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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

To what extent is ‘Segmentary State’ model relevant for defining the Vijayanagar State? Critically examine.

  • UPSC 2014
  • The Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Century: Political History

The question of whether Vijayanagara was a centralised empire or a loosely bound confederation of power-holders remains one of the sharpest live debates in South Indian historiography.

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What the full answer covers

  • The Segmentary State Model as Stein Applied It
  • The Case Against: Evidence for Real Centralisation
  • Even Stein's Own Qualifications

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