.tif.3 52 00000055.tif.3 55 00000058.tif.3 58 00000061.tif.3 61 00000064.tif.3 64 00000067.tif.3 67 00000070.tif.3 70 00000073.tif.3 73 00000076.tif.3 76 00000079.tif.3 79 00000082.tif.3 82 00000085.tif.3 85 00000088.tif.3 88 00000091.tif.3 91 00000094.tif.3 94 00000097.tif.3 97 00000100.tif.3 100 00000103.tif.3 103 00000106.tif.3 106 00000109.tif.3 109 00000112.tif.3 112 00000115.tif.3 115 00000118.tif.3 118 00000121.tif.3 121 00000124.tif.3 124 00000127.tif.3 127 00000130.tif.3 130 00000133.tif.3 133 00000136.tif.3 136 00000139.tif.3 139 00000142.tif.3 142 00000145.tif.3 145 00000148.tif.3 148 00000151.tif.3 151 00000154.tif.3 154 00000157.tif.3 157 00000160.tif.3 160 00000163.tif.3 163 00000166.tif.3 166 00000169.tif.3 169 00000172.tif.3 172 00000175.tif.3 175 00000178.tif.3 178 00000181.tif.3 181 00000184.tif.3 184 00000187.tif.3 187 00000190.tif.3 190 00000193.tif.3 193 00000196.tif.3 196 00000199.tif.3 199 00000202.tif.3 202 00000205.tif.3 205 00000208.tif.3 208 00000211.tif.3 211 00000214.tif.3 214 00000217.tif.3 217 00000220.tif.3 220 00000223.tif.3 223 00000226.tif.3 226 00000229.tif.3 229 00000232.tif.3 232 00000235.tif.3 235 00000238.tif.3 238 00000241.tif.3 241 00000244.tif.3 244 00000247.tif.3 247 00000250.tif.3 250 00000253.tif.3 253 00000256.tif.3 256 00000259.tif.3 259 00000262.tif.3 262 00000265.tif.3 265 00000268.tif.3 268 00000271.tif.3 271 00000274.tif.3 274 00000277.tif.3 277 00000280.tif.3 280 00000283.tif.3 283 00000286.tif.3 286 00000289.tif.3 289 00000292.tif.3 292 00000295.tif.3 295 00000298.tif.3 298 00000301.tif.3 301 00000304.tif.3 304 00000307.tif.3 307 00000310.tif.3 310 00000313.tif.3 313 00000316.tif.3 316 00000319.tif.3 319 00000322.tif.3 322 00000325.tif.3 325 00000328.tif.3 328 00000331.tif.3 331 00000334.tif.3 334 00000337.tif.3 337 00000340.tif.3 340 00000343.tif.3 343 00000346.tif.3 346 00000349.tif.3 349 00000352.tif.3 352 00000355.tif.3 355 00000358.tif.3 358 00000361.tif.3 361 00000364.tif.3 364 00000367.tif.3 367 00000370.tif.3 370 00000373.tif.3 373 00000376.tif.3 376 00000379.tif.3 379 00000382.tif.3 382 00000385.tif.2 385 The volume deals with the political culture of the Nayaka period in medieval South India, an era which extends from the early 16th to the early 18th centuries. Velcheru Narayana Rao, David Shulman, Sanjay Subrahmanyam. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [319]-333) And Index.