| # | Polity | Utilitarian Public Building | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
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Barracks; prisons; post office; customhouses; warehouses; schoolhouses; insane asylum; quarantine building “During the reigns of the last two Kamehamehas and Lunalilo, approximately a million dollars were spent by the government on public works. The Hawaiian Hotel and Aliiolani Hale accounted for about a quarter of that sum. One hundred and eighty thousand dollars went into the construction of buildings of lesser magnitude—lIolani Barracks, a new prison, Royal Mausoleum, post office, customhouses, warehouses, schoolhouses, insane asylum, quarantine building.”
[1]
[1]: (Kuykendall 1938: 174) Kuykendall, Ralph Simpson. 1938. The Hawaiian Kingdom. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii. http://archive.org/details/hawaiiankingdom0002kuyk. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QJ4Z7AAB |
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“Although some counties had multiple institutions (there were four each in Devon and Norfolk by 1598, seven in Hertfordshire by the early 1620s, three in Warwickshire by 1635, and seven in Sussex by 1642; and in 1598, Essex had a scheme for 23), others (including Denbighshire until 1687) failed to provide one at all. It was only in the 1630s, almost 60 years after the statute, that they became virtually universal. 96 Even then, they were badly managed and underfunded. Envisaged as an ‘uneasy mixture of prison, workhouse and reformatory’, bridewells degenerated into ‘lock-ups’.”
[1]
[1]: (Hindle 2002: 164) Hindle, Steve. 2002. The State and Social Change in Early Modern England, 1550–1640 (London: Palgrave https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GVIZDIC9 |
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“Examples proliferate, particularly during the late seventeenth- and late eighteenth-century silver bonanzas that produced the wealth of communities such as Santiago de Querétaro, Zacatecas and Guanajuato, or individuals such as Juan Antonio de Urrutia y Arana, marqués de la Villa del Villar del Águila; Pedro Romero de Terreros, conde de Santa María de Regla; Antonio de Obregón y Alcocer, conde de la Valenciana; and José de Borda (Couturier 2003; Torales Pacheco 1985; Yuste López 1987). Their munificence built aqueducts, churches, palaces, industrial establishments, charitable institutions, and even ships for the Spanish navy.”
[1]
“Maximilian’s greatest material legacy was his plan to redesign Mexico City (Chapman 1975, pp. 105–10). Developed in 1866, the 4-phase, 22-item plan traced new avenues, squares, utilities, and many improvements around the city. Of these, Maximilian only laid out the new Paseo de la Emperatriz (today Paseo de la Reforma) evoking Vienna’s Ringstraße. Subsequent regimes have implemented much of this plan, opening avenues west and south of the main plaza (5 de Mayo, Juárez, and 20 de Noviembre avenues), re-paving streets, adding gas lights, meatpacking plants, a ring-road (today’s circuito interior), fire stations, hospitals, cemeteries, and government ministries.”
[2]
“The “modernity” of the capital, while exemplary in its scale and expense, paled with the cost of public works in the regions; railroads crisscrossed the country by the 1880s, electrical and telephone utilities by the 1890s, and vast bonds were issued to finance new state and municipal buildings, schools, and trams.”
[3]
[1]: (Bunker and Macias-Gonzalez 2011: 60) Bunker, Steven B. and Macías-González, Víctor M. 2011. “Consumption and Material Culture from Pre-Contact through the Porfiriato,” in A Companion to Mexican History and Culture, ed. William H. Beezley. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. pp54–82. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SDIQ5VE7 [2]: (Bunker and Macias-Gonzalez 2011: 56) Bunker, Steven B. and Macías-González, Víctor M. 2011. “Consumption and Material Culture from Pre-Contact through the Porfiriato,” in A Companion to Mexican History and Culture, ed. William H. Beezley. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. pp54–82. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SDIQ5VE7 [3]: (Bunker and Macias-Gonzalez 2011: 68) Bunker, Steven B. and Macías-González, Víctor M. 2011. “Consumption and Material Culture from Pre-Contact through the Porfiriato,” in A Companion to Mexican History and Culture, ed. William H. Beezley. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. pp54–82. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SDIQ5VE7 |
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Stables; warehouses; infirmaries. “When he heard about all this unrest, Mawläy Ismail decided to deal first of all with his nephew. He marched against him and forced him to flee a second time, into the Sahara. Then he advanced on Fez and laid siege to it until it surrendered, but later decided to make Meknes his capital. On his return to that town he gave orders for the building of palaces, houses, walls, stables, warehouses and other large buildings. He had gardens and ponds laid out, to such good effect that this town came to rival Versailles (which King Louis XIV, abandoning Paris, had taken as his capital). At Meknes, the building work went on for several years.”
[1]
“All the Christians in Morocco were collected there and were at first housed in siloes near the building-yards, then they were moved to the Dar al-Makhzen, then to near the stables, under the arches of a bridge, where their lot was particularly miserable, finally to lodgings built from mud brick along the north wall of the Dar al-Makhzen. They were able to organise themselves a little there, to build themselves a church, to have chapels, a convent and infirmaries.”
[2]
[1]: (Ogot 1992: 222) Ogot, B. A. 1992. ed., General History of Africa: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century., vol. V, VII vols. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/24QPFDVP [2]: (Bosworth 2007: 400) Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. 2007. ed., Historic Cities of the Islamic World. Leiden; Boston: Brill. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/HGHDXVAC |
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The following quote suggests the presence of polity-owned markets. "Ominously for Kaabu’s Mandinka overlords, when the Frenchman Gaspard Mollien travelled through Futa Toro in 1818 he was informed of a "sacred alliance" of Muslims in Futa Toro, Bundu, and the Fula almamate in Futa Jallon to defeat "pagans" and compel them to submit to Islam. One may suppose that domination of trade routes and markets was a linked objective."
[1]
[1]: (Brooks 2007: 56) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/TT7FC2RX/collection. |
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"There are [...] no signs of communal construction activities, and no preserved facilities to store agricultural surplus. [...] It has to be considered that the preservation of features in Nok sites is generally poor and that the amount of data is not too large and regionally restricted to a rather small key study area."
[1]
[1]: (Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 253) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R. |
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The following suggests that the only identified buildings were houses, and that houses fulfilled multiple purposes ("economically generalized”). ”The community [of Kirikongo] was founded by a single house (Mound 4) c. ad 100 (Yellow I), as part of a regional expansion of farming peoples in small homesteads in western Burkina Faso. A true village emerged with the establishment of a second house (Mound 1) c. ad 450, and by the end of the first millennium ad the community had expanded to six houses. At first, these were economically generalized houses (potting, iron metallurgy, farming and herding) settled distantly apart with direct access to farming land that appear to have exercised some autonomy."
[1]
[1]: (Dueppen 2015: 21-22) |
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The near-absence of archaeologically identified settlements makes it particularly challenging to infer most building types. "While the historical sources provide a vague picture of the events of the first 500 years of the Kanem-Borno empire, archaeologically almost nothing is known. [...] Summing up, very little is known about the capitals or towns of the early Kanem- Borno empire. The locations of the earliest sites have been obscured under the southwardly protruding sands of the Sahara, and none of the later locations can be identified with certainty."
[1]
[1]: (Gronenborn 2002: 104-110) |
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"There are [...] no signs of communal construction activities, and no preserved facilities to store agricultural surplus. [...] It has to be considered that the preservation of features in Nok sites is generally poor and that the amount of data is not too large and regionally restricted to a rather small key study area."
[1]
[1]: (Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 253) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R. |
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"The first nondomestic structures identified at Kirikongo are found from Red II and Red III on the peak of Mound 4. This multistory complex has formal similarities to a Bwa ancestor house, which today when associated with the founding house is a sacrificial shrine to the village ancestors, the meeting place for the village council, and maintained by the village headman. Given the presence of these ritual structures, cross-cutting communal activities, and a communally focused built environment, it is possible that an institution similar to the village Do was in existence."
