Historicising Patronage in Ancient India: Chalukyan Women and the Making of Religious Architecture

The Arthashastra, attributed to the ancient Indian scholar and statesman Kautilya (also known as Chanakya), stands as a monumental treatise on governance, political strategy, economics, and statecraft. Rooted in the cultural and social fabric of ancient India, the Arthashastra offers a unique perspective on the complexities of governance, emphasizing the interplay between ethics, law, and the nature of power. This comprehensive reflection explores the cultural aspects embedded within the Arthashastra, highlighting its insights on the roles of rulers, ministers, and citizens, and its practical application in the context of ancient Indian society. The text not only addresses the political and economic systems but also delves into the moral and ethical dilemmas faced by rulers, emphasizing the importance of dharma (righteousness) alongside pragmatic statecraft. In examining the Arthashastra through the lens of cultural influence, the study identifies how Kautilya’s views were shaped by the social hierarchies, religious traditions, and philosophical thoughts prevalent in ancient India. The text reflects the complex relationship between the individual and the state, where the king's duty is framed not merely as a ruler of a territory but as a guardian of social order, morality, and the welfare of the people. By analyzing the principles of governance, law, taxation, and warfare presented in the Arthashastra, this study reveals the text’s integral role in shaping the cultural understanding of state power, ethics, and leadership in Indian history. The Arthashastra offers timeless wisdom that transcends cultural and historical boundaries, yet it remains deeply rooted in the traditions and values of ancient Indian civilization. This exploration highlights its enduring relevance to contemporary governance, political thought, and cultural identity, affirming Kautilya’s vision as both a product of his time and a text of universal significance in the study of statecraft and leadership

This article delves into the evolution of political and legal thought in ancient India, with a focus on the influences of Brahmanism, the Laws of Manu, and the teachings of Buddha. The author takes a historical perspective, analyzing the developments and changes in ancient India's political and legal systems over the centuries. The article begins by discussing the influence of Brahmanism, the dominant religious and social order in ancient India. Brahmanism played a significant role in shaping political and legal thought through its emphasis on hierarchy, social roles, and duties. The author explores how Brahmanical beliefs influenced ancient India's governance, lawmaking, and societal structure. We examine the Laws of Manu, a key legal text in ancient India that codified social norms, ethics, and laws. The authors highlight the impact of the Laws of Manu on the political and legal landscape of ancient India, highlighting its influence on governance, justice, and social order in India today. We examine the teachings of Buddha and contributions to political and legal thought this belief community influenced society in ancient India particularly of how Buddha's emphasis on compassion, morality, and equality influenced political governance, law enforcement, and social justice in ancient Indian societies. Overall, this article provides in-depth analysis of the evolution of political and legal thought in ancient India, shedding light on the diverse influences of Brahmanism, the Laws of Manu, and the teachings of Buddha. Highlighting the historical developments in political and legal systems, we provide valuable insights into the intellectual and philosophical foundations of ancient Indian society.

There is no doubt in saying that ancient Indian society was predominantly patriarchal in nature. The woman lived in an awful state and was lumped with shudras. The most inhuman practice was that of Sati which had gained social acceptance across the length and breadth of the society. But unlike the ancient Indian society, the society of Kashmir was almost free from all these elements which all time remained the core issues of Indian society. Sati system in India continued till British rule while as one finds just some literary references regarding sati in Kashmir. Even both the societies were religiously Hindu, both were ruled by Hindu dynasties and most importantly both were patriarchal in nature but both societies experienced different cultures. We argue that neither patriarchy nor religion can fully explain the subjugation of women. For instance, a woman in Kashmir enjoyed most of the social, political and economic rights than their counterparts in ancient India. Secondly, we argue that the caste system was not that rigid in Kashmir as it was in ancient India; hence caste mobilization was a usual affair in Kashmir and not in India. Thirdly, that the composite culture of Kashmir called Kashmiriyat has always been more inclusive, more accommodative than religious cultures. That is where a large difference is created between the two societies.

Coins are as significant as the inscription in ancient history. As per data got from privileged literature about coin, it is to be shown the architecture of coin. They are of different metals – copper, silver, gold, or compound and contain legends or basic imprints. Consequently, it is extremely basic to the reconstruct of the old Indian history. The immaculateness of the metal demonstrates the budgetary states of the Civilization. The discovery of same coin at different places assists in fixing the exposure of various kingdoms in ancient India. The coin study by the scientific method such as Energy desorption X-ray techniques (EDS) would be provided the realistic condition of particular civilization in ancient history.

