Book Review : The New Cambridge History of India - Vijaynagar by Burton Stein(Rating : **)

From childhood I was quite curious to know more about the history of the Vijayanagara empire. Our high-school text-books on history barely touched upon the rise and the fall of this great empire that ruled over almost all of southern India for about three centuries beginning in the 14th century. We picked up Burton Stein's “The New Cambridge History of India: Vijayanagara” mainly because at about 150 pages it looked like a more manageable read than the other such books. It was also far more recent than the other books and therefore had a much better chance of incorporating the findings from recent research into this aspect of Indian history.

The book turned out to be a serious study of the history of the Vijayanagara empire as well as a commentary on the published literature on this topic. It seems therefore to be better suited for students of history than the general public and it does get dull at times. That does not mean that it does not have fascinating information for the patient lay reader. This is especially true for those in India since the history generally taught to us in our schools is quite lopsided.

The main focus of the author is on the economic, political and social factors affecting the rise and the fall of this empire. Reliable collection of taxes over such a vast and disparate region coupled with the pressure on the treasury by the need to maintain a full-time professional army made for tricky economics. Since this empire was ruled over by three separate dynasties coming into power via means such as usurpation, there is plenty of politics to go over. An empire like this that ruled over a diverse population speaking Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Tulu spread over the entire Indian peninsula meant that local chieftains were both necessary as well as threatening for running the empire. Finally, the empire was constantly threatened by bordering kingdoms. It was therefore quite amazing that the empire survived and thrived for as long as it did. Quite remarkably, the book shows that the very factors that enabled the empire to form and sustain itself ultimately led to its downfall. The book is quite pro-british in nature which tries to emphasise that Indian politics at that time was utter chaos until British came and brought Integrity, Order and Descipline to India.

To fully appreciate the book, you should have some familiarity with the other main dynasties that ruled over parts of southern India like the Chalukyas, the Cholas and the Pandyas. There are extensive bibliographic references in this book for the serious student of history. Having visited Hampi is not a pre-requisite for reading this book, though it definitely helps in appreciating the few plates that are there. There is not much information about the flourishing of art in this empire as is evident from the ruins of Hampi - you will have to look elsewhere if you are interested in that aspect of the empire.

The Vijayanagara rajas ruled a substantial part of the southern peninsula of India for over three hundred years, beginning in the mid-fourteenth century. During this epoch the region was transformed from its medieval past toward a modern colonial future. Concentrating on the later sixteenth- and seventeenth-century history of Vijayanagara, this book details the pattern of rule established in this important and long-lived Hindu kingdom that was followed by other, often smaller kingdoms of peninsular India until the onset of colonialism. Through an analysis of the politics, society, and economy of Vijayanagara, the author addresses the central question of the extent to which Vijayanagara, as a medieval Hindu kingdom, can be viewed as a prototype of the polities and societies confronted by the British in the late eighteenth century. The book thus presents an understanding and appreciation of one of the great medieval kingdoms of India as well as a more general assessment of the nature of the state, society, and culture on the eve of European colonial rule.

Concentrating on the later sixteenth- and seventeenth-century history of Vijayanagara, Burton Stein details the pattern of rule established in this important and long-lived Hindu kingdom, which was followed by other, often smaller, kingdoms of peninsular India until the onset of colonialism. Stein addresses the central question of the extent to which Vijayanagara, as a medieval Hindu kingdom can be viewed.

Burton Stein has contributed to The New Cambridge History of India: Vijayanagara as an author. At the time of his death Burton Stein was Professorial Research Associate in History at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. He had previously held professorships at the universities of Minnesota and Hawaii. His publications included "Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India" (1980) and "Thomas Munro: The Origins of the Colonial State and his Vision of Empire "(1989).