[1]
[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 31) |
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Inferred from the following, which pertains to the immediately preceding period. "The first nondomestic structures identified at Kirikongo are found from Red II and Red III on the peak of Mound 4. This multistory complex has formal similarities to a Bwa ancestor house, which today when associated with the founding house is a sacrificial shrine to the village ancestors, the meeting place for the village council, and maintained by the village headman. Given the presence of these ritual structures, cross-cutting communal activities, and a communally focused built environment, it is possible that an institution similar to the village Do was in existence."
[1]
[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 31) |
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"The first nondomestic structures identified at Kirikongo are found from Red II and Red III on the peak of Mound 4. This multistory complex has formal similarities to a Bwa ancestor house, which today when associated with the founding house is a sacrificial shrine to the village ancestors, the meeting place for the village council, and maintained by the village headman. Given the presence of these ritual structures, cross-cutting communal activities, and a communally focused built environment, it is possible that an institution similar to the village Do was in existence."
[1]
[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 31) |
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Irrigation systems. "Until the 13th century AD the economy of the dry zone depended on the system of irrigation developed by the past kings. Although the seat of administration shifted to the South-west with the establishment of the Dambadeniya kingdom economic conditions of the county did not undergo a radical change."
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Hospitals (as an example of a utilitarian public building although this kind of public building does not reflect the four variables to follow), Irrigation systems, drinking water supply systems. “Amenities at the city included institutions for medical care. In the 4th century Upatissa I provided maternity homes, hospitals and homes for the crippled and the blind (1925, Ch. 37, v. 182).”
[1]
“The outer reaches of the city are defined by the presence of three artificial lakes, the Basawak Kulam, the Tessa Wewa and the Nuwara Wewa covering areas of 91, 160 and 1288ha respectively. With dates ranging from the fourth century BC for the Basavak Kulam in the first century AD for the Nuwara Wewa, they were augmented in the fifth century AD with feeder channels and canals (Brohier 1934). This hydraulic system allowed excess wet season water to be stored for drinking and irrigation agriculture as well as enabling the diverting of water from other river catchments to large storage tanks, such as the Nachchaduwa, before being released into Anuradhapura’s system.”
[2]
“The earliest projects were no doubt directed more at conserving than at diverting water on any large scale. But by the first century AD, large-scale irrigation works were being built. The construction of tanks, canals and channels which this involved exhibited an amazing knowledge of trigonometry, and the design of the tanks a thorough grasp of hydraulic principles. The tanks had broad bases which could withstand heavy pressures, and at suitable points in the embankment there were outlets for the discharge of water. The Sinhalese were the ‘first inventors of the valve pit’ (bisokotuva), counterpart of the sluice which regulated the flow of water from a modern reservoir or tank. The engineers of the third century BC or earlier who invented it had done their work with a sophistication and mastery that enabled their successors of later centuries merely to copy the original device with only minor adaptations or changes, if any. […] The reign of Dhātusena (455-73) matched, if it did not surpass the achievements of Mahāsena and Vasabha in the extension of the island’s irrigation network. He is said to have added t the irrigation works in the Mahaväli region by building a dam across that river. But the main focus of attention in irrigation activity during his reign seems to have been the development of water resources in the western part of the dry zone. By far the most impressive achievement by this period is the construction of Kalāväva, which trapped the Kalā-Oya and helped to supplement the supply of water to Anurādhapura and the area round the city. […] By the tenth century there was a vast array of irrigation works spread over a substantial part of the dry zone of the country. The monumental scale of the large tanks is positive evidence of a prosperous economy and a well-organised state which had so great an agricultural surplus to invest in these projects as well as on religious and public buildings designed on a lavish scale. By itself the irrigation network of ancient Sri Lanka was a tribute to the ingenuity of her engineers and craftsmen, and the organisational skills of her rulers. […] Proximity to the Mahaväli, the longest river in Sri Lanka, increased the economic potential of this region. Mahāsena had built the famous Minneriya tank there, and between the fourth and ninth centuries a number of smaller tanks in the region would have helped sustain a considerable population producing a substantial agricultural surplus. The economic importance of the region was further enhanced by the development of commercial relations with China and South-East Asia, in which the port of Gokonna (modern Trincomalee) would have played a prominent part. Thus the adoption of Polonnaruva as the capital of the Sinhalese kingdom by four kings of the period between the seventh and tenth centuries, and the final abandonment of Anurādhapura in its favour, were determined as much by considerations of economic advantage as by strategic and military factors.
[3]
[1]: (Gunawardana 1989, 163). Gunawardana, R.A.L.H. 1989. ‘Anurādhapura: ritual, power and resistance in a precolonial South Asian city’. Domination and Resistance edited by Daniel Miller, Michael Rowlands, Chris Tilley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/G8CWKJ2U/collection [2]: (Coningham, Robin et al. 2007, 703). Coningham, Robin et al. 2007. “The State of Theocracy: Defining an Early Medieval Hinterland in Sri Lanka.” Antiquity. Vol 81:313. Pp 699-719. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/M4HWIC84/collection [3]: (De Silva, 1981, 28, 30, 31, 32) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection |
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“The Polonnaruva kings were the heirs to several centuries of experience in irrigation technology. But they themselves—and especially Parākramabāhu I—made a distinctive contribution of their own in honing these techniques to cope with the special requirements of the immense irrigation projects constructed at this time. There was, for instance, the colossal size of the Parākrama Samudra (the sea of Parākrama) which, with an embankment rising to an average height of 40 feet and stretching over its entire length of 8 miles, was by far the largest irrigation tank constructed in ancient Sri Lanka…Refinement of irrigation technology, was demonstrated also in the three weirs built across the Däduru-Oya, the only river in the western part of the dry zone to provide anything like a perennial supply of water.”
[1]
[1]: (De Silva 1981, 68) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection |
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Hospitals (as an example of a utilitarian public building although this kind of public building does not reflect the four variables to follow), Irrigation systems, drinking water supply systems. “Amenities at the city included institutions for medical care. In the 4th century Upatissa I provided maternity homes, hospitals and homes for the crippled and the blind (1925, Ch. 37, v. 182).”
[1]
“The earliest projects were no doubt directed more at conserving than at diverting water on any large scale. But by the first century AD, large-scale irrigation works were being built. The construction of tanks, canals and channels which this involved exhibited an amazing knowledge of trigonometry, and the design of the tanks a thorough grasp of hydraulic principles. The tanks had broad bases which could withstand heavy pressures, and at suitable points in the embankment there were outlets for the discharge of water. The Sinhalese were the ‘first inventors of the valve pit’ (bisokotuva), counterpart of the sluice which regulated the flow of water from a modern reservoir or tank. The engineers of the third century BC or earlier who invented it had done their work with a sophistication and mastery that enabled their successors of later centuries merely to copy the original device with only minor adaptations or changes, if any.”
[2]
“The outer reaches of the city are defined by the presence of three artificial lakes, the Basawak Kulam, the Tessa Wewa and the Nuwara Wewa covering areas of 91, 160 and 1288ha respectively. With dates ranging from the fourth century BC for the Basavak Kulam in the first century AD for the Nuwara Wewa, they were augmented in the fifth century AD with feeder channels and canals (Brohier 1934). This hydraulic system allowed excess wet season water to be stored for drinking and irrigation agriculture as well as enabling the diverting of water from other river catchments to large storage tanks, such as the Nachchaduwa, before being released into Anuradhapura’s system.”
[3]
“The reign of Dhātusena (455-73) matched, if it did not surpass the achievements of Mahāsena and Vasabha in the extension of the island’s irrigation network. He is said to have added t the irrigation works in the Mahaväli region by building a dam across that river. But the main focus of attention in irrigation activity during his reign seems to have been the development of water resources in the western part of the dry zone. By far the most impressive achievement by this period is the construction of Kalāväva, which trapped the Kalā-Oya and helped to supplement the supply of water to Anurādhapura and the area round the city. […] By the end of the fifth century two major irrigation complexes had been developed, one based on the Mahaväli and its tributaries, and the other on the Malvatu-Oya and Kalā-Oya. These were elaborated further in subsequent centuries. The two cities Anurādhapura and Polonnaruva located here were vital centres of cultural activity and these contained the most impressive monuments of Sinhalese civilization. Anurādhapura was much larger of the two, and necessarily so, for during the first ten centuries of the Christian era it was, with brief interludes, the capital of the island.”