To say that "Further India" is in need of further study may be to offer a pun of the utmost feebleness. The pun is justified by the extraordinary neglect of an international cultural coalescence that is unusual to the point of being unique. Romila Thapar's widely read History of Ancient India has two pages on "Greater India." She objects quite rightly to the phrase and consequently omits if from her index. Histories of India, ancient or modern, tend to be histories of North India, but Nilakanta Sastri's History of South India improves even on Thapar in its lack of attention to this topic. Perhaps it does so because Sastri published a book in 1949 on South Indian Influences in the Far East. 2 K. M. Pannikar's five pages in his brief History of India (unfortunately long out of print) are valuable and indeed aroused my own interest in the subject.3 But five pages can only indicate how much more needs to be said. The same observation can be make of John Keay's two densely packed pages on the South Indian presence overseas.4 KeywordsWorld CivilizationAncient WorldHindu TempleChinese TravellerIndian TempleThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

“It is generally believed that the Buddha was a great social reformer, a believer in the equality of all human beings, a democrat and that his efforts for the emancipation of women and lower castes created a sort of social revolution in society.” (Jawaharlal Nehru, Discovery of India, p. 141) Patriarchy and Androcentrism is one of the common grounds where we could trace the origins of majority of religions. In the 5th and 6th century BCE India, the discrimination towards women had reached to its zenith, as like the whimsical spread of Brahmanism and its ritualistic traditions as cobwebs on Ancient society. Thus Gautama Buddha’s assertion that the highest goal of the religion he found – Nibbana- was possible for women is revolutionary even in today’s standards. Moreover, by instituting Bhikkuni Sanghas and including nuns in the order had also helped the women to enhance their stand tremendously, even though watered down by conservatives after the Parinibbana. Buddha instituted social relationships in strict guidance of reciprocity, including in that of marriage. Thus marriage as a secular institution had enhanced women agency and by seeing death as a natural occurrence, removed the stigma attached to widowhood. This paper tries to delve into different instances where women were depicted in the Early Buddhism and an analysis on how it would have helped women to ascertain their gender in both social and spiritual spheres.

One of the major problems inevitably arising in study of the societal relationships and structure of ancient Indian society is that of the character of landed property and the distribution of the supply of land. The more general problem of social structure in ancient India depends to a considerable degree on the solution of this problem. Unfortunately, the question of landownership in ancient India has hitherto not found a satisfactory solution in the scholarly literature. True, it is not only Indological studies that are characterized by this situation. The problem of landownership is also one of the most controversial in research on ancient societies of the Near East. (1) Many studies (both general and specialized) are not fully clear either with respect to the question of various forms of landownership or with respect to treatment of the question of royal property and the like. Moreover, there is also no little confusion even in the definition of such concepts as property, tenure, property rights (2), ...

The article shows the implementation of the principle of equity in a civil contract in the sources of law of the Ancient East, in particular, in the sources of law of Ancient Babylon and Ancient India, as well as antiquity. Using the example of the Code of Hammurabi, the Laws of Manu (Dharmaśāstra Manu), the Arthashastra by Kautilya, the Institutes of Gaius and the Digest of Justinian, the author of the article considered an attempt to assert the category of “fair contract” through the prism of “proportionality” and “equal scale”, establishing a certain “balance of freedom” and a balance of interests of the parties, as well as protecting the “weak” side in civil-legal agreement. The methods of suppression by ancient legislators and jurists of abuses by any party in contract, both at its conclusion and in its content, as well as during execution of contract, are analyzed. The limitation of amount of usurious interest and the fight against abuse of creditors in regulation of loan agreement; the suppression of various abuses by sellers and buyers in purchase and sale agreement; employers and those employed in personal employment contracts; custodians in the custody agreement in the sources of law of Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient India and Ancient Rome are considered. The article analyzes the implementation of the “аequitas” concept in Roman law of the classical and postclassical periods. Special attention is paid in the article to the consideration of the influence of religion, ideology, legal culture, and value attitudes of a particular ancient society on solving the problem of establishing a “fair” civil law contract.

