Early Rulers Research Articles

Rituals of Sanctification and the Development of Standardized Temples in Oaxaca, Mexico

Archaeological investigations at three Formative period sites near San Martín Tilcajete in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, have recovered a sequence of temples. The temples span the period when the Zapotec state emerged with its capital at Monte Albán during the Late Monte Albán I phase (300–100 bc), coinciding with Monte Albán's conquest of neighbouring regions. Zapotec rituals of sanctification practised in pre-state times may have been affected by Monte Albán's military expansionism. The historically documented case of military expansion and political unification of the Hawaiian islands by the paramount, Kamehameha, shows similarities in the adoption of ideology and religious institutions. Among them are the establishment of standardized temples and the ascendance of a militaristic ideology and ritual order attuned to the early state rulers' coercive authority.

Power and permanence in precolonial Africa: a case study from the central Sahel

This paper draws on a long-standing area of academic debate – archaeological manifestations of social complexity – with reference to the specific case of the Tsotsebaki Hausa of Niger. Tsotsebaki dynastic lists record a bewildering array of locations for early rulers of the polity, a situation which find parallels in oral and historical records of many parts of Africa. The present discussion links observations made through archaeological and oral tradition research in Niger with European and African parallels and with recent theoretical reconsiderations of the nature of power and of urbanism.

Was there an imperial distribution of Buddha relics in ninth-century China?

To judge from one recorded case, the Huichang persecution of Buddhism in China of 840–44 could have brought a number of relics of the Buddha into the hands of the government, and this might further have allowed the succeeding, more pro-Buddhist, emperor to carry out a redistribution of these sacred objects to enhance his own prestige, as had already been done twice by earlier rulers. But while it is clear that he was prepared to send a relic to Korea as part of a diplomatic mission, there would appear to be no surviving records confirming that any systematic large-scale distribution was carried out at this time. We must provisionally conclude therefore that a later systematic distribution in the tenth century was influenced—perhaps indirectly—by the earlier examples, not by any event of the mid ninth century.

Tax-Farming in the Early Ottoman State

While tax-farming is often thought of in negative terms, its application in the early Ottoman state may well have been beneficial for economic development. Tax-farming seems to have been in operation from at least the later fourteenth century and may simply have been taken over by the early Ottoman rulers as a system already in operation in Byzantine territory. It is possible to argue that tax-farming also existed in the Turkish states of Aydin and Mentese from the beginning of the century.

“Early State” in Cross-Cultural Perspective: A Statistical Reanalysis of Henri J. M. Claessen’s Database

The authors reanalyze Claessen’s data set on the “Early States.” Though Claessen’s Early State typology is largely justified, we suggest some corrections and amendments to his typologization and his model of Early State evolution. We show that the development of personal ownership of land correlates rather weakly with the political development of the Early State, and that political development might be accompanied by the strengthening of communal ownership. We also examine the correlation between Early State political development and ruler sacralization. Though this correlation is insignificant for the whole sample, its insignificance is accounted for by two distinct evolutionary patterns. The pattern observed in the “axial age” zone is characterized by a strong negative correlation between political development and ruler sacralization, while the pattern observed throughout the rest of the world is characterized by a strong positive correlation between the two variables. The authors discuss possible causes of this difference.

Civilization on Loan: The Making of an Upstart Polity: Mataram and its Successors, 1600–1830

This paper focuses on the south-central Javanese state of Mataram and its late seventeenth- and mid-eighteenth-century successors—Kartasura (1680–1746), and Surakarta (founded 1746) and Yogyakarta (founded 1749). It concentrates principally on the administrative, military and cultural trends of the period, looking at the ways in which Mataram and its heirs imported their cultural styles from the defeated east Javanese andpasisir(north-east coast) kingdoms, while developing a Spartan polity dominated by the exigencies of war and military expansion. The disastrous reign of Sultan Agung's successor, Sunan Amangkurat I (r. 1646–77), and the emergence of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a major political force in Java led to the rapid eclipse of Mataram/Kartasura's military influence duringJava's ‘Eighty Years War’ (1675–1755) when the heritage of the great early Mataram rulers was squandered. This period of turmoil ended in the permanent division (paliyan) of south-central Java between the courts of Surakarta (Kasunanan, founded 1746, and Mangkunegaran, founded 1757) and Sultan Mangkubumi's new kingdom of Yogyakarta, which, in terms of its martial traditions, was the principal inheritor of the early Mataram polity. At the same time, the political authority of the courts continued to face challenges from regional power centres, not least the powerful administrators of Yogyakarta's eastern outlying provinces (mancanagara)based in Madiun and Maospati, and the networks of Islamic schools (pesantrèn) and tax-free religious villages (perdikan), which drew their strength both from court patronage and the piety of local communities.