[4]
[1]: (Gunawardana 1989, 163). Gunawardana, R.A.L.H. 1989. ‘Anurādhapura: ritual, power and resistance in a precolonial South Asian city’. Domination and Resistance edited by Daniel Miller, Michael Rowlands, Chris Tilley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/G8CWKJ2U/collection [2]: (De Silva 1981, 28). De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection [3]: (Coningham, Robin et al. 2007, 703). Coningham, Robin et al. 2007. “The State of Theocracy: Defining an Early Medieval Hinterland in Sri Lanka.” Antiquity. Vol 81:313. Pp 699-719. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/M4HWIC84/collection [4]: (De Silva, 1981, 30--31) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection |
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Irrigation systems, marketsm food storage sites. "The arrival of the Dutch represented an absolute revolution for the local [Taiwanese] population. Besides several new crops such as sugar and indigo, the Dutch also introduced oxen to the island, using the animals mainly for transport and land clearance. The construction of irrigation works was stimulated by exemptions from taxation, and deer hunting was optimised by the sale of exclusive trading rights to the Taiwanese villages. All these interventions had considerable ecological consequences: in 1638, for example, no fewer than 151,400 deer were killed! Nonetheless, these effects should also not be exaggerated, because this was still a relatively small area in the south-west of the island."
[1]
"Apart from provincial revenue, cities had their own revenue from excise (particularly beer and wine) and from duties levied on their markets, ferries, bridges, roads, and streets."
[2]
"The transportation of grain to Amsterdam, its storage there and its further distribution to final markets at home and abroad, was a large industry in its own right. In the first half of the seventeenth century the ships sailing back and forth from the Baltic employed some 4,000 seamen. In the harbor of Amsterdam another army of workers specialized in the handling of the grain.Footnote3 Hundreds of grain lightermen, organized in their guild (korenlichtermansgilde), transferred grain from the ships to barges. On the quays, the even more numerous members of the grain porters’ guild (korendragersgilde) carried the grain sacks to the storage lofts and the markets. A guild of grain weighers and measurers (korenmeters en zetters) ascertained weight and volume, while an unorganized army of grain turners (verschietsters), primarily women, monitored the grain storage lofts, turning the sacks periodically to prevent overheating and spoilage. All of this grain was bought and sold at a specialized grain exchange (Korenbeurs) by sworn brokers."
[3]
[1]: (Emmer and Gommans 2020: 363) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/AI9PPN7Q/collection. [2]: (t’Hart 1989: 672) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/B9DVQGBS/collection. [3]: (De Vries 2019: 148-149) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/P9E78WVF/collection. |
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Irrigation systems, drinking water supply systems. “The earliest projects were no doubt directed more at conserving than at diverting water on any large scale. But by the first century AD, large-scale irrigation works were being built. The construction of tanks, canals and channels which this involved exhibited an amazing knowledge of trigonometry, and the design of the tanks a thorough grasp of hydraulic principles. The tanks had broad bases which could withstand heavy pressures, and at suitable points in the embankment there were outlets for the discharge of water. The Sinhalese were the ‘first inventors of the valve pit’ (bisokotuva), counterpart of the sluice which regulated the flow of water from a modern reservoir or tank. The engineers of the third century BC or earlier who invented it had done their work with a sophistication and mastery that enabled their successors of later centuries merely to copy the original device with only minor adaptations or changes, if any.”
[1]
“The outer reaches of the city are defined by the presence of three artificial lakes, the Basawak Kulam, the Tessa Wewa and the Nuwara Wewa covering areas of 91, 160 and 1288ha respectively. With dates ranging from the fourth century BC for the Basavak Kulam in the first century AD for the Nuwara Wewa, they were augmented in the fifth century AD with feeder channels and canals (Brohier 1934). This hydraulic system allowed excess wet season water to be stored for drinking and irrigation agriculture as well as enabling the diverting of water from other river catchments to large storage tanks, such as the Nachchaduwa, before being released into Anuradhapura’s system.”
[2]
[1]: (De Silva, 1981, 28). De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection [2]: (Coningham, Robin et al. 2007, 703). Coningham, Robin et al. 2007. “The State of Theocracy: Defining an Early Medieval Hinterland in Sri Lanka.” Antiquity. Vol 81:313. Pp 699-719. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/M4HWIC84/collection |
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Hospitals (as an example of a utilitarian public building although this kind of public building does not reflect the four variables to follow), Irrigation systems, drinking water supply systems. “Amenities at the city included institutions for medical care. In the 4th century Upatissa I provided maternity homes, hospitals and homes for the crippled and the blind (1925, Ch. 37, v. 182).”
[1]
“The earliest projects were no doubt directed more at conserving than at diverting water on any large scale. But by the first century AD, large-scale irrigation works were being built. The construction of tanks, canals and channels which this involved exhibited an amazing knowledge of trigonometry, and the design of the tanks a thorough grasp of hydraulic principles. The tanks had broad bases which could withstand heavy pressures, and at suitable points in the embankment there were outlets for the discharge of water. The Sinhalese were the ‘first inventors of the valve pit’ (bisokotuva), counterpart of the sluice which regulated the flow of water from a modern reservoir or tank. The engineers of the third century BC or earlier who invented it had done their work with a sophistication and mastery that enabled their successors of later centuries merely to copy the original device with only minor adaptations or changes, if any.”
[2]
“The outer reaches of the city are defined by the presence of three artificial lakes, the Basawak Kulam, the Tessa Wewa and the Nuwara Wewa covering areas of 91, 160 and 1288ha respectively. With dates ranging from the fourth century BC for the Basavak Kulam in the first century AD for the Nuwara Wewa, they were augmented in the fifth century AD with feeder channels and canals (Brohier 1934). This hydraulic system allowed excess wet season water to be stored for drinking and irrigation agriculture as well as enabling the diverting of water from other river catchments to large storage tanks, such as the Nachchaduwa, before being released into Anuradhapura’s system.”
[3]
[1]: (Gunawardana 1989, 163). Gunawardana, R.A.L.H. 1989. ‘Anurādhapura: ritual, power and resistance in a precolonial South Asian city’. Domination and Resistance edited by Daniel Miller, Michael Rowlands, Chris Tilley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/G8CWKJ2U/collection [2]: (De Silva, 1981, 28). De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection [3]: (Coningham, Robin et al. 2007, 703). Coningham, Robin et al. 2007. “The State of Theocracy: Defining an Early Medieval Hinterland in Sri Lanka.” Antiquity. Vol 81:313. Pp 699-719. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/M4HWIC84/collection |
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E.g. Irrigation systems and markets. “Individual farmers sometimes take advantage of nearby streams to dig irrigation ditches, and in some hilly regions there is gullying and work on drainage, but this sort of work is done by groups of no more than four to five men.”
[1]
“Although the name ‘Jimma’ in this book is used for the whole kingdom, there is now a modern town called Jimma. It is located on the site of Jimma Abba Jifar’s greatest market, Hirmata, and is about two hundred miles-by road west-southwest of Addis Ababa.”
[2]
[1]: (Lewis 2001, 52) Lewis, Herbert S. 2001. Jimma Abba Jifar, an Oromo Monarchy: Ethiopia, 1830-1932. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NRZVWSCD/collection [2]: (Lewis 2001, xvi) Lewis, Herbert S. 2001. Jimma Abba Jifar, an Oromo Monarchy: Ethiopia, 1830-1932. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NRZVWSCD/collection |
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E.g. drinking water supply systems and markets. In al-Idrīsī’s twelfth-century writings on Zeila he mentioned “The people drink water [drawn] from wells.”
[1]
“Ibn Battuta visited Zayla in 1330 and described it as a large town with an important market.”
[2]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 140) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list [2]: (Tamrat 2008, 139) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list |
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E.g. Markets. “Al-Idrisi also described the construction of the coral house, probably following Arab and Persian designs, and noted that Barawa market was full of both domestic and foreign commodities.”
