Gov Res Conv List
A viewset for viewing and editing Government Restrictions on Conversions.
GET /api/rt/government-restrictions-on-conversions/?ordering=tag
{ "count": 324, "next": "https://seshatdata.com/api/rt/government-restrictions-on-conversions/?ordering=tag&page=2", "previous": null, "results": [ { "id": 36, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "“Many scholars have felt impelled to emphasise the toleration of different sects and denominations evinced by Indian rulers. [...] It seems fairly clear that, traditionally in India, people readily transferred or distributed their allegiance between different sects, seeing no logical inconsistency in approaching different gods for different purposes, and that this apparently syncretic style of religious behaviour encouraged a relaxed attitude to what others did as well; evidently, too, rulers generally extended their acceptance of this practice. [...] Much of the evidence, then, suggests that all the diverse religious sects were freely tolerated by a prevailing world view that was ready to acknowledge a certain common validity. Yet it is unlikely that such a view could rise to the status of cultural orthodoxy without friction. Although references to religious wars and persecutions are conspicuously absent from the historical record of ancient India, this does not rule out lesser types of conflict, and some scholars believe that there is indeed evidence of localised disagreement and resentment. [...] For example, the Arthaśāstra gratuitously advises the agents of a king to help themselves, on behalf of the ruler, to the property of groups on the fringes of society who might not have powerful friends. Moreover, there are hints in scattered sources that the followers of orthodox Brahman teachers at times ganged up against Buddhist or Jain establishments that had lost their former patronage. [...] Still, hard evidence of religious persecution in these ancient times is scattered and fragmentary. In the absence of more solid evidence, the view has gained ground that pre-modern India had a cultural unity that precluded communal conflict, but we think that this picture is not sufficiently nuanced. Doniger’s perception that there was widespread persecution of non-Brahmans during the first millennium may fairly represent the situation that arose at certain times, but we cannot be at all sure how widespread the phenomenon was, or at what times it was most marked.//\"Still, we should note that, simply as a matter of practical politics, there was at least one factor that would certainly have acted to limit the ferocity of any sectarian persecutions – the absence of a clear and powerful advantage at all times for kings in identifying themselves with the Brahman interest. No clear dividing line existed, in fact, between ruling families that were of ‘genuine’ ‘Aryan’ descent, and the rest; the ruling elite presided over heterogeneous populations within which Brahmanism, as an agent of Sanskritisation and as a common cultural denominator, was slowly feeling its way towards a new role, directed towards shaping an inclusive syncretism. Thus, the Brahmanical revival could not afford to go too far. Especially, it had to be very wary of attacking the prudent preference of kings for policies that had the capacity to attract wide support among the multiple disparate groups that constituted the citizenry. The Brahmans had to make do with whatever qualified honour they could find within the frame of an eclectic culture. Such structural constraints are likely to have kept them from striking at their enemies too wantonly.”§REF§(Copland, Mabbett, Roy, Brittlebank and Bowles 2012: 74-77) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ATSZ6QBU\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: ATSZ6QBU </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on conversion", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 397, "name": "InChol*", "start_year": 849, "end_year": 1280, "long_name": "Chola Empire", "new_name": "in_chola_emp", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "This polity was founded in the mid-ninth century CE, when members of the Chola dynasty, centred in the fertile Kaveri delta of Tamil Nadu, began a series of territorial conquests. At their peak in the eleventh century, they ruled over large parts of southern India and north-central Sri Lanka.§REF§(Mahalakshmi 2016: 1), Mahalakshmi, Rakesh. 2016. ‘Chola (Cola) Empire’. In The Encyclopedia of Empire, edited by John M. MacKenzie, 1st ed., 1–7. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe366. Zotero ID: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ET6Z69AC.§REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-05-08T13:11:53.749070Z", "home_nga": null, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 40, "name": "Southern South Asia", "subregions_list": "Southern India and Sri Lanka", "mac_region": { "id": 9, "name": "South Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 54, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "‘‘‘ The following quote suggests that rulers were not immediately accepting of new developments with regards to Vodún, but that ultimately the \"democratic\" nature of the religion prevailed. “Despite frequent cultural borrowings, the adoption of foreign deities should not be regarded as automatic, particularly when deities threatened local political authority. For example, Dahomey’s monarchy initially perceived the Kutito ancestor society as a threat to their own royal divinities (Herskovits [1938] 1967, 1:245; Noret 2010). Likewise, Sakpata the god of the earth and small- pox spread into Dahomey from the north, but Dahomey’s rulers were at first wary about this foreign god and the competition from its increasingly powerful priests (Sweet 2011, 20). The rulers reluctantly accepted the deity because