Ch'en Tzu-ang: Innovator in T'ang Poetry (review)

Reviews 477© 1995 by University ofHawai'i Press convincingly documents how many ofDeng's ideas on culture derive in large part from Mao, particularly the idea ofplaying the "left" offagainst the "right" and vice versa while defining the paramount leader's own position as invariably at the center. The clarity and directness ofHe Yuhai's writing enliven the historical insights he shares with the reader, and his wide-ranging source citations and bibliography make Cycles ofRepression an indispensable reference work for all scholars interested in the cultural life ofthis period. One only hopes that He Yuhai or some other meticulous researcher will go on to write a similar book on the Chinese literary scene during the final decade ofthe twentieth century. Philip F. Williams Arizona State University Richard M. W. Ho. Ch'en Tzu-ang: Innovator in TangPoetry. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1993. 233 pp. Hardcover. Chen Zi'ang (658?-699?) is generally considered by modern scholars to be the most significant poet ofthe early Tang dynasty. In particular, he is credited with rejecting the genre ofcourt poetry that developed during the Six Dynasties and became dominant during the early Tang. Rather than follow the trends ofhis time and write poetry that has been judged by later critics as "effete" and "decadent ," Chen turned to the past for his models, favoring the simpler, more direct styles ofthe Han and Wei dynasties. Since the poets ofthe High Tang followed Chen in rejecting court poetry for earlier styles, Chen is often considered to be an important ancestor in the High Tang family tree. He was, in fact, lavishly praised by many later Tang poets, including Du Fu and Han Yu. While Chen has long been recognized as an important poet by Chinese scholars, however, he has sometimes been overlooked by Sinologists writing in Western languages. Like many other important poets ofthe Tang, Chen's brilliance has been overshadowed by the giants ofHigh Tang poetry like Du Fu and Li Bai. Consequently, there have been comparatively few major studies in English devoted to this poet. Richard Ho's book is intended both to make up for this lack of English-language material and to inspire further interest in Chen Zi'ang in Western countries . Ho's study is the first book-length work in English devoted entirely to Chen, with sections on both the poet's life and his poetry. Prior to Ho, the major study in English on Chen was a chapter in Stephen Owen's The Poetry ofthe Early Tang,1 478 China Review International: Vol. 2, No. 2, Fall 1995 which has an excellent analysis ofmany ofChen's poems. However, due to the nature of Owen's study, it did not allow for a lengthy biography, and so many important details of Chen's life have not been available to English readers. Ho's book includes a biography derived from historical sources, and also summarizes the political environment during Chen's years as an official. In his section on Chen's poetry, Ho translates and analyzes the complete set of Ganyu poems, considered to be his most important poetic achievement. In addition, he discusses many of Chen's other poems, including some that were not included in Owen's study. All these elements make Ho's book the most complete study of Chen Zi'ang in the English language. In order to appreciate Ho's approach, it might be helpful to make a few general comments about Chinese literary theory first. From earliest times, Chinese scholars have closely associated literature and politics. There are two important aspects to this association. First, literature, and more specifically poetry (or its counterpart, music), was thought to have a powerful effect on people that could be harmful if uncontrolled. Thus, the Xunzi says that "People cannot be without music, and music must take a form. If the form is improper (wu dao), then it cannot help but cause disorder."2 Consequently, the early rulers of China's idealized past supposedly established poetic standards in order to regulate and harmonize these influences. The second aspect ofpoetry's relation to politics was its potentially beneficial influence once properly regulated. The Daxu, or "Great Preface...

Islam in the Oral Traditions of Mali: Bilali and Surakata

As a study of some Islamic factors involved in the construction of oral narrative by Manding bards, this article is chiefly concerned with two distinct cases in which griots have borrowed important legendary figures from the literature of Arabia. It is found that Bilali, described by traditional genealogists as progenitor of the ancient ruling branch of the Keita lineage, originated as Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ, a companion of Muhammad and the firstmu'adhdhin. Genealogies or descent lists of early Malian rulers still contain names that have apparently survived from pre-Islamic times, but in most instances these early forebears of chiefly rank have been moved forward into the Islamic era and displaced as founding ancestors by figures like Bilali, who originated in Muslim Arab literature. Similarly, at the lower levels of the social hierarchy, major artisan classes like the blacksmiths and leatherworkers have adopted their own collective ancestors from Islamic tradition.In the case of Surakata, collective ancestor of Bambara and Mandinka griots, it is recalled that he began as Surāqa ibn Mālik, in Arab tradition an enemy of Muhammad who became an early convert to Islam, a conversion that seems to have had a special resonance in a West African setting where many people have made the same shift. Pre-Islamic themes in Manding oral tradition have in many cases been obliterated by the bards' preoccupation with Islamic subjects, particularly events from the life and times of the Prophet. However, despite the pervasiveness of Islamic themes, the blood motif found in some accounts of griot ancestry indicates that at least the essence of certain elements of pre-Islamic West African culture survives in Manding oral tradition.