[1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 50) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection |
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E.g. food storage sites. “In the 15th century, the Ajuran became increasingly authoritarian and oppressive. Their subjects were forced to dig kelis (canals) for irrigation, and bakars (storage pits) for cereals that were collected in tribute.”
[1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2016, Encyclopedia of Empire) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2016. ‘Ajuran Sultanate.’ In J.Mackenzie Encyclopedia of Empire. Wiley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5U3NQRMR/library |
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Wells. The population numbers are an approximation and do not represent a definitive number. “The dimensions of Zeila Burton compares to Suez, sufficient to hold a few thousand inhabitants, and provided with six mosques, a dozen large white-washed stone houses, and two hundred or more thatched mud – and-wattle huts. The ancient wall of coral rubble and mud defending the town was no longer fortified with guns, and in many places had become dilapidated. Drinking water had to be fetched from wells four miles from the town. Yet trade was thriving: to the north caravans plied the Danakil country, while to the west the lands of the ‘Ise and Gadabursi clans were traversed as far as Harar, and beyond Harar to the Gurage country in Abyssinia. The main exports were slaves, ivory hides, horns, ghee, and guns. On the coast itself Arab divers were active collecting sponge cones and provisions were cheap.”
[1]
[1]: (Lewis 2002, 34) Lewis, Ioan M. 2002. A Modern History of the Somali: Nation and State in the Horn of Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/KHB7VSJK/collection |
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E.g. markets. The following quote suggests that markets were likely present. “Like the town of Jimma, Agaro [Haggaro] was located on major trade routes leading to different regions. Consequently, it rapidly developed into a big trade centre visited by merchants coming from regions as far as eastern Wallagga, Gojjam, and Muslim Jabartis from northern Ethiopia.”
[1]
[1]: (Benti 2016, 41) Benti, Getahun. 2016. Urban Growth in Ethiopia, 1887-1974: From the Foundation of Finfinnee to the Demise of the First Imperial Era. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/C2UNK7RK/collection |
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E.g. water supply system. “A village like this, standing far from the river, relies for its water supply on its war. This is an artificial pool, or reservoir, beside it.”
[1]
[1]: (Luling 1971, 67) Luling, Virginia. 1971. The Social Structure of Southern Somali Tribes. (Thesis). University of London (University College London). Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/5BTAQ3DM/collection |
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E.g. markets. The Sultanate of Shoa was along import long-distance caravan routes which mostly likely linked to markets in town or cities. “It was on the long-distance caravan routes to these regions that the most viable Muslim communities were established.”
[1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 134) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list |
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Wells. “Harla comprises several elements, including a central settlement area, workshops at least three early mosques, wells, lengths of fortification walls and cemeteries to the north, east and west.”
[1]
[1]: (Insoll et al. 2021, 488) Insoll, Timothy et al. 2021. ‘Material Cosmopolitanism: the entrepot of Harlaa as an Islamic gateway to eastern Ethiopia’. Antiquity. Vol 95: 380. Pp 487-507. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/GGUW3WRZ/collection |
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E.g. markets. The capital city Ifat was located next to the Awadi River. Due to the existence of vital caravan routes and the importance of Zeila port which was a key city associated with the Ifat Sultanate, markets would have been likely established. “We have already seen that Christian Ethiopia had started to make use of the caravan routes to Zeila by the middle of the thirteenth century. The rise of the ‘Solomonic dynasty’, and the resultant shift of the centre of southern Amhara and Shoa, gave a particular significance to the Zeila routes in which the Christian kings began to show an ever increasing interest.”
[1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 143) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list |
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Markets. “The medieval capital of central Eritrea, Debarwa is situated in the fertile Tselima district of Seraye on the headwaters of the Mareb, where the trade route from Hamasien to northern Tigray cross the river. This strategic location made it a caravan stop and regional market in the 15th century, when it was chosen as the capital for the Bahre Neashi, the Ethiopian-appointed governor of Mar-eb Mallash.”
[1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 162) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection |
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E.g. markets, well sites. The quote below suggests the existence of both. “However, there periodically emerged throughout Somali history regional sultanates whose leaders claimed authority over many clans and over large tracts of territory. Examples include the medieval Sultanates of Adal, Ifat and Harar on the eastern fringes of the Ethiopian highlands; the Ajuraan Sultanate in the sixteenth century; The Majeerteen Sultanate in the extreme northeast which arose in the eighteenth century; and the nineteenth-century Sultanates of Hobya and Geledi. While it is impossible to determine with any precision the boundaries of these pastoral polities, it is apparent that they encompassed well sites, trade routes, and market towns shared by many different clans.”
[1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 70-71) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library |
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E.g. markets. “At that time the Sennar caravans, of which there were several annually, assembled at Ibrim and then went on to Isna, where they found their principal market.”
[1]
[1]: (Holt 2008, 22) Holt, P.M. 2008. ‘Egypt, the Funj and Darfur’ In The Cambridge History of Africa c. 1600 – c.1790. Edited by Richard Grey. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/WC9FQBRM/collection |
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The following quote suggests that markets were likely present in the Kingdom of Gumma. “Trade between the north and the southwest passed through Jimma, much of it carried on by Jimma merchants. Through Hirmata (where the modern town of Jimma is situated) passed caravans to the southwest (to Kafa, Maji, Gimira); the south (Kullo, Konta, Uba, and elsewhere); to the west (Gomma, Guma, Gera Ilubabor); and north to Limmu, Nonno, Shoa, Wollo, and Gondar.”
[1]
[1]: (Lewis 2001, 49) Lewis, Herbert S. 2001. Jimma Abba Jifar, an Oromo Monarchy: Ethiopia, 1830-1932. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NRZVWSCD/collection |
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E.g. markets. “By the opening of the 19th century, the relation between Harar and the settled Oromo had developed into mutual economic interdependence. The Oromo used the town as their main market for exchanging surplus of coffee, saffron, hides, and cattle, as well as some ivory, for goods imported or produced in Harar, such as cloth and salt.”
[1]
[1]: (Hassen 1973, 1) Hassen, Muhammed. 1973. ‘The Relation Between Harar and the Surrounding Oromo Between 1800-1887’. Thesis. Halie Sellassie I University, Addis Ababa. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/A829WRJD/collection |
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E.g. Markets. The below quote suggests the presence of markets as there was a vast caravan trade into the interior of Ethiopia. “The caravan trade followed two main routes: from Massawa through Adowa, Gondar and Gojjam and from Tajura and Zeila through Awsa or Harar and then Shoa.”
[1]
[1]: (Rubenson 2008, 83) Rubenson, Sven. 2008. ‘Ethiopia and the Horn’ In The Cambridge History of Africa c.1790 – c.1870. Edited by John E. Flint. Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Sven/titleCreatorYear/items/VRU64Q8P/item-list |
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Granaries. It’s unclear what time period this refers to, but it’s in a section headed ‘Pre-Colonial Social Organization’ so should apply: “Each section of the compound had its own kitchen and each married man his own farm and granaries. At the time of the visit (in November), the household foodstocks had been entirely consumed, and, pending the harvest, the members were living solely on maize, stacked on the maize farms close to the river. The household depended wholly on agriculture. But two of the members engaged, to a small extent in fishing. There was no property at all in the form of livestock.”
[1]
[1]: Zhema, S. (2017). A History of the Social and Political Organization of the Jukun of Wukari Division, c.1596–1960 [Benue State University]: 102. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U667CC36/collection |
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Markets: “These cities also provided the primary markets in their territories. The marketplace at Savi drew 5,000 people on market day in its heyday. Rural communities brought goods to the markets of Savi and Grand Ardra every fourth day (the market week) to ply commodities such as salt, tex tiles, basketry, calabashes, pottery and other products for sale. These polities were thus characterized by regional settlement differentiation, in which urban centers served as political and economic nexuses for smaller settlements across nearby rural areas. Rural communities and urban centers were integrated in terms of production and distribution of everyday domestic products.”