of its popularity and in an effort to co-opt its power and to control smallpox (Falen 2016; Herskovits [1938] 1967; Sweet 2011, 20; Verger 1954). Therefore, despite some royal sponsorship of deities, as in the case of Mawu and Lisá, and in the example of inviting the spirits of foreign war captives, deities spread through the grassroots efforts of ordinary people to seek control of their lives and solutions to their problems. Vodún, like other African religions, did not necessarily exhibit a top-down orthodoxy given by priests but rather has always been a more democratic religion that allows individuals to interpret deities and supernatural events (see Thornton 1998).” §REF§ (Falen 2022: 47) Falen, Douglas J. “UNIVERSALISM AND SYNCRETISM IN BENINESE VODÚN.” In Eric J. Montgomery, Timothy Landry and Christian Vannier (eds.) Spirit Service: Vodún and Vodou in the African Atlantic World,. Indiana University Press, 2022, pp. 40–69. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XT5IEBHJ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: XT5IEBHJ </b></a> §REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on conversion", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 671, "name": "ni_dahomey_k", "start_year": 1600, "end_year": 1892, "long_name": "Foys", "new_name": "ni_dahomey_k", "polity_tag": "POL_AFR_WEST", "general_description": null, "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": null, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 7, "name": "West Africa", "subregions_list": "From Senegal to Gabon (Tropical)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 327, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": "2024-06-10T10:32:52.403421Z", "modified_date": "2024-06-13T09:39:55.108602Z", "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "Gov_res_conv", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 16, "name": "MxAztec", "start_year": 1427, "end_year": 1526, "long_name": "Aztec Empire", "new_name": "mx_aztec_emp", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Basin or Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly corresponding to modern-day Mexico City. Here, we are interested in the phase of its prehistory known as the Late Postclassic period, when the Aztecs or Mexica rose to power (c. 1427-1526 CE). The Aztec Empire was born from the \"Triple Alliance\" between the city-states (altepetl) of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan, who agreed to collaborate on campaign of territorial expansion and share the resulting tribute and tax payments. §REF§ (Smith and Sergheraert 2012: 449-451) Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XC9E2B7Q\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XC9E2B7Q</a>. §REF§ Within a century, the three cities came to control a significant portion of Northern Mesoamerica, the main exception being the West, which, despite some military successes on the part of the Triple Alliance early on, largely remained under the control of the Tarascans. §REF§ (Evans 2012: 125) Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/AN5IUQ7X\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/AN5IUQ7X</a>. §REF§ <br>As the empire grew, so did the power of Tenochtitlan, which became the de-facto administrative capital, whose ruler came to hold the title huey tlatoani (“high king”). Tenochtitlan's power was strongest over the empire's central provinces, where the Aztecs ruled through governors, judges, tax collectors and other officials that they appointed themselves. For the \"outer\" provinces, the Aztecs limited themselves to targeting major centres, where, again, they appointed their governors and administrative officials. Finally, the Aztecs secured their power over \"frontier\" provinces by guaranteeing military protection from external foes, in exchange for \"gifts\" of soldiers and prestige goods. §REF§ (Smith and Sergheraert 2012: 455-457) Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XC9E2B7Q\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XC9E2B7Q</a>. §REF§ <br>By the time of Spanish conquest in the 1520s, Tenochtitlan likely housed between 150,000 and 250,000 people, §REF§ (Carballo 2019: pers. comm. to E. Cioni and G. Nazzaro) §REF§ perhaps even 3,000. §REF§ (De Rioja 2017: 220) Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GC3T83JD\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GC3T83JD</a>. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 27, "name": "Basin of Mexico", "subregion": "Mexico", "longitude": "-99.130000000000", "latitude": "19.430000000000", "capital_city": "Ciudad de Mexico", "nga_code": "MX", "fao_country": "Mexico", "world_region": "North America" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 23, "name": "Mexico", "subregions_list": "Mexico", "mac_region": { "id": 7, "name": "North America" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": { "id": 68, "text": "a new_comment_text" }, "private_comment": null, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 283, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "“It is extremely difficult to ascertain the precise nature of Mexica society prior to their sudden rise to imperial power in 1428, despite numerous descriptions in the chronicles and codices. In some instances, later chronicles unconvincingly projected back in time the political and social structure of the imperial age. In other cases, codices and histories portray the early Mexica with an almost Rousseauian nostalgia, describing them as a rustic group with a totally egalitarian social and political structure. Again, the inconsistencies may be partly the result of the Mexica imperial elite’s later rewriting of history. Yet much of the contradictory nature of the evidence on the early Mexica is due to the dynamic nature of their development; Mexica political and social institutions were probably undergoing continuous change in response to their varying fortunes and their rapid cultural evolution. Specific characterizations would only apply to a particular moment in time. However, given the near-absence of relevant archaeological data, the chronology of Mexica evolution can only be assumed on a very general level. The situation is exacerbated by accounts which confuse the features of earlier and later institutions and by fifteenth- century state propagandists’ attempts to create historical precedents or allegorical justifications for the new imperial order.” §REF§ (Conrad 1984, 23) Conrad, Geoffrey. 