The Shahi ʿIdgah of 1312 at Rapri (Uttar Pradesh): A Landmark in Indian Glazed Tiles

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 281-291
Author(s):  
Yves Porter

Abstract The Shahi ʿIdgah at Rapri (Uttar Pradesh), which dates to 1312, was built by Malik Kafur, the general of the Delhi sultan ʿAla⁠ʾuddin Khalji (1296–1316). The village of Rapri was part of Malik Kafur’s fief and an important station for the army, as it commanded a ford on the Yamuna River. ʿĪdgāhs, sometimes translated as “wall-mosques,” are extra-urban, open prayer spaces for accommodating large congregations during the two main religious festivals (ʿīds). The Rapri ʿīdgāh constitutes a major landmark in the architecture of the Delhi Sultanate, mainly because of its exceptional decoration of turquoise-glazed tiles, the oldest example of its kind still in situ. Although often considered a technique that originated in the Iranian domains, the making of glazed tiles was already known in the Kushan period (first to fourth century CE), and some findings have been excavated from Buddhist contexts in the nearby Mathura region. This study shows the link between the tiles of Rapri and later fourteenth century examples, and with glazed pottery.

Author(s):  
Himanshu ◽  
Peter Lanjouw ◽  
Nicholas Stern

Development economics is about understanding how and why lives and livelihoods change. This book is about economic development in the village of Palanpur, in Moradabad district, Uttar Pradesh, in north India. It draws on seven decades of detailed data collection by a team of dedicated development economists to describe the evolution of Palanpur’s economy, its society, and its politics. The emerging story of integration of the village economy with the outside world is placed against the backdrop of a rapidly transforming India and, in turn, helps to understand the transformation. The role of, and scope for, public policy in shaping the lives of individuals is examined. The book describes how changes in Palanpur’s economy since the late 1950s were initially driven by the advance of agriculture through land reforms, the expansion of irrigation, and the introduction of ‘green revolution’ technologies. Then, since the mid-1980s, newly emerging off-farm opportunities in nearby towns and outside agriculture became the key drivers of growth and change. These key forces of change have profoundly influenced poverty, income mobility, and inequality in Palanpur. Village institutions such as those governing access to land are shown to have evolved in subtle but clear ways over time, while individual entrepreneurship and initiative is found to play a critical role in driving and responding to the forces of change. And yet, against a backdrop of real economic growth and structural transformation, the book documents how human development outcomes have shown only weak progress and remain stubbornly resistant to change.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Rustinsyah Rustinsyah

The existence of a cement company in a rural area may influence the local people, including women who are not employed by the company. This study aims at presenting the case of women empowerment in a Ring-1 area of a cement company in Indonesia. The research used qualitative approach. The results show that the company’s existence with its CSR programs have helped empowering rural women in social, educational, religious, organizational, and economic aspects. The social aspect is shown in the health programs. The educational aspect can be seen in the provision of scholarships for formal education and non-formal training. The religious aspect is actualized in the form of incentives for religion teachers and religious festivals. The organizational aspect is shown in the involvement of women in PKM management. Finally, the economic aspect includes: a) the construction of village road infrastructure as compensation of taxes derived from the company; b) the inclusion of workers from outside the village encourages the emergence of food stalls, grocery stalls, gasoline kiosks, and boarding houses; and c) the development of traditional markets. This study confirms that the company’s existence has encouraged rural women to improve their livelihoods and help alleviate their families from poverty.


1993 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 22-36

John Pyel was a Northamptonshire man from the village of Irthling-borough, lying on the upper bank of the River Nene four miles northeast of Wellingborough. Situated on the principal trade route from Northampton to Peterborough, and indeed to the port of King's Lynn, the village was well-placed to transport commercial produce, which in the fourteenth century consisted principally of hides for the leather industry and wool. The surrounding area was also likely to have been rich in cereals and other arable crops. John Pyel inherited a plot of land in the village from his father, John senior, in 1348, and, although by now settled in London, he began from about this date to build up an extensive estate in this part of Northamptonshire. He certainly showed special concern for Irthlingborough. It was at his prompting that Peterborough abbey was granted a licence in 1375 to establish the parish church of St Peter as a college and it was to St Peter's that he granted the remainder of his estate and in its porch that he was to be buried. He also made bequests in his will to both parish churches in the village and provided for thirteen crosses to be set up there and for repairs to the bridge and highways.


