Reviews for Army and the Law

The average rating for Army and the Law based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-05-09 00:00:00 andrew brunken [image error]

Review # 2 was written on 2013-05-24 00:00:00 Peter Ronza I think this book is not for the casual reader. I had to read it once, then read a bunch of journal articles, then read it again in order to understand it. Stein's concept of Vijayanagara is one in which the state is weak, decentralized, and is relatively poor at revenue extraction. It marks the shift towards tax-farming by the state through local fiefs, a-la the Mughal model, as opposed to the "feudalism from above" which preceded. If you take Kosambi's "feudalism from above" vs "below" distinction seriously, then this is a book which purports to show that it is a valid way of looking at Indian history, moreso than "Islamic vs Hindu" periodization. However, this whole process was set off by the "domino" chain of muslim invasions in the north, which put pressure on the southern states to 1) develop more effective ways of extracting revenue, and 2) compete militarily. My major criticism is that it doesn't rely heavily enough on archeology, doesn't go into as much detail on the institution of the temple as I'd have liked, and drifts too easily from a straight up political history narration (this king did this, and was followed by this other king), and a theoretical/sociological narration, which makes it hard to read.