Polity Degree Of Centralization List
A viewset for viewing and editing Polity Degrees of Centralization.
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{ "count": 499, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/general/polity-degree-of-centralizations/?format=api&page=2", "previous": null, "results": [ { "id": 1, "polity": { "id": 137, "name": "af_durrani_emp", "long_name": "Durrani Empire", "start_year": 1747, "end_year": 1826 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "loose", "comment": null, "description": " Ahmad Sh¯ah Durr¯an¯ı, Tim¯ ur Sh¯ah and later kings ruled through uniting the tribal groups in Afghanistan under them. However, there were internal rebellions from tribal chiefs and other ethnic groups. The kings after Tim¯ ur Sh¯ah were much less successful in holding the tribes together. §REF§Dani, Ahmad Hasan, V. M Masson, J Harmatta, Baij Nath Puri, G. F Etemadi, Boris Anatolʹevich Litvinskiĭ, Guangda Zhang, et al. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. V The Sixteenth to the Mid-Nineteenth Centuries. Paris: Unesco, 1992., pp.288-301.§REF§" }, { "id": 2, "polity": { "id": 134, "name": "af_ghur_principality", "long_name": "Ghur Principality", "start_year": 1025, "end_year": 1215 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "loose", "comment": null, "description": "Late 12th CE Bosworth talks of branches: one based at Firuzkuh, at Gazna (after it was taken from the Turks) which was a base for attacking India, and Bamian which was a base for attacks into Central Asia.§REF§(Bosworth 2012) Bosworth, Edmund C. 2012. GHURIDS. Encyclopaedia Iranica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids</a>§REF§<br>\"Although the earlier history of the Sansabani family had been full of feuds and disputes, the brothers maintained a partnership, with mutual amity and a division of spheres of activity and influence.\"§REF§(Bosworth 2012) Bosworth, Edmund C. 2012. GHURIDS. Encyclopaedia Iranica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids</a>§REF§<br>" }, { "id": 3, "polity": { "id": 134, "name": "af_ghur_principality", "long_name": "Ghur Principality", "start_year": 1025, "end_year": 1215 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "confederated state", "comment": null, "description": "Late 12th CE Bosworth talks of branches: one based at Firuzkuh, at Gazna (after it was taken from the Turks) which was a base for attacking India, and Bamian which was a base for attacks into Central Asia.§REF§(Bosworth 2012) Bosworth, Edmund C. 2012. GHURIDS. Encyclopaedia Iranica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids</a>§REF§<br>\"Although the earlier history of the Sansabani family had been full of feuds and disputes, the brothers maintained a partnership, with mutual amity and a division of spheres of activity and influence.\"§REF§(Bosworth 2012) Bosworth, Edmund C. 2012. GHURIDS. Encyclopaedia Iranica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids</a>§REF§<br>" }, { "id": 4, "polity": { "id": 350, "name": "af_greco_bactrian_k", "long_name": "Greco-Bactrian Kingdom", "start_year": -256, "end_year": -125 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": " The lack of consistent or reliable sources from either Western or Chinese written accounts means that any answer is largely speculative, though the limited evidence we do have seems to indicate a monarchical government. As with so much with central Asian history, this is largely as a result of a reliance on numismatic evidence, and a faint glimmer of archaeology and epigraphy. §REF§Guillaume, Olivier. \"An Analysis of the Modes of Reconstruction of the Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek History.\" Studies in History 2, no. 1 (1986): 1-16.§REF§ §REF§Holt, Frank L. Lost World of the Golden King, University of California Press, 2012, pp. 211-220§REF§" }, { "id": 5, "polity": { "id": 129, "name": "af_hephthalite_emp", "long_name": "Hephthalite Empire", "start_year": 408, "end_year": 561 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "nominal", "comment": null, "description": "The Hepthalites were one group of a series of nomadic tribal confederations that are sometimes referred to as the White Huns. The evidence seems to indicate that they were a second wave of Hunnish migration. Commentators at the time differ as to what the structure of the group was and to what degree they differed from the other nomadic peoples of the area. The Byzantian commentator Procopius of Caesarea stressed that, 'They are not nomadic like the other Hunnish peoples, but have long since settled on fertile land.' He further explained that unlike the other peoples of central asia, the Hepthalites were, 'ruled by one king and possess a legal state structure, observing justice among themselves and with their neighbours in no lesser measure than the Byzantines and Persians.' §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/silkroad/files/knowledgebankarticle/vol_III%20silk%20road_the%20hephthalite%20empire%20BIS.