1968 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 809-834
Author(s):  
Michael W. Roberts

Ancient Sinhalese rulers had a right to a share of agricultural income, a right which embraced the produce of the land as well as irrigation rates and was generally paid in kind. In effect, there was a land tax; but the term used (bojika-, bojiya-, or bojaka-pati) was more than mere land tax and connotes a tax on income corresponding to bhaga in Indian law books. By the fourteenth century, if not earlier, there had been a fundamental change. Rather than a tithe from each class of land in the village, the king received the whole of the produce of certain fields, the muttettu, which were cultivated gratis by the villagers who possessed other fields either in return for this service or in recognition of the king's suzreignty. This meant that there were no intermediaries farming (renting) the right to collect the tithe. It also meant that the villager held his paddy fields on an individual and hereditary (paraveny) basis. There was, however, no concept of freehold ownership. Authority was political. One could not distinguish private rights from political allegiance. Landholders combined rights in land with duties to the king. Service was attached to the land and was obligatory to any transferee. In some cases, this service was rendered to the king's chiefs and nominees or to the temples, for the kings distributed largesse in the form of lands and the services attached to them; these were known as nindagam, viharegam or devalegam as distinct from the king's villages, the gabadagam; such recipients were more like feudal overlords than farmers of the revenue. In other cases, villagers of certain castes performed certain specified services for the king, for other castes (usually higher castes) in their village, or for neighboring villages, and in return enjoyed certain fields. It was a system of service tenure that was girded and threaded by the caste system.


1887 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 376-400
Author(s):  
W. M. Ramsay ◽  
D. G. Hogarth

In May of the current year, while Professor W. M. Ramsay, accompanied by Mr. H. A. Brown and myself, was travelling in the Tchal district, we were informed at Demirdjikeui of the existence of ruins in or near Badinlar, three hours away to the north. In a previous year Professor Ramsay had paid a hasty visit to this village and seen nothing of importance: on this occasion fortune favoured us: for, visiting the village a day or two later, we were guided on Whit Sunday to the site of a small temple situate on a conical eminence, which fell on the further side to the southern bank of the Maeander, which here enters on one of the narrowest passes of its gorge. Only the platform on which the temple had stood remained in situ, and very few fragments could we find of columns or cornice: such as remained of the frieze showed by their formal regular ornament the Ionic of Roman period. Overlooking the river was a vaulted tomb, and traces of sarcophagi were apparent among the heaps of grey stone covering the summit of the hill.


1919 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 98-103
Author(s):  
A. M. Woodward

About eight miles south-west of Kilkish or Kukuš, on the right bank of the river Zensko, is the ruined village of Avret-Hissar. Facing the village, on the left bank of the stream, is a prominent rocky spur, rising steeply from the river and crowned by the remains of a remarkable mediaeval building.This was correctly identified by Leake, who does not appear to have visited the site, as the castle of Γυναικόκαστρο which played a prominent part in the history of this region in the fourteenth century. As I know of no published description of it, these notes seem to be worth publication in the hopes that a fuller study of the site may be made now that exploration in this area is more feasible.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-36
Author(s):  
G. Kaur

This paper reflects on the dichotomy of state and culture through ‘certain groups of people’, impacting their behaviour and wants towards their own health. Analysis commences with a brief commentary on pre-independence India, whereby the rhetoric of nationalism was imprinted on individual bodies through the call for maintaining the health of a nation. This argument is then extended to include the present day-scenario of the state, whereby, the state sees itself as something beyond the individual; where it is the hub of ‘know-how’ of maintaining its population, yet at the same time distant from it. Second section presents the control of culture through community on the bodies of individual members (women). The two arguments are based on the review of an in-depth study by Jeffery and Jeffery (2010) in a village in Uttar Pradesh on the perceptions of the village population on national health policies. The article is concluded, with the necessity to understand and discover discourses of not state vs. culture (or community), but also of state and culture vs. agency vis-à-vis health and health care provisions.K


2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 294-307
Author(s):  
Kapil Kaushik ◽  
◽  
Ashok Kumar Kaushik ◽  

Occupational structure refers to the division of workers into different types of economic activities. It is the activities by which people secure their livelihood and it also provides background knowledge for formulating development plans for any region. The paper presents the occupational structure of rural workers in the Mathura district. Mathura district is situated in the western part of Uttar Pradesh and has a high religious and economic importance. The whole study is mainly based on primary data collected through a structured interview schedule designed for the purpose. Field surveys were conducted during 2015-16 and 5270 respondents (2929 males and 2341 females) of 755 households were questioned to generate primary data. In the surveyed villages, the share of cultivation and agricultural labourers was 44.41 % and 16.32 % respectively. A large share of workers was engaged in primacy activities (66.73%). The analysis shows that there is a negative relationship between workers and literacy rate. It happens because as people get employment in cities they leave the village and only unemployed literates stay there. The results were derived with the help of statistical techniques and SPSS software whereas maps were prepared with the help of GIS Arc View software.


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