A?vaghoa, N?g?rjuna, and ?ryadeva are among the most celebrated Indian patriarchs in Asian Buddhist traditions and modern Buddhist studies scholarship. Scholars agree that all three lived in fi rst- to third-century C.E. India, so most studies have focused on locating them in ancient Indian history, religion, or society. To this end, they have used all available accounts of the Indian patriarchsAE livesuin Sanskrit, Tibetan, various Central Asian languages, and Chinese, produced over more than a millenniumuand viewed them as bearing exclusively on ancient India. Of these sources, medieval Chinese hagiographies are by far the earliest and most abundant. Conceiving the Indian Buddhist Patriarchs in China is the fi rst attempt to situate the medieval Chinese hagiographies of A?vaghoa, N?g?rjuna, and ?ryadeva in the context of Chinese religion, culture, and society of the time. It examines these sources not as windows into ancient Indian history but as valuable records of medieval Chinese efforts to define models of Buddhist sanctity. It explores broader questions concerning Chinese conceptions of ancient Indian Buddhism and concerns about being Buddhist in latter-day China. By propagating the tales and texts of A?vaghoa, N?g?rjuna, and ?ryadeva, leaders of the Chinese sangha sought to demonstrate that the means and media of Indian Buddhist enlightenment were readily available in China and that local Chinese adepts could thereby rise to the ranks of the most exalted Buddhist saints across the Sino-Indian divide. Chinese authors also aimed to merge their own kingdom with the Buddhist heartland by demonstrating congruency between Indian and Chinese ideals of spiritual attainment. This volume shows, for the first time, how Chinese Buddhists adduced the patriarchs as evidence that Buddhist masters from ancient India had instantiated the same ideals, practices, and powers expected of all Chinese holy beings and that the expressly foreign religion of Buddhism was thus the best means to sainthood and salvation for latter-day China. Rich in information and details about the inner world of medieval Chinese Buddhists, Conceiving the Indian Buddhist Patriarchs in China will be welcomed by scholars and students in the fi elds of Buddhist studies, religious studies, and China studies.

India's history and culture is ancient and dynamic, spanning back to the beginning of human civilization. Beginning with a mysterious culture along the Indus River and in farming communities in the southern lands of India, the history of India is punctuated by constant integration with migrating peoples and with the diverse cultures that surround the country. Placed in the center of Asia, history in India is a crossroads of cultures from China to Europe, as well as the most significant Asian connection with the cultures of Africa. The Historical Dictionary of Ancient India provides information ranging from the earliest Paleolithic cultures in the Indian subcontinent to 1000 CE. The ancient history of this country is related in this book through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on rulers, bureaucrats, ancient societies, religion, gods, and philosophical ideas.

The article on Brahmanism in ancient Indian society will show various aspects of Indian tradition and culture by exploring the foundational elements and prerequisites of it. Brahmanism as a distinct religious tradition in ancient India was largely confined to the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The founding texts are discussed by exploring the sruties of ancient India. The article shows that Brahmanism has not only been an active religious tradition in ancient India but it had passed through different difficult phases throughout the historical development of various religions across the country. Brahmanism has a long past in the Indian continent, but at the same time, it has faced many challenges by the other religions as well.

Introduction. Ancient India has always attracted the interest of politicians and scientists. Many generations of historians and jurists tried to find out the peculiarities of the formation of the ancient Indian civilization. Their work allows us today not only to create a holistic view of the ancient history of the Indian state and law, but also to systematically and in-depth reveal the formation of its legal institutions, the formation of political culture, social structure, etc. At the same time, there are still many questions that cause discussions and require in-depth study. Among them is the formation and development of the varna-caste system of the organization of society. Summary of the main results of the study. The article examines the history of the formation of varnas in ancient India. The process of hierarchization of varnas was analyzed and its features were determined. The reasons for the transformation of the varna system, which resulted in the formation (both within the varnas and outside of them) of new endogamous groups - jati, have been revealed. The essence of the social category "caste" has been clarified. It is shown that with the appearance of numerous jatis and the formation of the caste system, varnas did not play a significant role in the life of society and only determined the status of castes, if they belonged to them. Conclusion. The conclusion that "varna", "caste", "jati" are not identical socio-legal categories is substantiated. They reflect the peculiarities of the formation of ancient Indian society and should be taken into account by scientists for a more in-depth study of the caste-varna organization of society in ancient India.