[1]
[1]: Monroe, J. Cameron. “Urbanism on West Africa’s Slave Coast: Archaeology Sheds New Light on Cities in the Era of the Atlantic Slave Trade.” American Scientist, vol. 99, no. 5, 2011, pp. 400–09: 402. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/E5WA63Z2/collection |
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Markets. “Like other Yoruba towns Ago would have consisted of a cluster of large thatched family compounds (agbo ile). An early traveller in Yorubaland has left a description of the typical compound. ’A compound’, he wrote, ’is an enclosed space (generally in the form of a square) bounded by a mud wall about seven feet high. There is but one entrance to this enclosed space’ (Stone, 1900). The nucleus of the settlement would have been the compound of the oba and in front of it would have been located the principal market.”
[1]
[1]: Goddard, Stephen. ‘Ago That Became Oyo: An Essay in Yoruba Historical Geography’. The Geographical Journal vol.137, no.2 (1971): 207–208. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/9A2KMTEF/collection. |
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Markets: “The king also enjoyed extensive rights of disposition over the property and persons of his subjects. He levied taxes on all goods sold in markets or carried along the roads of the kingdom, and on fish taken in the coastal lagoons, and received a share of his subjects’ agricultural crops.”
[1]
“If these architectural concentrations can be interpreted as the residences of regional community leaders, the spacing between these complexes is suggestive of the distance of political administration operating at the local level as well as the distance between mark smaller than the large regional market historically recorded at Savi.”
[2]
[1]: Law, Robin. “‘The Common People Were Divided’: Monarchy, Aristocracy and Political Factionalism in the Kingdom of Whydah, 1671-1727.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 1990, pp. 201–29: 205. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8JKAH2V5/collection [2]: Norman, Neil L. “Hueda (Whydah) Country and Town: Archaeological Perspectives on the Rise and Collapse of an African Atlantic Kingdom.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 42, no. 3, 2009, pp. 387–410: 395-396. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5UK64SQ5/collection |
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"Contexts that could shed light on the dynamics of social structure and hierarchies in the metropolis, such as the royal burial site of Oyo monarchs and the residences of the elite population, have not been investigated. The mapping of the palace structures has not been followed by systematic excavations (Soper, 1992); and questions of the economy, military system, and ideology of the empire have not been addressed archaeologically, although their general patterns are known from historical studies (e.g, Johnson, 1921; Law, 1977)."
[1]
Regarding this period, however, one of the historical studies mentioned in this quote also notes: "Of the earliestperiod of Oyo history, before the sixteenth century, very little is known."
[2]
Law does not then go on to provide specific information directly relevant to this variable.
[1]: (Ogundiran 2005: 151-152) [2]: (Law 1977: 33) |
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Markets. “The development of the Atlantic commerce stimulated the southward migration and relocation of peoples, and initiated population push on settlements along the major arteries of trade. Arochukwu was one of these settlements along the major trade routes which experienced an unprecedented population pressure from neighbouring communities.”
[1]
[1]: Nwauwa, A. O. (1995). The Evolution of the Aro Confederacy in Southeastern Nigeria, 1690–1720. A Theoretical Synthesis of State Formation Process in Africa. Anthropos, 90(4/6), 353–364: 358. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/G4DWA3GQ/collection |
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Markets: “As is clear from Bello’s instructions, the leaders of the Caliphate tried to encourage trade as well as production. Detailed commercial regulations were issued, including the introduction of standard weights and measures to be used in the sale of grain, fruit and meat. Profiteering, hoarding and the creation of artificial shortages were all declared illegal, with persistent offenders expelled from the Caliphate. In addition, the rulers of the emirates were expected to visit the markets in their territory regularly, investigate conditions and correct abuses, on the basis of the Shehu’s injunction that "the report of a thing is not the same as actual observation". More generally, the principles governing commercial transactions were to be honesty, fair dealing and mutual agreement. Third parties were required to witness sales involving personal property, such as houses.”
[1]
“The Caliphate was to be led by the Caliph as the amir al-muminin (Commander of the Faithful), assisted by his wazirai (advisers), alkalai (judges), a muhtasib (the officer charged upholding morals), the sa’i (in charge of the markets), the wali al-shurta (police chief), limamai, and military commanders.”
[2]
Food storage sites: If food hoarding was punishable by law, it must have been possible. “As is clear from Bello’s instructions, the leaders of the Caliphate tried to encourage trade as well as production. Detailed commercial regulations were issued, including the introduction of standard weights and measures to be used in the sale of grain, fruit and meat. Profiteering, hoarding and the creation of artificial shortages were all declared illegal, with persistent offenders expelled from the Caliphate.”
[1]
“And fires were a real hazard to grain stores and the city’s food reserves; there was no way of controlling a conflagration - no tanks of water, or pumps, or hoses - -just pottery urns in washrooms and deep wells.”
[3]
[1]: Chafe, Kabiru Sulaiman. “Challenges to the Hegemony of the Sokoto Caliphate: A Preliminary Examination.” Paideuma, vol. 40, 1994, pp. 99–109: 102–103. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZANHCUFH/collection [2]: Chafe, Kabiru Sulaiman. “Challenges to the Hegemony of the Sokoto Caliphate: A Preliminary Examination.” Paideuma, vol. 40, 1994, pp. 99–109: 101. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZANHCUFH/collection [3]: Last, Murray. “Contradictions in Creating a Jihadi Capital: Sokoto in the Nineteenth Century and Its Legacy.” African Studies Review, vol. 56, no. 2, 2013, pp. 1–20: 13. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5RUPN5VI/collection |
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Markets. “In later times the wives of an Ata represented a very material part of his prosperity, for they traded extensively, and due to their position exercised a virtual monopoly in the Idah markets; to some extent this is still the case.”
[1]
“The big markets (such as "Igala Bank" and "Ikiri") were not for the poor: it required a huge capital investment to acquire the trade goods, buy and fit out the canoes, employ those who would run the canoes, and provide armed escort for the canoes. Besides, a trader invariably retained agents in the markets he/ she attended. In the particular case of Aboh, there were other restraining factors: traders were required to pay taxes before they could transact any business in export commodities. As a result, the long distance trade from Aboh to Idah or Ikiri, or from Igala to Aboh was, according to Oguagha, ‘limited to wealthy chiefs and rulers. The more common trade was a journey to one of the river bank markets or the boundary market opposite Asaba.’”
[2]
“Attah’s court (Ogbede) was the highest court located in front of Ede market which day’s cases were heard publicly. Attah was the president of the court but because of many engagements, such power was delegated to one of the senior eunuchs called Ogbe who acted as president of the court.”
[3]
[1]: Clifford, Miles, and Richmond Palmer. “A Nigerian Chiefdom.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 66, 1936, pp. 393–435: 412. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/TF7MM698/collection [2]: Nwaubani, Ebere. “The Political Economy of Aboh, 1830-1857.” African Economic History, no. 27, 1999, pp. 93–116: 97. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZIM9AVA/collection [3]: Jacob, Audu. “Pre-Colonial Political Administration in the North Central Nigeria: a Study of the Igala Political Kingdom.” European Scientific Journal, vol. 10, no. 19, 2014, pp. 392–402: 399. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5AN8R7UW/collection |
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Markets. “The Eze Nri (priest-kings of Nri) claim for themselves a status equivalent to that of the spirits. Every reigning Eze Nri is embued with the spirit of Eri, his first ancestor, who was sent down by Chukwu from heaven to organize the world. Eri dried up the water which covered the earth and thus organized the physical world. By sacrificing his son and daughter, he obtained yams and cocoyams, the main food and cash crop of the Igbo, thus introducing agriculture and agricultural rituals. He introduced ichi scarification, and the eze chiefly-title system, thus reorganizing social life. Finally, he organized economic life by introducing the four Igbo market days.”
[1]
“In an agricultural society concerned with fertility of humans, plants and animals, the importance of the earth-goddess and her priest cannot be overemphasized. Consistent efforts were, therefore, made to appease Ala, and her priest had to carry out ritual propitiation ceremonies of the goddess on every market day of the four-day Igbo week, ize muo.”