1984. Religion and empire: the dynamics of Aztec and Inca expansionism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BGTJ339C\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: BGTJ339C </b></a> §REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-06-13T10:00:46.454127Z", "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "Government restrictions on conversion", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 15, "name": "MxPostM", "start_year": 1200, "end_year": 1426, "long_name": "Middle Postclassic Basin of Mexico", "new_name": "mx_basin_of_mexico_10", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Basin or Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly corresponding to modern-day Mexico City. Here, we are interested in the phase of its prehistory known as the Middle Postclassic (c. 1200-1426 CE). By this time, Tula no longer held sway over the region, and had been replaced by several city-states (altepetl). Documents written much later record the dynastic histories and conflicts between these city-states; toward the very end of this period, they came to form growing confederations, paving the way for the Aztec empire. §REF§ (Evans 2012: 123-124) Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/AN5IUQ7X\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/AN5IUQ7X</a>. §REF§ Major centres such as Azcapotzalco, Texcoco, or Cholula likely had between 20,000 and 30,000 inhabitants. §REF§ (Carballo 2019: pers. comm. to E. Cioni and G. Nazzaro) §REF§ Each altepetl was ruled by a king (tlatoani) and a council of nobles. §REF§ (Smith and Sergheraert 2012: 449) Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XC9E2B7Q\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XC9E2B7Q</a>. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 27, "name": "Basin of Mexico", "subregion": "Mexico", "longitude": "-99.130000000000", "latitude": "19.430000000000", "capital_city": "Ciudad de Mexico", "nga_code": "MX", "fao_country": "Mexico", "world_region": "North America" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 23, "name": "Mexico", "subregions_list": "Mexico", "mac_region": { "id": 7, "name": "North America" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": { "id": 87, "text": "a new_comment_text" }, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 25, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "“Many scholars have felt impelled to emphasise the toleration of different sects and denominations evinced by Indian rulers. [...] It seems fairly clear that, traditionally in India, people readily transferred or distributed their allegiance between different sects, seeing no logical inconsistency in approaching different gods for different purposes, and that this apparently syncretic style of religious behaviour encouraged a relaxed attitude to what others did as well; evidently, too, rulers generally extended their acceptance of this practice. [...] Much of the evidence, then, suggests that all the diverse religious sects were freely tolerated by a prevailing world view that was ready to acknowledge a certain common validity. Yet it is unlikely that such a view could rise to the status of cultural orthodoxy without friction. Although references to religious wars and persecutions are conspicuously absent from the historical record of ancient India, this does not rule out lesser types of conflict, and some scholars believe that there is indeed evidence of localised disagreement and resentment. [...] For example, the Arthaśāstra gratuitously advises the agents of a king to help themselves, on behalf of the ruler, to the property of groups on the fringes of society who might not have powerful friends. Moreover, there are hints in scattered sources that the followers of orthodox Brahman teachers at times ganged up against Buddhist or Jain establishments that had lost their former patronage. [...] Still, hard evidence of religious persecution in these ancient times is scattered and fragmentary. In the absence of more solid evidence, the view has gained ground that pre-modern India had a cultural unity that precluded communal conflict, but we think that this picture is not sufficiently nuanced. Doniger’s perception that there was widespread persecution of non-Brahmans during the first millennium may fairly represent the situation that arose at certain times, but we cannot be at all sure how widespread the phenomenon was, or at what times it was most marked.//\"Still, we should note that, simply as a matter of practical politics, there was at least one factor that would certainly have acted to limit the ferocity of any sectarian persecutions – the absence of a clear and powerful advantage at all times for kings in identifying themselves with the Brahman interest. No clear dividing line existed, in fact, between ruling families that were of ‘genuine’ ‘Aryan’ descent, and the rest; the ruling elite presided over heterogeneous populations within which Brahmanism, as an agent of Sanskritisation and as a common cultural denominator, was slowly feeling its way towards a new role, directed towards shaping an inclusive syncretism. Thus, the Brahmanical revival could not afford to go too far. Especially, it had to be very wary of attacking the prudent preference of kings for policies that had the capacity to attract wide support among the multiple disparate groups that constituted the citizenry. The Brahmans had to make do with whatever qualified honour they could find within the frame of an eclectic culture. Such structural constraints are likely to have kept them from striking at their enemies too wantonly.”