Description
Book SynopsisThis book presents an incisive analysis of social formations in present-day Tamil Nadu and Kerala from pre-historic times to early medieval period. It examines the economy, technology, and the process of state formation to understand the transformation from agro-pastoral to agrarian social formation.
Table of ContentsPREFACE ; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ; INTRODUCTION: CONCEPTUAL PRELIMINARIES ; SECTION I: HISTORIOGRAPHY AND METHOD ; 1. EARLY SOCIAL FORMATIONS: A HISTORIOGRAPHIC REVIEW ; 2. THE COURSE OF SOCIAL HISTORIOGRAPHY OF KERALA ; 3. SEMIOTICS OF ANCIENT TAMIL POETICS: A METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATION ; SECTION II: EARLY SOCIAL FORMATIONS ; 4. PREHISTORIC LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN WESTERN GHATS: INTERPRETING ROCK-ART ; 5. TRIBES, FOREST, AND SOCIAL FORMATION IN EARLY SOUTH INDIA ; 6. FORMS OF PRODUCTION AND FORCES OF CHANGE IN ANCIENT TAMIL SOCIETY ; 7. EARLY IRON AGE ECONOMY: PROBLEMS OF AGRARIAN EXPANSION IN TAMILAKAM ; 8. WRITING, LITERACY, AND SOCIAL FORMATIONS IN THE TAMIL SOUTH ; 9. TOWARDS A NEW DISCOURSE: DISCURSIVE PROCESSES IN EARLY SOUTH INDIA ; SECTION III: SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS ; 10. SOCIAL FORMATION FROM THE ANCIENT TO EARLY MEDIEVAL ; 11. HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS OF THE STATE FORMATION IN THE DEEP SOUTH ; 12. ASPECTS OF GREAT TRANSFORMATION IN ANCIENT KERALA ; 13. FROM CLAN AND LINEAGE TO HEREDITARY OCCUPATIONS AND CASTE ; 14. SPREAD OF WRITING IN THE TAMIL SOUTH AND ITS SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS ; SECTION IV: THE NEW SOCIAL FORMATION ; 15. TEMPLES AS SITES OF THE NEW SOCIAL FORMATION ; 16. THE FORMATION OF CASTE SOCIETY IN KERALA: HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS ; 17. ASPECTS OF THE RESERVOIR SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION IN THE P?N?YA COUNTRY ; INDEX