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/silkroad/files/knowledgebankarticle/vol_III%20silk%20road_the%20hephthalite%20empire%20BIS.pdf</a> p. 140§REF§<br>As a nomadic confederation, there does not seem to have been a centralized power structure, although some evidence indicates the adoption of local administrations for the purposes of exacting tribute. §REF§encyclopedia iranica vol. XII, HAREM I - ILLUMINATIONISM, 2004. Fasc. 2, pp. 198-201§REF§ During the peak of their power, they seem to have become increasingly sedentary, and this potentially increased the degree of centralization." }, { "id": 6, "polity": { "id": 129, "name": "af_hephthalite_emp", "long_name": "Hephthalite Empire", "start_year": 408, "end_year": 561 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "confederated state", "comment": null, "description": "The Hepthalites were one group of a series of nomadic tribal confederations that are sometimes referred to as the White Huns. The evidence seems to indicate that they were a second wave of Hunnish migration. Commentators at the time differ as to what the structure of the group was and to what degree they differed from the other nomadic peoples of the area. The Byzantian commentator Procopius of Caesarea stressed that, 'They are not nomadic like the other Hunnish peoples, but have long since settled on fertile land.' He further explained that unlike the other peoples of central asia, the Hepthalites were, 'ruled by one king and possess a legal state structure, observing justice among themselves and with their neighbours in no lesser measure than the Byzantines and Persians.' §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/silkroad/files/knowledgebankarticle/vol_III%20silk%20road_the%20hephthalite%20empire%20BIS.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/silkroad/files/knowledgebankarticle/vol_III%20silk%20road_the%20hephthalite%20empire%20BIS.pdf</a> p. 140§REF§<br>As a nomadic confederation, there does not seem to have been a centralized power structure, although some evidence indicates the adoption of local administrations for the purposes of exacting tribute. §REF§encyclopedia iranica vol. XII, HAREM I - ILLUMINATIONISM, 2004. Fasc. 2, pp. 198-201§REF§ During the peak of their power, they seem to have become increasingly sedentary, and this potentially increased the degree of centralization." }, { "id": 7, "polity": { "id": 281, "name": "af_kidarite_k", "long_name": "Kidarite Kingdom", "start_year": 388, "end_year": 477 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "confederated state", "comment": null, "description": "During the reign of king Kidara \"the Kidarite kingdom occupied vast territories to the north and south of the Hindu Kush.\" \"the principal city of the Kidarites south of the Hindu Kush was situated near present day Peshawar ... Fu-lou-sha ... which probably represents Purushapura ... Its ruler was Kidara's son\".§REF§(Zeimal 1996, 126) Zeimal, E. V. The Kidarite Kingdom In Central Asia. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.123-137. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf§REF§ Accordng to the Chinese chronicle, the Pei-shih (Annals of the Wei Dynasty)<br>" }, { "id": 8, "polity": { "id": 127, "name": "af_kushan_emp", "long_name": "Kushan Empire", "start_year": 35, "end_year": 319 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "confederated state", "comment": null, "description": " Government infrastructure consisted of bureaucratic, military and feudatory elements headed by an absolute or near absolute military monarchy. The empire was expanded and its territorial integrity maintained by its army. One theory advocates that the political structure of the empire was characterized by a 'hierarchical organization in a feudatory system'. Another view suggests the Kushan concept of kingship represented 'a step in the growth of a centralized, imperial state'. Another hypothesis suggests the Kushan structure was a mixture of both bureaucratic and feudal elements. Outer Satraps exerceted a large degree of independence the further south into the Indian subcontinent and further from the capitals one went. §REF§B. N. Mukherjee, 'The Rise and Fall of the Kushana Empire' (Calcutta, 1988), p. 448§REF§" }, { "id": 9, "polity": { "id": 467, "name": "af_tocharian", "long_name": "Tocharians", "start_year": -129, "end_year": 29 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "quasi-polity", "comment": null, "description": "\"Around 100 BCE the Yueh-chih conquered Bactria and drove the Scythians southwards to Gandhara. During the period 100 BCE to 40 CE, conditions in and around Bactria remained unsettled as the five factions of the Yueh-chih battled against each other for supremacy.\"§REF§(Samad 2011, 88) Samad, R. U. 2011. The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys. Angora Publishing.§REF§<br>\"Thus, both the written sources and the numismatic data show that Transoxiana in the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C.lacked internal political unity. Even Sughd (the basin of the river Zarafshan) was divided between at least two realms, this corresponding more or less to the later partition of the Zarafshan valley into \"Bukharan Sughd\" and \"Samarkandian Sughd\"; accordingly we have imitations of tetradrachms of Euthydemus and imitations of drachms of Antiochus I, with a horse's head on the reverse side.