§REF§(Copland, Mabbett, Roy, Brittlebank and Bowles 2012: 74-77) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ATSZ6QBU\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: ATSZ6QBU </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-06-11T15:17:37.768318Z", "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "Government restrictions on conversion", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 418, "name": "in_gurjara_pratihara_dyn", "start_year": 730, "end_year": 1030, "long_name": "Gurjar-Pratihara Dynasty", "new_name": "in_gurjara_pratihara_dyn", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The polity of Gurjar ran from c. 730 to 1030 CE with its territory spanning approximately 1 million square kilometres; roughly corresponding to a slightly smaller area than the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar combined. §REF§ (Keay 2000: 198) Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X</a>. §REF§ <br>There has been no information could be found in the sources consulted regarding the polity's overall population, but the imperial capital of Kanauj is thought to have had a population of 80,000 people at its peak in 810 - 950 CE.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "JR: Changed start year from 810 to 730 CE -- now matches the date range for ruler transitions.", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-06-11T12:26:04.458158Z", "home_nga": { "id": 14, "name": "Middle Ganga", "subregion": "Indo-Gangetic Plain", "longitude": "82.700000000000", "latitude": "25.750000000000", "capital_city": "Jaunpur", "nga_code": "UTPR", "fao_country": "India", "world_region": "South Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 40, "name": "Southern South Asia", "subregions_list": "Southern India and Sri Lanka", "mac_region": { "id": 9, "name": "South Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 57, "text": "a new_private_comment_text new approach for polity" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 45, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "The following suggests that the government, which was prevalently staffed by Muslims, did not impose significant restrictions on the polity's largely non-Muslim population.\"From this short history it can be seen that the application of Islamic law in the Bornu Empire was minimal. [...] A third reason why Muslim scholars might not have opted for full application of Islamic law was the fear of losing their political positions, which they won only because of their literacy. Therefore they compromised with non-Muslims and developed the attitude of tolerance, which the situation forced on them. Whether they were satisfied with that situation cannot be easily determined. Nevertheless, the warm reception offered by the indigenous people to the Muslim traders on their first arrival in Nigeria prevented the Muslims from developing a militant attitude against their hosts. The Muslims saw the natives as friends and co-religionists, even though they worshipped different gods.\" §REF§(Sodiq 2017: 29-30) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/6F2IFDUB\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 6F2IFDUB </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on conversion", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 670, "name": "ni_bornu_emp", "start_year": 1380, "end_year": 1893, "long_name": "Kanem-Borno", "new_name": "ni_bornu_emp", "polity_tag": "POL_AFR_WEST", "general_description": null, "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": null, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 7, "name": "West Africa", "subregions_list": "From Senegal to Gabon (Tropical)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 30, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "“Many scholars have felt impelled to emphasise the toleration of different sects and denominations evinced by Indian rulers. [...] It seems fairly clear that, traditionally in India, people readily transferred or distributed their allegiance between different sects, seeing no logical inconsistency in approaching different gods for different purposes, and that this apparently syncretic style of religious behaviour encouraged a relaxed attitude to what others did as well; evidently, too, rulers generally extended their acceptance of this practice. [...] Much of the evidence, then, suggests that all the diverse religious sects were freely tolerated by a prevailing world view that was ready to acknowledge a certain common validity. Yet it is unlikely that such a view could rise to the status of cultural orthodoxy without friction. Although references to religious wars and persecutions are conspicuously absent from the historical record of ancient India, this does not rule out lesser types of conflict, and some scholars believe that there is indeed evidence of localised disagreement and resentment. [...] For example, the Arthaśāstra gratuitously advises the agents of a king to help themselves, on behalf of the ruler, to the property of groups on the fringes of society who might not have powerful friends. Moreover, there are hints in scattered sources that the followers of orthodox Brahman teachers at times ganged up against Buddhist or Jain establishments that had lost their former patronage. [...] Still, hard evidence of religious persecution in these ancient times is scattered and fragmentary. In the absence of more solid evidence, the view has gained ground that pre-modern India had a cultural unity that precluded communal conflict, but we think that this picture is not sufficiently nuanced. Doniger’s perception that there was widespread persecution of non-Brahmans during the first millennium may fairly represent the situation that arose at certain times, but we cannot be at all sure how widespread the phenomenon was, or at what times it was most marked.