Talking Stones: Royal Inscriptions in Medieval Karnātaka

• Authors: Mucciarelli Elena
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The specific motivation of the medieval Hoysaḷa king Viṣṇuvardhana for a program of inscriptions that included both local and trans-regional elements was the necessity to present his lineage as a strong dynasty comparable to that of his forerunners. On the top of it, he chose a particularly shiny stone, the sandstone: this element of unicity in his program might be understood in relation to the necessity of the king to differentiate himself from other lineages and to make his presence on the territory quite noticeable. If the epigraphic sources—together with the temples, the sacred areas, and the literary courtly production—are to be considered as forms of media of communication, even of “mass-media”, we must read them in the space where they are located, as part of a broader cultural and political process.

Keywords

EN

Karnātaka; Hoysala; inscription; medieval; Kannada; foundation legend; legitimation

• Publisher: Księgarnia Akademicka
• Journal: Cracow Indological Studies
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 18: Cosmopolitanism andRegionalism in Indian Cultural Dynamics
• Pages: 265-298

Contributors

author

Mucciarelli Elena

References

• EC V = Rice, B. L. 1902. Epigraphia Carnatica. 2 Vols. Mangalore: Basel Mission Press.
• EC VI = Rice, B. L. 1901. Epigraphia Carnatica Vol. VI. Mangalore: Basel Mission Press.
• EC VII = Rice, B. L. 1902. Epigraphia Carnatica Vol. VII. Mangalore: Basel Mission Press.
• EC XIV = Krishna, M. H. 1943. Epigraphia Carnatica Vol. XIV. Mangalore: Basel Mission Press.
• Epigraphia Carnatica IX = Epigraphia Carnatica Revision and Reprint Project. 1990. Epigraphia Carnatica Vol. 9. Mysore: University of Mysore.
• Epigraphia Carnatica X = Epigraphia Carnatica Revision and Reprint Project. 1997. Epigraphia Carnatica Vol. 10. Mysore: University of Mysore.
• Rice, L. B. 1983 (reprint). Mysore Inscriptions. New Delhi: Navrang (first publ. 1879).
• Vikramārjuna Vijaya = Anantarangācār (ed.). 2005. Pampabhārataṃ. Bengaluru: Kannaḍa Sāhitya pariṣattu.
• Yaśōdharacarite = Krishankumar, C. P. (ed.). 2007. Janna Samputa. Hampi: Prasaranga.
• Ali, D. 2004. Courtly Culture and Political Life in Early Medieval India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Baudrillard, J. 1981. Simulacra and Simulation. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
• Belting, H. 2014. Bild-Anthropologie. München: Fink.
• Bignami, C. 2012. The Indian Huntress: Nymphs or Goddesses?. In: Rivista degli Studi Orientali [2011]: 387–404.
• ___. 2015. Bēlūr, the Royal tīrtha of the Hoysaḷa Dynasty. The “Miscellanea” of Local Elements Contained in a Sacred Place. In: T. Pontillo, C. Bignami, M. Dore and E. Mucciarelli (eds.). The Volatile World of Sovereignty: The Vrātya Problem and Kingship in South Asia. Delhi: DK Publishers: 464–498.
• ___ . 2016. The Inscriptions of the Madanikās and Royal Propaganda. In: S. Bindi, E. Mucciarelli, T. Pontillo (eds.). Cross-Cutting Asian Studies: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Delhi: DK: 58–79.
• Coehlo, W. 1950. The Hoysaḷa Vamsa. Bombay: Indian Historical Research Institute.
• Collyer, K. 1990. The Hoysaḷa Artists: Their Identity and Styles. Mysore: Directorate of Archaeology and Museum.
• Del Bonta, R. J. 1981. The Madanikas at Belūr. In: J. G. Williams (ed.). Kalādarśana. New Delhi: Oxford & IBH Publishing Company: 27–33.
• Derret, J. D. M. 1957. The Hoysaḷas: A Medieval Indian Royal Family. London: Oxford University Press.
• Dirks, N. B. 1979. The Structure and Meaning of Political Relations in a South Indian Little Kingdom. In: Contributions to Indian Sociology, 13: 169–206.
• Erkens, F.-R. 2002. Die Sakralität von Herrschaft: Herrschaftslegitimierung im Wechsel der Zeiten und Räume. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.
• Evans, K. 1997. Epic Narratives in the Hoysaḷa Temples. Leiden: Brill.
