Description
Book SynopsisHow did the patronage activities of India's Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1346-1565) influence Hindu sectarian identities? The author argues that the Vijayanagara court was selective in its patronage of religious institutions. She focuses on the career of the Hindu intellectual and monastic leader Vyasatirtha.
Trade Review"A piece of unquestioned expertise. It brings a fresh picture of the statecraft of the Vijayanagara empire—a most puzzling, cosmopolitan South Asian polity—at the peak of its career in the early 16th century. . . . This not only historically but also theoretically informed book is a must-read for those interested in Vijayanagara history or polemics between Dvaita and Advaita schools. It is also an important read for all those sensitive to the problem of finding an appealing language to effectively represent the mutual interdependence of sociopolitical realities, intellectual production and historical thinking." * Reading Religion *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Abbreviations Note on Transliteration and Translation 1. Hindu Sectarianism and the City of Victory 2. Royal and Religious Authority in Sixteenth-Century Vijayanagara: A Ma?hadhipati at K?s?n?adevaraya's Court 3. Sectarian Rivalries at an Ecumenical Court: Vyasatirtha, Advaita Vedanta, and the Smarta Brahmins 4. Allies or Rivals? Vyasatirtha's Material, Social, and Ritual Interactions with the S'ri-vais?n?avas 5. The Social Life of Vedanta Philosophy: Vyasatirtha's Polemics against Visi??advaita Vedanta 6. Hindu, Ecumenical, Sectarian: Religion and the Vijayanagara Court Notes Bibliography Index