This volume addresses the means and ends of sacrificial speculation by inviting a selected group of specialist in the fields of philosophy, history of religions, and indology to examine philosophical modes of sacrificial speculation — especially in Ancient India and Greece — and consider the commonalities of their historical raison d’être. Scholars have long observed, yet without presenting any transcultural grand theory on the matter, that sacrifice seems to end with (or even continue as) philosophy in both Ancient India and Greece. How are we to understand this important transformation that so profoundly changed the way we think of religion (and philosophy as opposed to religion) today? Some of the complex topics inviting closer examination in this regard are the interiorisation of ritual, ascetism and self-sacrifice, sacrifice and cosmogony, the figure of the philosopher-sage, transformations and technologies of the self, analogical reasoning, the philosophy of ritual, vegetarianism, and metempsychosis. The first section of the volume, “Historical and Comparative Approaches to Ritual Thought in Ancient India and Archaic Greece,” is devoted to changes in religious behaviour and the place of sacrifice in early Indian intellectual history. Instead of searching for origins and closures, the individual contributions rather attempt to map changes, and sometimes to catalogue the complexity in thinking and acting that comes to light in the early Indian material. What becomes clear then, instead of a simple one-way causality between thought and performance, is an ongoing transformation mediated by both intellectual activity and ritual reflexivity. Beginnings and ends in this sense never actually take place as clearly definable moments in time. The precarious act of historical and/or logical comparison can of course not be disregarded in this connection,because the terminology underlying one’s research is always confronted with the general problem of translation. The themes forming the backbone of the book’s midsection, “Ritual Thought in Late Antiquity,” are all grounded in textual sources from Late Antiquity, such as the Corpus Hermeticum, the Nag Hammadi texts, and the letters of Paul. As will become clear, however, they also point in quite different directions, both spatial and temporal, by evoking ancient Egyptian material, ethnographic comparanda and 20th century philosophy. The last section, “Repercussions of Sacrifice in Western Philosophy,” closes the historical circuit by addressing the continuation of sacrificial themes in contemporary continental philosophy.

The symposion, a male social gathering that began in ancient Greece, was a social institution by and for men, hence a type of men’s society as we might understand it in modern parlance. Its manifestation on the Indian subcontinent has to date not been fully explored. In its original form, the symposion consisted of three main elements: alcohol, sex, and intellectual pursuits in the form of literature and philosophy, commonly understood by the popular phrase “wine, women, and song”. These sympotic elements find their equivalents in a wide range of Sanskrit litera­ture, which include medicine (Āyurveda), eroticism (Kāmaśāstra), polity (Arthaśāstra), epics, and rhetoric (Alaṃkāraśāstra), as expressed in the Carakasaṃhitā, the Kāmasūtra, the Arthaśāstra, the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa, and the Kāvyamīmāṃsā. The literary evidence indicates that the three sympotic elements came to full blossom in urban Indian men’s social gatherings or goṣṭhīs dating to a few centuries before the Common Era. The paper combines this literary evidence with archaeological sources to show how a foreign social custom contributed to an indigenous institution of men’s society in ancient India by a process of adaptation. It would appear that as the institution moved into different parts of the Indian subcontinent, it increasingly came under Brahmanic influence, which led to an important ideological change that stressed literary and intel­lectual pursuits over alcohol and sex. Under royal patronage, the goṣṭhī finally became a means for the development of Sanskrit and Indian literature and drama.

This comprehensive research article delves deep into the multifaceted history of women’s education and empowerment in ancient India. Spanning across various epochs, from the Indus Valley Civilization to the illustrious Gupta dynasty, it meticulously examines the progressive ideals and societal values that laid the foundation for gender equality and the pursuit of knowledge. Drawing from a rich tapestry of primary sources – the sacred Vedas, enlightening Upanishads, and captivating epics – as well as archaeological evidence, this study illuminates the educational opportunities that were availed to women, their active participation in intellectual discourse, and their indelible contributions across myriad spheres of life. Through a nuanced comparative analysis, the complexities and intricate nuances surrounding the status of women in ancient Indian society are brought to the fore. By curating a diverse array of case studies that spotlight notable female figures, delving into the intricacies of legal and social norms, and critically analyzing literary representations, this research endeavors to craft a holistic understanding of the multifarious factors that facilitated women’s empowerment, the formidable challenges they surmounted, and the enduring legacy of their remarkable achievements.