Ethnopoetry and the Enmerkar Epics

AS A FORMER STUDENT OF PROFESSOR SAMUEL NOAH KRAMER, under whose guidance I first read epics, it is a privilege and pleasure to offer here a paper which continues his tradition of comparative studies of epic literature.' It is limited to a discussion of the tales of Enmerkar and Lugalbanda, and addresses itself to ways of viewing these tales from a folkloristic perspective. Little is known about the origin of the epics. An oral stage is assumed, in conformity with current views in comparative literature, but, of course, this is not recoverable.2 Our only knowledge of the epics comes from written texts. There are hints of a written epic tradition from as early as the Fara Period,3 but it is not until the Ur III Period that we find clear evidence of a heroic epic tradition. Furthermore, as has often been noted, the early rulers of Ur III, Urnammu and Shulgi, themselves claim kinship with the ancient heroes of Uruk who are the epic heroes.4 What is the significance of this claim? Since there is a strong likelihood that Urnammu was actually a native of Uruk, Sumerologists often assume that the epics were preserved (or composed-at any rate, took written form) because of Urnammu's personal origin. That is to say, had it not been for this link with Uruk, these epics would not have been preserved; and conversely, there may have been cycles of other cities which were not preserved because the Ur III rulers had no attachments to these cities. This position is stated most unambiguously by J. Renger: The ... heroic epics of Enmerkar and Lugalbanda owe their continuing existence to the fact that . . . the Third Dynasty of Ur originated in Uruk, the city of these epic rulers.5 But this is putting the cart before the horse. It seems more reasonable that the Ur III rulers, whether or not they had actual ties to Uruk, claimed Uruk origins because of the existence and acceptance of the epics. First of all, the epics do not preserve local traditions, as Renger suggests. With the exception of Gilgamesh and Agga, none of them depicts local rivalries, but rather they show Uruk opposed to a foreign enemy. They are thus implicitly nationalistic, in a broad sense, with Uruk symbolizing the entire nation (as will be discussed below). One need not hail from Uruk in order to identify with its past. Uruk as a symbol of national supremacy was reinforced by historical events closer to the time of Ur III; the overthrow of the Gutians and the re-establishment of hegemony is credited to Utuhegal of Uruk (Dynasty V). Thus Uruk became a paradigm of national strength, and its ancient heroes Heroes of Sumer: A New Heroic Age in World History and Literature, PAPS 90 (1946), 120-30; Sumerian Epic Literature, La Poesia Epica e la sua Formazione, 1970, 825-37.

Spanish Nicknames as Surnames

NICKNAMES CAN, OF COURSE, spring up anywhere, anytime and in any place. They have always flourished best in rural communities where everyone knows his neighbors more intimately than is possible in urban centers. It is not at all unusual for one visiting the countryside in Europe and, for that matter, even in the United States, to find that numerous individuals or families actually have three names a given name, a last name and a nickname. Often a person is better known by his nickname than by the other two. Aside from being an epithet, it serves as a convenient identification tag. Nicknames are a fascinating topic which needs to be much more fully exploited in Spanish than it has been up to the present time. What primarily interests me now, however, are the nicknames that have been transformed into fixed surnames. They comprise one of the four main types the other three being (1) patronymics, (2) office, occupational and trade names and (3) place or spot names. Chronologically they have been the last to become crystallized in large numbers as surnames, the reason for this being that they have lacked the essential of heretitariness possessed by the other types. When the first more or less concerted movement to make surnames permanent came in the thirteenth century, it was spearheaded by the nobility. The decisive role of ancestral pride is clearly evident in the use of the name of one of the family members as an eponym with an indication of descent which was, almost invariably, expressed by tacking an -ez or -iz on to it. The patronymics that were then predominant are Alonso, Alvarez, Diaz, Diez, Dominguez, Fernandez, L6pez, Martinez, Mendez, Menendez, Nunez, Ord6nes, Ortiz, Perez, Ramirez, Rodriguez, Ruiz, Sanchez, Sanchis, Vasquez and Velasquez. Diaz, Diez and Perez derive from the Biblical names Diego, James, and Pero, Peter. Sanchez is the Latin word for saint. All the others take their origin from the Gothic given names borne by the early rulers of the country including L6pez from Lope, a Latinization of the appellation for wolf. The same given names were universally adopted by commoners and the same suffixes were used to indicate descent. The ensemble of those