[2]
[1]: Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1985). Ritual Dirt and Purification Rites among the Igbo. Journal of Religion in Africa, 15(1), 3–24: 7. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SFADDVVX/collection [2]: Oriji, J. (2007). The End of Sacred Authority and the Genesis of Amorality and Disorder in Igbo Mini States. Dialectical Anthropology, 31(1/3), 263–288: 270. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/46MVQP3M/collection |
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Markets: “According to this, Kano and Rano became sarakunan babba (kings of indigo), since their main occupation was the production and dyeing of textiles, whereas Katsina and Daura were called sarakunan kasuwa (kings of the market), since trade was concentrated in those towns. Gobir was sarkin yaki (the king of war), because its duty was to defend the others against external enemies. Finally Zazzau (Zaria) became sarkin bayi (the king of slaves), since it supplied slave labour to the other Hausa cities.19 This reflects the general situation after the establishment of the main Hausa city-states, once they had attained a high level of economic growth.”
[1]
“The Kano Chronicle ascribes to Muhammad Rumfa (1463-99) a number of innovations of varying importance, among them the extension of the city walls and the building of new gates; the appointment of eunuchs to state offices; the establishment of Kurmi market, the main market in Kano; and the setting up of a council of nine leading office-holders (tara-ta-Kano — ’the Nine of Kano’) as a kind of ministry.”
[2]
[1]: Niane, D. T., & Unesco (Eds.). (1984). Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. Heinemann; University of California Press: 270. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ERZKPETN/collection [2]: Niane, D. T., & Unesco (Eds.). (1984). Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. Heinemann; University of California Press: 272–273. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ERZKPETN/collection |
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Markets. “It will be recalled that Kuka had been built by Shehu Laminu in 1814 and had been sacked and destroyed by Muhammed Sheriff, King of Wadai, in 1846. It had then been rebuilt by Shehu Umar in two sections; an Eastern town, which contained the houses of the Shehu and the court notables, and a Western town which was specially the trading area and contained the great Monday market, so vividly described by Barth.”
[1]
[1]: Ellison, R. E. (1959). Three Forgotten Explorers of the Latter Half of the 19th Century With Special Reference to Their Journeys to Bornu. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 1(4), 322–330: 323. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/R84SSEKK/collection |
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“According to Duncan, this was facilitated by the placement of customs houses on the major roads leading into the kingdom. Palace sites may have served, therefore, as higher-order collection points for goods produced and taxes collected throughout the region in the nineteenth century.”
[1]
[1]: Monroe, J. C. (2007). Continuity, Revolution or Evolution on the Slave Coast of West Africa? Royal Architecture and Political Order in Precolonial Dahomey. The Journal of African History, 48(3), 349–373: 361. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ASTPFKNP/collection |
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Markets, food storage sites. “Nyendael did, nevertheless, commend the Bini’s dye-making processes, their soaps, and their cotton cloths; and he asserted that "the king hath a very rich income." He also stated that Benin City was "at least four miles large. The streets are prodigiously long and broad, in which continual markets are kept. "”
[1]
“Tribute in yams, etc., was stored partly by the Iwɛguae, who catered for the Oba’s personal household and for the feasts he gave his chiefs; and partly by the Ibiwe, who were responsible for the provisioning of the wives’ quarters.”
[2]
[1]: Graham, J. D. (1965). The Slave Trade, Depopulation and Human Sacrifice in Benin History: The General Approach. Cahiers d’Études Africaines, 5(18), 317–334: 325. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/4AS9CVZH/collection [2]: Bradbury, R. E. (1967). The Kingdom of Benin. In West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (Repr, pp. 1–35). Published for the International African Institute by Oxford University Press: 23. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z8DJIKP8/collection |
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Markets. Not clear if this mas physical marketplaces or not: “When Kom began its wars of expansion by mid- 19th century the surrounding chiefdoms (Bum, Bafmeng, Babanki) (Kijem) suffered directly. Captives taken in these wars were either kept by their captors or they were sold in Nkwen, Baba, Babungo, Mankon and Bali-Nyonga. The raiding of Bafut and the Kom present tributaries (Mujang, Mejung, Baiso) brought in captives that were rechannelled into the northern trade route linking Kom and Fonfuka (Bum) to the Jukun markets. Some evidence indicates that other ethnic units followed the same pattern. Two Meta girls taken in a well-remembered Bafut raid were sent down with royal messengers to Pinyin where some fine cloth had been spotted (Chilver, 1961: 245). In Nso’ there was a two way trade with the surrounding chiefdoms. Slaves were obtained in Bamum and sold in the direction of Bum. Bali-Nyonga disposed of its slaves in Widekum, Bangwa and in the northern Banyang markets. Slaves reached Kumba via Ikiliwindi markets. Slaves sold in Bum markets were obtained from places like Nkwen, Bali, Baba and Babungo, and these eventually reached the northern markets in Takum, Ibi, Wukari and Yola.”
[1]
Granaries. It’s unclear what time period this refers to, but it’s in a section headed ‘Pre-Colonial Social Organization’ so should apply: “Each section of the compound had its own kitchen and each married man his own farm and granaries. At the time of the visit (in November), the household foodstocks had been entirely consumed, and, pending the harvest, the members were living solely on maize, stacked on the maize farms close to the river. The household depended wholly on agriculture. But two of the members engaged, to a small extent in fishing. There was no property at all in the form of livestock.”
[2]
[1]: Nkwi, P. N. (1995). Slavery and Slave Trade in the Kom Kingdom of the 19th Century. Paideuma, 41, 239–249: 244–245. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/A648Z5UT/collection [2]: Zhema, S. (2017). A History of the Social and Political Organization of the Jukun of Wukari Division, c.1596–1960 [Benue State University]: 102. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U667CC36/collection |
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Markets and wells. “The caravan was composed of 200 camels and 150 mares, of which half had already been sold along the way. These 75 mares were apparently destined for the markets of Kajoor, and although the quality of the horses is not commented upon explicitly, at the reigning price of 15 slaves per pure Arab steed, this would translate into 1,125 slaves for export to the Saharan and North African markets.”
[1]
“Since their consolidation as a distinct ethnic group, the Wolof have inhabited a harsh ecological zone characterized by little rainfall, sparse vegetation and sand soil suitable only for a small number of crops such as millet and peanuts. Their social hierarchy was efficient in mobilizing labor for, among other things, the digging of wells, and it also produced military expertise to defend people from attacks originating in the Sahara.”
[2]
[1]: (Webb Jr 1993, 244-245) Webb Jr, James L.A. 1993. ‘The Horse and Slave Trade between the Western Sahara and Senegambia.’ Journal of African History. Vol. 34:2. Pp 221-246. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/JDZFX3SC/collection [2]: (McLaughlin 2008, 148) McLaughlin, Fiona. 2008. ‘The Ascent of Wolof as an Urban Vernacular and National Lingua Franca in Senegal.’ In Globalization and Language Vitality: Perspectives from Africa. Edited by Cecile B. Vigouroux. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NR5ED4G4/collection |
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The following quotes suggests that markets were likely present. “All three capitals: Kahone, Diakhao, and Lambaye, were established in the mid-sixteenth century when the fertile coastal provinces of the Empire of Jolof- an inland empire established in the thirteenth century-gained independence […] They prospered as independent kingdoms during the mercantilist era and, together, constituted the ‘Peanut Basin’ that developed during the colonial era. They maintained trade relations with the European and Eura-african merchants who frequented their port cities, and diplomatic relations with the Dutch, French and English/British chartered companies that claimed to monopolize trade along their coasts.”
[1]
[1]: (Bigon and Ross 2020, 42) Bigon, Liora and Ross, Eric. 2020. Grid Planning in the Urban Design Practices of Senegal. London: Springer. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MM67I638/collection |
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Markets. The following quote suggests that markets were likely present. “The Senegambia’s link to the expansive interior trade incorporated several commercial complexes that were connected to the major empires in West Africa besides Mali to the north and Jolof to the east, allowing the flow of a variety of foreign commodities into the region. Part of this conglomerate of networks made use of the Gambia River to gain salt, rice, grasses, and dried fish that would be bartered for iron, cloth, kola, and in all likelihood luxury items (a notable portion of which were of European origin) that until that time could only be obtained from interior markets.”
