Author: Satish Chandra
Publisher: Macmillan
Year: 1997
Language: English
Pages: 192
ISBN/UPC (if available): 033903960
Description
A collection of articles which seek to fill in significant gaps in an understanding of medieval Indian society.
Of late a great deal of attention has been paid to social and economic history but the focus has been on elites. The role and character of the ruling classes has mainly been the subject of scrutiny. This book , however, also takes into account some neglected subjects of concern to socio-economic historians.
The structure and functioning of rural society is examined on the basis of Rajasthani, Marathi, Persian and English records. The impact of rural structure on developmental problems is also analyzed. A separate chapter delineates the 'crisis' of medieval Indian society in the seventeenth century which the author identifies as a basic institutional crisis.
The study marks a radical departure from the colonial school of historiography and examines the cultural features of medieval Indian society in an entirely new light.