Order and Conflict in the Asante Empire: A Study in Interest Group Relations

Conflict and change in precolonial African societies excite considerable scholarly interest, but historians have yet to produce a very useful theoretical framework for analyzing them. This is certainly true of the study of conflict in Asante, one of the best known kingdoms in precolonial Africa. Beginning around 1700 as a small confederation of segmentary, matrilineal chiefdoms, Asante rapidly expanded in the eighteenth century along lines of economic, political, and strategic advantage. Through conquest and various processes of differential incorporation, it succeeded in establishing its control over all its neighbors. A smashing defeat of a British-led army of coastal Fante and allied states in 1824 crowned the long imperial enterprise. To Thomas Bowdich, a British commercial agent and visitor to Kumase in 1817, Asante was “indisputably the greatest and the rising power of western Africa” (1819: 341) By 1820 the asantehene's power and influence extended over an area perhaps one and a half times the size of modern Ghana, with a population of some three to four million. Without any doubt, one of the most impressive aspects of Asante history is the systematic development of a national ideology and the elaboration of complex social and political institutions for the management of the society's affairs. Outstanding early rulers like Osei Tutu (ca. 1695-1717), Opoku Ware I (1717-1750), Osei Kwadwo (1764-1777), and Osei Bonsu (1801-1824) created an elaborate military organization and a sophisticated centralized bureaucracy to ensure order, stability, and effective administration in the huge empire.

The Early Rulers of Khajurāho

The Early Rulers of Khajurāho

A. C. Moule: The rulers of China, 221 b.c.–a.d. 1949: chronological tables compiled by A. C. Moule, with an introductory section on the earlier rulers c. 2100–249 b.c. by W. Perceval Yetts. xxv, 131 pp. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1957. 63s.

A. C. Moule: The rulers of China, 221 b.c.–a.d. 1949: chronological tables compiled by A. C. Moule, with an introductory section on the earlier rulers c. 2100–249 b.c. by W. Perceval Yetts. xxv, 131 pp. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1957. 63<i>s</i>.

Death and Nether World According to the Sumerian Literary Texts

From the point of view of Sumerian cultural behaviour, the royal tombs excavated at Ur with such care and skill by Sir Leonard Woolley, were of epoch-making significance; they indicate with reasonable certainty that customarily the early rulers of Sumer were accompanied to the grave not only by some of their most precious personal possessions, but by a considerable human retinue as well. Needless to say, immediately upon this rather startling discovery the cuneiformists, and particularly the Sumerologists, began searching the documents for inscriptional verification of one sort or another, but without success. Moreover, in the past two decades, quite a number of Sumerian myths, epic tales, hymns, lamentations, and “historiographic” documents have become available, and it seemed not unreasonable to hope that one or another of these might shed light on the Sumerian burial customs relating to the royal tombs. But this hope, too, failed to materialise to any significant extent, which is not too surprising in view of the fact that the royal tombs date from about 2500 B.C., while the majority of our available literary documents were probably first composed about 2000 B.C. However, a number of the Sumerian literary works are concerned in one way or another with death and the Nether World, and the invitation to participate in the Woolley Festschrift offered an opportune moment to sift, collect, analyse and present the Sumerian ideas about death and “immortality,” in honour of the archaeologist who has done so much to make the long dead Sumerians “immortal.”

The Rulers of China 221 B.C.–A.D. 1949. Chronological tables compiled by A. C. Moule, with an introductory section on the earlier rulers c. 2100–249 B.C. by W. Perceval Yetts. pp. xxii + 129. Routledge and Kegan Paul, Ltd., London, 1957. 63s.

The Rulers of China 221 B.C.–A.D. 1949. Chronological tables compiled by A. C. Moule, with an introductory section on the earlier rulers c. 2100–249 B.C. by W. Perceval Yetts. pp. xxii + 129. Routledge and Kegan Paul, Ltd., London, 1957. 63s. - Volume 90 Issue 1-2

Inscriptions of Early Assyrian Rulers

Inscriptions of Early Assyrian Rulers