HIST 135 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Puranas, Mount Kailash, Jambudvipa
Document Summary
Lecture 12: hindu temple kingdoms, early medieval india (500-1200 ce) Feudalism: fragmentation of polity, rise of land grant economy, decline in trade and monetary circulation, contraction of urban life, emergence of system of lord-vassal ties, growth and differentiation of peasantry, temple hinduism an ideology of domination. Growth: no decline in trade and monetary circulation, urban life transformed, land grant economy indicated expansion of agriculture, peasantization of former tribal groups, temple hinduism spreads through absorbing local cults, growth of regionalism and vernacular languages. Caste system: varna system 4-fold, ritual status, vaishya agriculturalist or merchant, proliferation of jatis at the lower rungs (vaishya, shudra) suggests peasentization and. Proliferation of temples: chalukyas and pallavas, royal patronage land grants, wealth, supplies for worship, powerful economic/ cultural institutions led to absorption of local cults and peoples. Incorporation of other cults: agrarian expansion, land grants to temples, vishnupurana all beings, including the gods worship vishnu, sedentarisation and hinduisation of tribal groups.