[1]
[1]: (Gijanto 2016, 31-32) Gijanto, Liza. 2016. The Life of Trade: Events and Happenings in the Niumi’s Atlantic Center. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/7XNBIF95/collection |
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Drinking water supply systems. “This double harvest made Futa Toro a food-exporting region and also drew migrant farmers from the surrounding areas […] Fulbe herders practices seasonal migration, staying near permeant sources of water in the dry season, then moving out with the rains and finally returning when water holes and pastures dried up.”
[1]
Markets were also likely present. “The Torodbe belonged to the Tucolor, a West African people closely related to the Fulani. Once in the Futa Toro, they began to expand the trade with French merchants who came up the Senegal River, as well as with other Muslim centres of trade in the western region of Western Sudan.”
[2]
[1]: (Clark, 2005) Clark, Andrew F. 2005. ‘Futa Toro’ In Encyclopedia of African History Volume 1: A-G. Edited by Kevin Shillington. London: Taylor and Francis. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/GDPPE8E5/collection [2]: (Davidson 2014, 88) Davidson, Basil. 2014. West Africa Before the Colonia Era: A History to 1850. London: Taylor and Francis. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/XNXIN893/collection |
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Drinking water supply systems. “This double harvest made Futa Toro a food-exporting region and also drew migrant farmers from the surrounding areas […] Fulbe herders practices seasonal migration, staying near permeant sources of water in the dry season, then moving out with the rains and finally returning when water holes and pastures dried up.”
[1]
[1]: (Clark, 2005) Clark, Andrew F. 2005. ‘Futa Toro’ In Encyclopedia of African History Volume 1: A-G. Edited by Kevin Shillington. London: Taylor and Francis. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/GDPPE8E5/collection |
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Markets. "The waters off Kyagwe were noted as being particularly rich fishing-grounds, and by the early eighteenth century the long-established markets along the Kyagwe shore were renowned throughout the kingdom. [...] By the mid-nineteenth century, certain markets had become established as the most important in the interlacustrine region. In 1876-7 Emin Pasha identified ’Werhanje’ in Karagwe, *Mpara Nyamoga’ in Bunyoro, and Rubaga, then the capital of Buganda, as the major regional marts. At Kabarega’s capital he found an exciting and cosmopolitan atmosphere in which anything and everything was brought for sale. [...] Although it is clear that there were a few major markets in the region, one of which was in the Ganda capital itself, there seems little doubt that smaller marts were scattered throughout Buganda. Although within the capital, the kabaka exercised a certain amount of control over commercial interaction - most obviously in the restrictions placed on certain imported goods - there appear to have been few such restrictions placed on local markets outside the capital. Local traders did, however, have to work within regulations, and Roscoe suggests that even markets in the outlying districts were closely supervised by political authority. Fees, for example, were levied on all articles brought for sale. In the capital itself, and possibly beyond, markets were under the supervision of a ’special chief appointed by the kabaka, one of whose duties was to collect the market dues which "amounted to ten per cent, of the value of each article sold or bought."
[1]
Granaries. "The first European descriptions, as we have seen, concerned the kings’ courts. [...] These certainly were not cities, but rather rustic palaces, both princely residences and sites of political decision making, complete with military camps, granaries, cattle enclosures, and workshops, all of which had the look of an open market on certain days."
[2]
[1]: (Reid 2010: 83, 111, 117) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2H64W34U/collection. [2]: (Chrétien 2006: 165-166) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection. |
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Granaries. "The first European descriptions, as we have seen, concerned the kings’ courts. [...] These certainly were not cities, but rather rustic palaces, both princely residences and sites of political decision making, complete with military camps, granaries, cattle enclosures, and workshops, all of which had the look of an open market on certain days."
[1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 165-166) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection. |
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Markets inferred from existence of important trade centres. "As one of the leading trading centres in Karagwe, Kafuro reportedly grew into a large depot as important as Kazeh and Ujiji (Katoke 1975)."
[1]
[1]: (Mapunda 2009: 102) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/9GV5C5NF/collection. |
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Granaries. "Just as important was the devastation caused by an army on the march, even in friendly country. The foragers, and sometimes even the combatant companies themselves, pillaged the harvests that were in the field or stocked in the granaries and requisitioned cattle for slaughter, not to mention what they stole along the way."
[1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 93) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection. |
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Granaries. "The first European descriptions, as we have seen, concerned the kings’ courts. [...] These certainly were not cities, but rather rustic palaces, both princely residences and sites of political decision making, complete with military camps, granaries, cattle enclosures, and workshops, all of which had the look of an open market on certain days."
[1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 165-166) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection. |
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Granaries. "The first European descriptions, as we have seen, concerned the kings’ courts. [...] These certainly were not cities, but rather rustic palaces, both princely residences and sites of political decision making, complete with military camps, granaries, cattle enclosures, and workshops, all of which had the look of an open market on certain days."
[1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 165-166) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection. |
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Granaries. "The first European descriptions, as we have seen, concerned the kings’ courts. [...] These certainly were not cities, but rather rustic palaces, both princely residences and sites of political decision making, complete with military camps, granaries, cattle enclosures, and workshops, all of which had the look of an open market on certain days."
[1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 165-166) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection. |
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Granaries. "The first European descriptions, as we have seen, concerned the kings’ courts. [...] These certainly were not cities, but rather rustic palaces, both princely residences and sites of political decision making, complete with military camps, granaries, cattle enclosures, and workshops, all of which had the look of an open market on certain days."
[1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 165-166) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection. |
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Granaries. "The first European descriptions, as we have seen, concerned the kings’ courts. [...] These certainly were not cities, but rather rustic palaces, both princely residences and sites of political decision making, complete with military camps, granaries, cattle enclosures, and workshops, all of which had the look of an open market on certain days."
[1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 165-166) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection. |
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Granaries. "Just as important was the devastation caused by an army on the march, even in friendly country. The foragers, and sometimes even the combatant companies themselves, pillaged the harvests that were in the field or stocked in the granaries and requisitioned cattle for slaughter, not to mention what they stole along the way."
[1]
[1]: (Vansina 2004: 93) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection. |
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Granaries. "The first European descriptions, as we have seen, concerned the kings’ courts. [...] These certainly were not cities, but rather rustic palaces, both princely residences and sites of political decision making, complete with military camps, granaries, cattle enclosures, and workshops, all of which had the look of an open market on certain days."
[1]
[1]: (Chrétien 2006: 165-166) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection. |
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Drinking water supply systems. “The royal grants provided or the building of tanks and wells in the villages.”
[1]
The following quote also suggests that markets were likely present due to presence of merchant guilds. “Merchants organized themselves into a guild and were associated with similar associations in other parts of India. Inscriptions in the Pandyan country dating from 9th century onwards gives us graphic account of activities of members of the guild. Several facts concerning their free movement from one place to another, their settlements, the names of the guilds, their philanthropic activity both inside the Pandyan country and outside are well attested.”
[2]
[1]: (Kamlesh 2010, 600) Kamlesh, Kapur. 2010. ‘Pandya Dynasty’ In Portraits of a Nation: History of Ancient India. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/3TS5DCT6/collection [2]: (Soundaram 2011, 77) Soundaram, A. 2011. ‘The Characteristic Features of Early Medieval Tamil Society: An Overview’ In History of People and Their Environs: Essays in Honour of Prof. B.S. Chanrababu Edited by S. Ganeshram and C. Bhavani. Chennai: Indian Universities Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/CISI5MVX/collection |
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Markets and irrigation systems. “Kaveripumpattinam (also known as Pumpuhar or Puhar) was the premier Chola port in early historical times. Classical accounts refer to it as Kahberis or Camara. An entire Sangam collection-the Pattinappalai- is devoted to a description of this place. There are references to its two bustling markets laid out between the two sectors of the city, guarded by officers of the king, and to its inhabitants who spoke different languages.”
[1]
“At Vanagiri, there are remains of an artificial channel that drew water from the Kaveri into a reservoir for irrigation purposes, probably built in the early centuries CE.”
[1]
[1]: (Singh 2008, 402) Singh, Upinder. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. London: Pearson Education. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/UJG2G6MJ/collection |
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Irrigation systems. “After settling down at Thanjavur, Venkoji devoted his entire attention towards improvement of agriculture and the economic condition of his subjects by providing irrigation facilities, digging and widening of channels and constructing new tanks to obtain better yields.”
