History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer
How did the temples of South India, as financial institutions, have deep impact on the social institutions of early medieval period? Critically examine.
- UPSC 2016
- Cultural Traditions in India, 750-1200
In early medieval South India (c. 750-1200 CE), the temple was never merely a place of worship. Endowed with tax-free land, entrusted with cash and cattle deposits, and functioning as employer, creditor and treasury for entire micro-regions, the Pallava, Pandya and above all Chola-period temple became one of the largest and most sophisticated economic institutions…
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What the full answer covers
- Land and Revenue Base: Devadana as the Foundation
- Temple as Banker: Deposits, Loans and Interest
- Temple as Employer and Redistributive Hub
- Urbanisation and Legitimation
- Caste, Gender and Ritual Hierarchy
- Critical Examination: Limits of the Model
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