//\"Still, we should note that, simply as a matter of practical politics, there was at least one factor that would certainly have acted to limit the ferocity of any sectarian persecutions – the absence of a clear and powerful advantage at all times for kings in identifying themselves with the Brahman interest. No clear dividing line existed, in fact, between ruling families that were of ‘genuine’ ‘Aryan’ descent, and the rest; the ruling elite presided over heterogeneous populations within which Brahmanism, as an agent of Sanskritisation and as a common cultural denominator, was slowly feeling its way towards a new role, directed towards shaping an inclusive syncretism. Thus, the Brahmanical revival could not afford to go too far. Especially, it had to be very wary of attacking the prudent preference of kings for policies that had the capacity to attract wide support among the multiple disparate groups that constituted the citizenry. The Brahmans had to make do with whatever qualified honour they could find within the frame of an eclectic culture. Such structural constraints are likely to have kept them from striking at their enemies too wantonly.”§REF§(Copland, Mabbett, Roy, Brittlebank and Bowles 2012: 74-77) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ATSZ6QBU\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: ATSZ6QBU </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on conversion", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 417, "name": "in_kannauj_varman_dyn", "start_year": 650, "end_year": 780, "long_name": "Kannauj - Varman Dynasty", "new_name": "in_kannauj_varman_dyn", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Middle Ganga corresponds to the eastern portion of the Upper Ganga Plain, in the eastern part of the north-central modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and the state of Bihar. Between c. 650 and 780 CE, it was under the control of the Kannauj polity.<br>Like many other Indian polities between the seventh and the eleventh centuries, Kannauj was ruled by a king, who received support from a number of key ministers, and who controlled provincial territories indirectly, through a hierarchy of princes and officials (higher tier, in charge of provinces) and visayapatis (lower tier, in charge of districts). §REF§ (Mishra 1977, 137-144) Shyam Manohar Mishra. 1977. Yaśovarman of Kanauj: A Study of Political History, Social, and Cultural Life of Northern India During the Reign of Yaśovarman. Abhinav Publications. §REF§ <br>While no information on the polity's total population could be found, the imperial capital of Kannauj is thought to have had a population of 120,000 people at its peak in 620 CE. §REF§ (Chase-Dunn: pers. comm. 2011) §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-06-10T12:41:56.821133Z", "home_nga": { "id": 14, "name": "Middle Ganga", "subregion": "Indo-Gangetic Plain", "longitude": "82.700000000000", "latitude": "25.750000000000", "capital_city": "Jaunpur", "nga_code": "UTPR", "fao_country": "India", "world_region": "South Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 40, "name": "Southern South Asia", "subregions_list": "Southern India and Sri Lanka", "mac_region": { "id": 9, "name": "South Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 56, "text": "a new_private_comment_text new approach for polity" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 47, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "‘‘‘ The literature consulted arguably implies the absence of significant religious communities outside of the Cwezi-kubandwa religious complex, which in turn suggests the absence of governmental restrictions of any kind on religious groups. “The Cwezi-kubandwa religious complex covered most of Great Lakes Africa by the nineteenth century, being found in modern-day Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, north-west Tanzania and eastern Congo, a region united by closely related Bantu languages as well as traditions of kingship and other cultural similarities.”§REF§(Doyle 2007: 559) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9EXDF5UP\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 9EXDF5UP </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on conversion", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 687, "name": "Early Niynginya", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1897, "long_name": "Kingdom of Nyinginya", "new_name": "Early Niynginya", "polity_tag": "POL_AFR_EAST", "general_description": "", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-06-13T09:26:46.862473Z", "home_nga": null, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 2, "name": "East Africa", "subregions_list": "Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, So Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 46, "text": "a new_private_comment_text new approach for polity" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 34, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "“Many scholars have felt impelled to emphasise the toleration of different sects and denominations evinced by Indian rulers. [...] It seems fairly clear that, traditionally in India, people readily transferred or distributed their allegiance between different sects, seeing no logical inconsistency in approaching different gods for different purposes, and that this apparently syncretic style of religious behaviour encouraged a relaxed