Hindu Kingship and Polity in Precolonial India [Hardcover]

A fascinating 2003 study of the precolonial kingdom of Kota through its historical documents.Norbert Peabody analyses changes to the foundations of royal power in the Rajasthani kingdom of Kota during the late precolonial and early colonial eras. He charts these changes in relation to broader socio-economic transformations within the larger royal polity. He concludes that different societies not only establish different co-ordinates of value in their constructions of the past, but also that the very processes of social and political transformation differ from society to society. This is a fascinating and challenging book which promises to become a classic in the field.Norbert Peabody analyses changes to the foundations of royal power in the Rajasthani kingdom of Kota during the late precolonial and early colonial eras. He charts these changes in relation to broader socio-economic transformations within the larger royal polity. He concludes that different societies not only establish different co-ordinates of value in their constructions of the past, but also that the very processes of social and political transformation differ from society to society. This is a fascinating and challenging book which promises to become a classic in the field.Norbert Peabody analyzes changes to the foundations of royal power in the Rajasthani kingdom of Kota during the late precolonial and early colonial eras. Peabody charts these changes in relation to broader socio-economic transformations within the larger royal polity. He concludes that different societies not only establish different co-ordinates of value in their constructions of the past, but also that the very processes of social and political transformation differ from society to society.1. The King is dead, long live the King!: or Karmic Kin(g)ship in Kota; 2. In whose turban does the Lord reside?: Kings, Saints, and merchants in Western India; 3. Military fiscalism and the cultural economy of devotion in eighteenth centurl36