• Filliozat, V. 2009. Two Kālāmukha Temples in Haveri District. In: G. J. R. Mevissen and A. Banerji (eds.). Prajñādhara: Essays on Asian Art, History, Epigraphy and Culture in Honour of Gouriswar Bhattacharya. Vol. 1. New Delhi: Kaveri Books: 223–235.
• Frese, H. 2010. Legitimation und was sie nicht ist. In: Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik, 10: 55–70.
• Gombrich, E. H. 1999. The Uses of Images. Studies in the Social Function of Art and Visual Communication. London: Phaidon.
• Gonda, J. 1966. Ancient Indian Kingship from the Religious Point of View. Leiden: Brill.
• Gopal, B. R. and N. S. Tharanatha (eds.). 1996. Kadambas. Mysore: Directorate of Archeology & Museums.
• Heesterman, J. C. 1957. The Ancient Indian Royal Consecration: The Rājasūya Described According to the Yajus Texts and Annotates. ’s-Gravenhage: Mouton.
• Heras, H. 1929. Halebid. Its Ancient History and Present State. In: Bengal, past and present, 38: 155–68.
• Hocart, A. M. (ed.). 1970. Kings and Councillors: An Essay in the Comparative Anatomy of Human Society. Chicago: University Press.
• Kamath, S. U. 1980. A Concise History of Karṇāṭaka ( from Prehistoric Times to the Present). Bangalore: Archana Prakashana.
• Kantorowicz, E. H. 1957. The King’s Two Bodies: A Study in Mediaeval Political Theology. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Kasdorf, K. E. 2013. Forming Dōrasamudra: Temples of the Hoysaḷa Capital in Context. PhD Diss. Columbia University.
• Kittel, F. 1894. A Kannada-English Dictionary. Mangalore: Basel Mission.
• Klein, N. M. 2004. The Vatican to Vegas: A History of Special Effects. New York: New Press.
• Kulke, H. 1993. Kings and Cults. State Formation and Legitimation in India and Southeast Asia. Delhi: Manohar Publishers & Distributors.
• ___ (ed.). 1995. The State in India, 1000–1700. Delhi–New York: Oxford University Press.
• Kulke, H. and D. Rothermund. 2010. A History of India. 5 ed. London– New York: Routledge.
• Liddel, P. and P. Low. 2013. Inscriptions and their Uses in Greek and Latin Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Mersch, D. 2013. Medientheorien zur Einführung. Hamburg: Junius.
• Nagaraj, D. R. 2003. Tensions in Kannada Literary Culture. In: S. Pollock (ed.). Literary Cultures in History. Berkeley: University of California Press: 323–382.
• Narasiṃhācārya, R. 1940. History of Kannada Literature. Mysore: Wesley Press.
• ___. 1972. Karṇāṭaka kavicarite. Beṅgaḷūru: Kannaḍa Sāhitya Pariṣattu.
• Nilakanta Sastri, H. K. 2015. A History of South India. From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar. Delhi: Oxford University Press (first edition 1975).
• Patel, M. R. 2001. Life and Times of Hoysaḷa Narasimha III. Mysore: Prasaranga, University of Mysore.
• Pollock, S. 1998. The Cosmopolitan Vernacular. In: The Journal of Asian Studies, 57: 6–37.
• ___. 2006. The Language of the Gods in the World of Men. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Ramachandra, C. N. and B. A. Viveka Rai. 2015. Classical Kannada Poetry and Prose: A Reader. Hampi: Prasaranga Kannada University.
• Rice, E. P. 1921. A History of Kanarese Literature. London: Oxford University Press.
• Schmiedchen, A. 2006. The Ceremony of Tulāpuruṣa. In: A. J. Gail, G. J. R. Mevissen and R. Salomon (eds.). Script and Image: Papers on Art and Epigraphy. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass: 145–181.
• ___. 2014. Herrschergenealogie und religiöses Patronat. Leiden: Brill.
• Sircar, D. C. Indian Epigraphical Glossary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
• Shulman, D. 1985. The King and the Clown in South Indian Myth and Poetry. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Sonntag, S. (1977) 2008. On Photography. London: Penguin.
• Settar, S. 1992. The Hoysaḷa Temples. Vol. I–II. Bangalore: Kala Yatra Press.
• Stein, B. 1977. The Segmentary State in South Indian History. In: R. G. Fox (ed.). Realm and Region in Traditional India. Durham: Duke University: 3–51.
• ___. 1980. Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• ___. 1984. All the King’s Mana: Papers on Medieval South Indian History. Madras: New Era Publications.

Identifiers

DOI

10.12797/CIS.18.2016.18.11