[1]
The following quotes suggest that markets were also likely present in the Thanjavur Maratha Kingdom “Parallel to, and frequently working with, the banjara caravans were specialist merchant castes, who used their own internal organizations to develop trade over long distances. Most prominent, down the south-east coast, were Telugu Komatis who specialized in chilli, turmeric, and tobacco, grown in Andhra, but were also involved in the cloth and rice trades. The spread across many of the casbahs in the Tamil and Kannada countries but kept their identity and cohesion through maintenance of their language and, also, worship at their own sectarian temples.”
[2]
“Temples were also important centers for economic investment and re-distribution- to support masses of annual pilgrims but also to create ‘fairs’ for the trans-regional exchange of specialist goods, and these were not always of a religious nature.”
[2]
[1]: (Bhosle, 2017) Bhosle, Prince Pratap Sinh Serfoji Raje. 2017. Contributions of Thanjavur Maratha Kings. Second edition. Chennai: Notion Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/A9ABDVKX/collection [2]: (Washbrook 2010, 276) Washbrook, David. 2010. ‘Merchants, Markets, and Commerce in Early Modern South India’. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Vol. 53:1/2 Pp 266-289. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/7ZBUUSJN/collection |
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markets and irrigation systems. The following quote suggests that bartering of articles was commonplace in market-places during the Sangam Period in Tamil Nadu. “Poems refer to the exchange of goods for goods (notuttal). Kadam or kadan meaning debt is mentioned in the texts. The loan of a commodity to be paid back in the same kind and quantity was in vogue and was called kurittumaretirppai or kuriyetirppai. Avanam or angadi were the main organized points of exchange (market place). People from Kurinji had ivory, honey, wild meat, animal skins and bamboo rice for exchange, while those from mullai had dairy products, millet, horse-grain and ragi for exchange. The costal people had mainly fish and salt for exchange.”
[1]
“The walls, moat (ahali or kidangu) and the towered gates (parvgal) of the large Pandyan capital Madurai, its tall mansions and broad streets and its bazaars bright with flags of various kings, are described in the Maduraikanji.”
[2]
“Sangam texts refer to ulavar or toluvar as the tillers of menpulam. They knew the technique of harnessing the bullocks (erutu) at their necks with a cross-bar (nukam) to ploughshare (meli or nanjil) which was iron-tipped for furrowing buffaloes (erumai) were also used for ploughing. Tank irrigation (ayam) and minor dam (sirai) irrigation are mentioned.”
[1]
[1]: (Agnihotri 1988, 357) Agnihotri, V.K. 1988. Indian History. New Delhi: Allied Publishers Pvt. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/PNX9XBJQ/collection [2]: (Agnihotri 1988, 354) Agnihotri, V.K. 1988. Indian History. New Delhi: Allied Publishers Pvt. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/PNX9XBJQ/collection |
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Markets. “In addition to military forces, the palaykkars kept up police establishments called the ‘kaval’. The ‘Kavalkars’ protected private property and places of public resort like roads and markets.”
[1]
“The Navaiyat dynasty came to power when Saadutullah Khan was appointed subadhar, or chief of military and revenue officer of the newly established Mughal subah of Arcot in 1710. The Navaiyats, wanting to take advantage of the relative weakness of the links to the Mughal centre, and wanting to carve out an independent dynastic rule for themselves, quickly fell into the traditional pattern of empire-building. They extended existing citadels like Vellore and Gingee by ‘importing’ North Indian traders, artisans and soldiers; they established a number of new market centres; they founded and endowed mosques; and they invited poets, artists and scholars and Sufi holy men to the new capital of Arcot.”
[2]
“Unlike the Navaiyats, however, the Walajahs also endowed Hindu temples and shrines. The need to maintain a military superiority and the need to establish princely authority by acts of religious patronage coincided in the magnificent endowments lavished on the fortresses and temples of Trichinopoly. The control with temple centres was not only necessary in order to establish princely authority but also because the temples were centres of trade and important sources of revenue for the rulers.”
[2]
The following quote suggests that drinking water supply systems were likely present. “In the riverine tracts of the poligar areas we find the mirasi system of tenure, where power depended on membership of the ruling elite or the influential communities, ritual domination, and on the control of two key resources, water and labour.”
[2]
[1]: (Ramaswami 1984, 79) Ramaswami, N.S. 1984. Political History of Carnatic Under the Nawabs. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/PTIS9MB4/collection [2]: (Bugge, 2020) Bugge, Henriette. 2020. Mission and Tamil Society: Social and Religious Change in South India (1840-1900). London: Routledge Curzon. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/9SKWNUF4/collection |
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Irrigation systems, drinking water supply systems and markets. “The Pallavan tanks and wells, several of which function even today, were the lifeline of the Pallavan villages. The village population was almost wholly dependent of them for irrigation. The rainwater, which increased the stored volume of water in these devices, made tanks and wells crucial when it came to irrigating agricultural fields during the long dry spells experienced by these regions.”
[1]
“The Pallavas were also known for their commercial enterprise, increased production, and economic expansion. Both internal and external trade increased under the Pallavas. Internally, urban centers featured markets, while a good road system allowed villagers to transport goods to market.”
[2]
[1]: (Saghar 2015, 5) Saghar, Amol. 2015. ‘Irrigation Under the Pallavas’ Social Scientist. Vol. 43:5/6. Pp 3-10. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/ZHNKD5GI/collection [2]: (Bush Trevino 2012, 46) Bush Travino, Macella. 2012. ‘The Pallava Dynasty’ In Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia and Africa: An Encyclopedia. Vol.4 Edited by Carolyn M. Elliot. Los Angeles: Sage. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4RPCX448/collection |
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The following quote discusses early Tamil inscriptions from Madurai and Sivaganga dated between the Second Century BC and the Sixth Century AD. The inscriptions mention various professions particularly merchants and traders suggesting that markets were likely present. “Although the earliest are mainly found in the Madurai and Sivaganga districts, these epigraphs are scattered all over Tamil Nadu. They sometimes simply record a name (tiyancantan in Alakarmalai cave in Madurai district), sometimes the name of a person along with his profession (goldsmith, salt merchant, accountant, nun, sugar merchant, trader in ploughshares, cloth merchant, for example, all in the cave of Alakarmalai).”
[1]
[1]: (Gillet 2014, 284-285) Gillet, Valérie. 2014. ‘The Dark Period: Myth or Reality?’ Indian Economic and Social History Review. Vol. 51:3. Pp 283-302. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/NMH86RIS/collection |
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Markets. The following quote discusses the Meenakshi Suderesvana temple complex in Madurai during the reign of the Nayaks. “As it grew, the temple became a series of enclosures that nestle a diverse array of functional and ceremonial spaces, such as pillared halls, open courts, inhabitable corridors, and shrines, all designed to accommodate the temple’s diverse civic and religious functions. In addition, it has markets, private shrines, places of resting, dwellings for priests and ceremonial sites.”
[1]
The following quote also suggests that both irrigation systems and drinking water supply systems were likely present during this period due to the presence of various water tanks around the temple complex of Pudu Mandapa. “Water may have been supplied by either the small octagonal tank that lies between the Pudu Mandapa and the Raya Gopura that is called the Vasanta Tank on Francis’ 1906 plan of the temple, or from the Elukakalkkulam (‘Seven Seas Tank’). This festival tank (teppakkulam) was built according to an inscription in c. 1516/7 as the gift of the Vijayanagara ruler Krishnadevaraya and was located about one hundred metres east of the Raya Gopura through it is now built over.”
[2]
[1]: (Ching et al. 2017, 595) Ching, Francis D.K. et. al., 2017. ‘Nayaks of Madurai’ In A Global History of Architecture. London: Wiley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/TEDWQ8GJ/collection [2]: (Branfoot 2001, 198) Branfoot, Crispin. 2001. ‘Tirumala Nayaka’s ‘New Hall’ and the European Study of the South Indian Temple. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol 11:2. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/FE5VZ76M/collection |
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