Monuments and Monumentality in a Changing Socio-Political Landscape: A View from Udaypura

Rafia Khan

doi:10.3390/histories1040024

Abstract

This work intends to explore the nature of socio-political change in historical periods usually referred to as interregnal which, for the purposes of this paper, is defined as a period of discontinuity or gap in political and social organization. It traces the survival of a historical monument through two interregnal centuries of medieval Indian sub-continental history (11th–12th and 14th) to argue that modern historiographical templates which study these periods as precursors or remnants of succeeding and preceding centuries, respectively, do not sufficiently explore the socio-political possibilities innate in these periods of distributed political agency. In the context of Indian history, while historians have focused on the confrontational aspect of Hindu-Muslim polities or communities in interregnal centuries, I suggest that these periods provided fertile ground for political innovation and negotiation, thus breaking the confrontational stasis usually associated with regnal centuries.

Highlights

For the modern historian of the Indian subcontinent, certain periods represent an elusive temporality
The Udayeshwara temple which lies in the modern Udaipur village of the Ganjbasoda district of Madhya Pradesh today is one such unique example which presents in its monumentality and inherent classicism of architectural style, a moment of architectural and political effervescence in a period of regional fragmentation and political oblivion for the Paramara rulers of Malwa
Interregnum centuries are unique because they provide insights into the interactions between pre-existing and emerging historical elements

Summary

Introduction

For the modern historian of the Indian subcontinent, certain periods represent an elusive temporality. Chattopadhyay, who argued for the de-linking of the developments of this period as remnants or precursors of preceding and succeeding centuries He spoke of independent, local state-formation at regional and sub-regional levels coinciding with the flourish of multiple intense but regional economies, giving birth to a large number of widely distributed suburban centres of religion, culture, and politics [1]. Local state-formation at regional and sub-regional levels coinciding with the flourish of multiple intense but regional economies, giving birth to a large number of widely distributed suburban centres of religion, culture, and politics [1] This is an important lesson for any student of ‘interregnum’ centuries, such as the 8th–12th, the 14th–15th, or the 18th centuries which are characterised as ‘dark ages’, periods of dynastic gaps or decentralisation, as opposed to periods of integrated, interconnected macro-regional empires like those of the Guptas, the Delhi Sultans, or the Mughals. This has significant ramifications for our understanding of heightened constructional activity in ‘interregnum’ centuries

The Udayeshwara Temple

The Political Restructuring of the Udayeshwara Temple

Monumentality in Interregnum Centuries

Conclusions