Political and Social Structure of Medieval Rajasthan

Author(s):  
Sabita Singh

A study of the emergence of the Rajputs has been done in order to outline the political and social structure of medieval Rajasthan. Apart from kinship ties, the inter-clan relationships have been studied as well as the process State formation which developed through distinct stages. Study of these developments aids in understanding the marriage network among the clans. Whereas during the early period of State formation, caste boundaries were quite blurred, by the 15th–16th centuries, caste distinctions acquired importance both for marriage purposes and systematisation of administration. It is apparent from the study of the caste structure of this region that it cannot be seen in terms of the fourfold varnas. For the Rajputs, it was the clan structure that was more significant and this governed the marriage rules.

2011 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. MERRITT

ABSTRACTStudies of the rise of London's vestries in the period to 1640 have tended to discuss them in terms of the inexorable rise of oligarchy and state formation. This article re-examines the emergence of the vestries in several ways, moving beyond this traditional focus on oligarchy, and noting how London's vestries raised much broader issues concerning law, custom, and lay religious authority. The article reveals a notable contrast between the widespread influence and activities of London vestries and the questionable legal framework in which they operated. The political and ecclesiastical authorities – and in particular Archbishop Laud – are also shown to have had very mixed attitudes towards the legitimacy and desirability of powerful vestries. The apparently smooth and relentless spread of select vestries in the pre-war period is also shown to be illusory. The granting of vestry ‘faculties’ by the authorities ceased abruptly at the end of the 1620s, amid a series of serious legal challenges, on both local and ideological grounds, to the existence of vestries. Their rise had thus been seriously contested and stymied well before the upheavals of the 1640s, although opposition to them came from multiple sources – Laudians, Henry Spelman and the royal Commission on Fees, and local parishioners – whose objectives could vary.


wisdom ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Ashot VOSKANIAN

Given peculiarity of Armenian history, the Armenian political thought for centuries debated around geopolitical orientation between neighboring great powers. In post-Soviet reflections, however, the emphasis has been moved towards self-reliance, and the very principle of political orientation was questioned. The attitude towards Israel Ori, whose name was viewed as a symbol of the principle of orientation, became the locums for determining the political-ideological disposition of debater, as well as understanding their approaches towards different concepts of national identity. A brief comparison between the conceptual paradigms of two renowned historians Ashot Hovhannisyan (1887-1972) and Leo (Arakel Babakhanyan, 1860-1932) in relation to their attitude towards Israel Ori aims to demonstrate that questioning of the very principle of orientation has much deeper roots in Armenian historical studies than commonly is believed. It also illuminates the complex relationship between principle of orientation and desired model of social structure of society, which these two classics have revealed in rather different ways.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-130
Author(s):  
Eva H. Önnudóttir ◽  
Ólafur Þ. Harðarson

In the research presented in this paper, we analyse whether the structure of the political cleavage system in Iceland has changed since 1983, as well as whether the impacts of party-voter linkages and the social structure of the vote have changed between 1983 and 2016/2017. Based on official data and the Icelandic National Election Study (ICENES), we find that the rural-urban cleavage and left-right cleavage, which are reflected in party polarisation on the left-right spectrum, are as important today as previously. Our main results regarding the impacts of party-voter linkages and the social-structure of the vote is that the core bonds of party identification, left-right distances and the social structure of the vote have weakened over time, whereas the impact of party sympathy has become stronger. This, we argue, reflects that while there has been a gradual change in the impact of party-voter linkages and the social structure of the vote, opening up a space for new parties to succeed, the political cleavage system has remained intact. The major change has thus occurred in the bond between voters and parties and not in the structure of party competition in Iceland.


Author(s):  
Yaron Harel

This chapter examines the Jewish minority in Syria in 1840, when the Damascus affair took place and ended when economic disaster overtook Damascus Jewry. It highlights profound changes in Ottoman imperial rule and society in Syria from 1840, when Ottoman rule was reinstated. It also analyses shifts in Jewish society against the broad background of the political, social, and economic changes that took place in Syria. The chapter looks at the difference between the Jewish communities of Damascus and Aleppo with regard to social structure, economic endeavour, communal leadership and organization, and education. It recounts Jewish merchants in both Damascus and Aleppo in 1840 that engaged in international trade via the camel caravans that travelled between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea.


Author(s):  
Jerzy Tomaszewski

This chapter examines how Richard Skolnik spent many hours taping the recollections of Norman Salsitz, who was born in the small Polish town of Kolbuszowa in 1920. These tapes are the basis of a book on the life and death of the shtetl until 1942. It is one of the most important sources concerning the internal life, social structure, economic conditions, traditions, and slow changes going on between the two world wars in a typical rural Jewish community. Salsitz was born into a traditional, hasidic, relatively rich family. He began early to participate in business life, and his descriptions of economic conditions, including social stratification, are vivid. Significant also are Salsitz's recollections of the political attitudes of both Jews and Poles. The Salsitz family was equally committed to Polish patriotic traditions and the Jewish way of life, but Polish attitudes towards Jews differed substantially from Jewish attitudes towards Poland and Polish identity. Jews felt patriotic towards Poland, but still suffered from some of the antisemitism of their fellow townsfolk.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosolino A. Candela

AbstractHow did the evolution of the rule of law become stunted in Sicily during the 19th century? The work of economist Yoram Barzel, particularly his property-rights approach to understanding the political economy of state formation, is uniquely suited to understanding the failure of Italy's unification process to secure the rule of law in Sicily during the 19th century. This failure can be explained by a lack of a credible commitment to the rule of law in the state formation process. I argue that this lack of credible commitment manifested itself in the abolition of previously existing parliamentary institutions as an independent collective action mechanism, as well as prior constitutional agreements that existed in the Kingdom of Sicily. The resulting uncertainty over the security and legal definition of property rights over land raised the transaction costs of competing for resources through productive specialization and market exchange. In turn, it reduced the relative costs of competition for land ownership and the use of enforcement through other means, such as rent seeking or organized crime.


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