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Ali, Daud.

Courtly culture and political life in early medieval India / Daud Ali. - Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2004. - xx, 296 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. - Cambridge studies in Indian history and society ; 10 .

Revision of author's thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Chicago.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

List of figures page xi;
Acknowledgements xiii;
Abbreviations xvi;
Glossary xviii;
Introduction 1;
The court in Early India: Approaches 4;
Interpreting Poetry and Aesthetics 11;
The History and Sources of Early Medieval Courts 19;
I. The Rise of Court Society in Medieval India ;
1. The People of the Court 29;
Paramount Overlordship and the Rise of Lordly Houses 32;
The Palace and its Personnel 38;
Women and princes 51;
The counsellor 56;
The Court and the City 60;
2. The culture of the court 69;
Worldly knowledge 70;
Courtly literature 78;
Education and the pursuit of virtue 85;
Warrior values and courtliness 96;
3. The protocol of the court 103;
The dynamics: service, loyalty, favour 104;
Palace routine 109;
The exchange of honours and courtesies 112;
Gestural and verbal protocols 123;
The spirit of courtesy 135;
II. Aesthetics and the Courtly Sensibility;
4. Beauty and refinement 143;
The body 144;
Bearing 148;
Decoration 162;
The refinement of speech 170;
Alaṁkāra as a cultural figuration 175;
5. The education of disposition 183;
A taxonomy of emotions 185;
The stage and the world 188;
Hermeneutics 193;
Towards a courtly subjectivity 201;
III. Courtly Love and Aristocratic Society
6. Courtship and the royal household 209;
Courtly love and its sources 210;
Protagonists and audiences 215;
The contexts of courtship 218;
Fantasy and power in the palace drama 226;
7. Anxiety and romance in court society 234;
The jewel of games 235;
The conquest of the self 237;
The dangers of the senses 241;
Attachment and autonomy 245;
The warfare of love 252;
Postscript: conclusion and further directions 262;
Bibliography 272;
Index.


ISBN: 0521816270 9780521283359 (pbk)

LCCN: 2003055901

Subjects--Geographic Terms:
India--Court and courtiers--History.
India--Civilization--To 1200.

Dewey Class. No.: 954.021