attitude to what others did as well; evidently, too, rulers generally extended their acceptance of this practice. [...] Much of the evidence, then, suggests that all the diverse religious sects were freely tolerated by a prevailing world view that was ready to acknowledge a certain common validity. Yet it is unlikely that such a view could rise to the status of cultural orthodoxy without friction. Although references to religious wars and persecutions are conspicuously absent from the historical record of ancient India, this does not rule out lesser types of conflict, and some scholars believe that there is indeed evidence of localised disagreement and resentment. [...] For example, the Arthaśāstra gratuitously advises the agents of a king to help themselves, on behalf of the ruler, to the property of groups on the fringes of society who might not have powerful friends. Moreover, there are hints in scattered sources that the followers of orthodox Brahman teachers at times ganged up against Buddhist or Jain establishments that had lost their former patronage. [...] Still, hard evidence of religious persecution in these ancient times is scattered and fragmentary. In the absence of more solid evidence, the view has gained ground that pre-modern India had a cultural unity that precluded communal conflict, but we think that this picture is not sufficiently nuanced. Doniger’s perception that there was widespread persecution of non-Brahmans during the first millennium may fairly represent the situation that arose at certain times, but we cannot be at all sure how widespread the phenomenon was, or at what times it was most marked.//\"Still, we should note that, simply as a matter of practical politics, there was at least one factor that would certainly have acted to limit the ferocity of any sectarian persecutions – the absence of a clear and powerful advantage at all times for kings in identifying themselves with the Brahman interest. No clear dividing line existed, in fact, between ruling families that were of ‘genuine’ ‘Aryan’ descent, and the rest; the ruling elite presided over heterogeneous populations within which Brahmanism, as an agent of Sanskritisation and as a common cultural denominator, was slowly feeling its way towards a new role, directed towards shaping an inclusive syncretism. Thus, the Brahmanical revival could not afford to go too far. Especially, it had to be very wary of attacking the prudent preference of kings for policies that had the capacity to attract wide support among the multiple disparate groups that constituted the citizenry. The Brahmans had to make do with whatever qualified honour they could find within the frame of an eclectic culture. Such structural constraints are likely to have kept them from striking at their enemies too wantonly.”§REF§(Copland, Mabbett, Roy, Brittlebank and Bowles 2012: 74-77) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ATSZ6QBU\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: ATSZ6QBU </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on conversion", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 390, "name": "InMagad", "start_year": 450, "end_year": 605, "long_name": "Magadha", "new_name": "in_magadha_k", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-06-19T10:29:31.079157Z", "home_nga": { "id": 14, "name": "Middle Ganga", "subregion": "Indo-Gangetic Plain", "longitude": "82.700000000000", "latitude": "25.750000000000", "capital_city": "Jaunpur", "nga_code": "UTPR", "fao_country": "India", "world_region": "South Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 40, "name": "Southern South Asia", "subregions_list": "Southern India and Sri Lanka", "mac_region": { "id": 9, "name": "South Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 66, "text": "a new_private_comment_text new approach for polity" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 72, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "The following quote suggests that the government was not so much interested in converting followers of pre-existing cults to the Maravi religion, but rather in appropriating and controlling pre-existing cults. \"There can be no doubt that the Maravi rulers saw the existing territorial shrines as a hindrance to their ambitions, and those who controlled the shrines viewed the state cults as a threat to their position[...]. [T]he only workable solution may have been some adaptation of the autochthonous religion in combination with their own cult. [...] The next stage may have been a Maravi attempt to set up a rival system. This is suggested by a body of tradition which is found among both the northern and southern Maravi and which in our case is represented by the biographies in the Mbona II and III traditions. In Texts II/A and II/B the rulers of the early states try to establish their own rain-calling agencies.\" §REF§(Schoeffeleers 1992: 47-48) Schoeffeleers, J.M. 1992. River of Blood: The Genesis of a Martyr Cult in Southern Malawi, c. A.D. 1600. The University of Wisconsin Press: 33-34. <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/A88E23E4\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: A88E23E4 </b></a>§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": false, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "Government restrictions on conversion", "coded_value": "absent", "polity": { "id": 776, "name": "mw_maravi_emp", "start_year": 1622, "end_year": 1870, "long_name": "Maravi Empire", "new_name": "mw_maravi_emp", "polity_tag": "OTHER_TAG", "general_description": null, "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": null, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 6, "name": "Southern Africa", "subregions_list": "Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and south", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] } ] }