Politics, Kingship, and Poetry in Medieval South India: Moonset on Sunrise Mountain

Description

In this compelling new study, Whitney Cox presents a fundamental re-imagining of the politics of pre-modern India through the reinterpretation of the contested accession of Kulottunga I (r.1070-1120) as the ruler of the imperial Chola dynasty. By focusing on this complex event and its ramifications over time, Cox traces far-reaching transformations throughout the kingdom and beyond. Through a methodologically innovative combination of history, theory and the close reading of a rich series of Sanskrit and Tamil textual sources, Cox reconstructs the nature of political society in medieval India. A major intervention in the fields of South Asian social, political and cultural history, religion and comparative political thought, this book poses fresh comparative and conceptual questions about politics, history, agency and representation in the pre-modern world.

Whitney Cox is an Associate Professor in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. His principal interest lies in Sanskrit language and literature, pre-modern Tamil, and in the cultural, political and social history of far southern India. He has been a member of the Collegium of the Berlin-based Zukunftsphilologie project since 2011 and has held awards from Fulbright-Hayes, the British Academy, and the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council.

'At once profoundly erudite, engaging to read, and methodologically innovative, Whitney Cox's book reveals the inner dynamics of the Chola state-system through a close study of one major king and fine-grained, sensitive readings of the inscriptions and literary classics that were produced at his court. In short: a remarkable book, rich in insight, about one of the most remarkable periods in South Asian history.' David Shulman, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 'In what is essentially a biography of a great South Indian king, Whitney Cox tells a splendid tale, but one that challenges us as well. I cannot imagine a more welcome contribution to scholarship on the history of India - and indeed to much more (Indian literature, historiography, political theory ...).' Leslie C. Orr, Concordia University, Montreal and author of Donors, Devotees and Daughters of God: Temple Women in Medieval Tamilnadu