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Identity and Social Action among South Indian Craft Producers of the Vijayanagara Period
Author(s) -
Sinopoli Carla M.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
archeological papers of the american anthropological association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.783
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1551-8248
pISSN - 1551-823X
DOI - 10.1525/ap3a.1998.8.1.161
Subject(s) - craft , caste , identity (music) , politics , social identity theory , period (music) , goods and services , action (physics) , geography , political action , sociology , economy , political science , social group , social science , archaeology , economics , law , art , aesthetics , physics , quantum mechanics
Economic, political, demographic, territorial, and social changes in fourteenth through seventeenth century southern India contributed to an expansion in the production and exchange of a range of craft goods. Producers of these goods responded to and benefited from changing conditions in a variety of ways. In this paper I consider archaeological and inscriptional evidence for craft production from the Vijayanagara period, with a focus on how changing demands and valuations of goods differentially affected the ability of craft producing communities to manipulate or redefine their social identity and social status. I focus on three scales of social identity and action: the individual artisan, local caste communities, and multi‐caste or regional artisan groups.