\" §REF§(Zeimal 1983, 246)§REF§" }, { "id": 10, "polity": { "id": 253, "name": "cn_eastern_han_dyn", "long_name": "Eastern Han Empire", "start_year": 25, "end_year": 220 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": "confederated state from 190 CE<br>190 CE Luoyang sacked. Emperor moves capital back to Chang 'an. Generals in 3 regions of Empire now hold the power. These regions become kingdoms. General Cao Cao's son declares new dynasty, Wei, 220 CE. §REF§(Roberts 2003)§REF§" }, { "id": 11, "polity": { "id": 253, "name": "cn_eastern_han_dyn", "long_name": "Eastern Han Empire", "start_year": 25, "end_year": 220 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "confederated state", "comment": null, "description": "confederated state from 190 CE<br>190 CE Luoyang sacked. Emperor moves capital back to Chang 'an. Generals in 3 regions of Empire now hold the power. These regions become kingdoms. General Cao Cao's son declares new dynasty, Wei, 220 CE. §REF§(Roberts 2003)§REF§" }, { "id": 12, "polity": { "id": 254, "name": "cn_western_jin_dyn", "long_name": "Western Jin", "start_year": 265, "end_year": 317 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 13, "polity": { "id": 422, "name": "cn_erligang", "long_name": "Erligang", "start_year": -1650, "end_year": -1250 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "quasi-polity", "comment": null, "description": " \"These scholars also see the presence of these walled sites and the Erligang expansion in general as evidence for the direct control of a huge territory by a centralized state (Bagley 1999). While the presence of walled Erligang-type sites over a large area suggests a common elite cultural sphere, even while the unparalleled scale of Zhengzhou suggests a cultural and political core, the actual relationships between sites and the mechanisms of putative political control remain unknown. If the analogy to the Anyang period can be made, lacking the infrastructure of later Qin-Han-type imperial control, political relationships even within the Central Plains cultural sphere were likely indirect, mutable, and based on ritually reinforced kinship hierarchy, alliance, and sporadic, rather than routine, mechanisms of coercion. It is also likely that—as with the Zhou dynasts, who set up statelets in strategic areas after the conquest of the Shang—the political, economic, and cultural relationships between sites changed over the course of their occupation, each site and each region having its own local historical trajectory related to, but not necessarily determined by, the fate of the cultural and political core.\" §REF§(Campbell 2014, 100)§REF§" }, { "id": 14, "polity": { "id": 422, "name": "cn_erligang", "long_name": "Erligang", "start_year": -1650, "end_year": -1250 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "confederated state", "comment": null, "description": " \"These scholars also see the presence of these walled sites and the Erligang expansion in general as evidence for the direct control of a huge territory by a centralized state (Bagley 1999). While the presence of walled Erligang-type sites over a large area suggests a common elite cultural sphere, even while the unparalleled scale of Zhengzhou suggests a cultural and political core, the actual relationships between sites and the mechanisms of putative political control remain unknown. If the analogy to the Anyang period can be made, lacking the infrastructure of later Qin-Han-type imperial control, political relationships even within the Central Plains cultural sphere were likely indirect, mutable, and based on ritually reinforced kinship hierarchy, alliance, and sporadic, rather than routine, mechanisms of coercion. It is also likely that—as with the Zhou dynasts, who set up statelets in strategic areas after the conquest of the Shang—the political, economic, and cultural relationships between sites changed over the course of their occupation, each site and each region having its own local historical trajectory related to, but not necessarily determined by, the fate of the cultural and political core.\" §REF§(Campbell 2014, 100)§REF§" }, { "id": 15, "polity": { "id": 421, "name": "cn_erlitou", "long_name": "Erlitou", "start_year": -1850, "end_year": -1600 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "quasi-polity", "comment": null, "description": " \"Erlitou, rather than being a departure, continued the third-millennium pattern of megasites, centering an expansive sphere of material cultural influence (Figure 2.1). At the same time, a number of features that were to become central to Central Plains Bronze Age elite traditions, such as a rectangular, walled “palace-temple” district; rammed earth monumental courtyard structures; and bronze ritual vessels, apparently made their first appearance at Erlitou (Figures 2.2-2.6). The Erlitou tradition, however, was not alone on the Mainland East Asian stage. The land between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers was home to a variety of local and regional ceramic and other material cultural traditions beyond those of Erlitou.\" §REF§(Campbell 2014, 22-23)§REF§<br>\"The political organization of the polity centered at Erlitou is unclear. Erlitou sat atop a settlement hierarchy of unknown size,48 and for perhaps a century, maybe less (1700-1600 BCE), it was the largest urban center in East Asia for which we have evidence (Shimao may overlap with the early phases of Erlitou; Sanxingui, with at least the late phases; and Yanshi and Zhengzhou were probably both major centers by the Erlitou phase IV). While the Erlitou ceramic tradition was widespread, the mechanisms of this expansion are probably only indirectly related to political activity (if pots don’t equal people, they are even less representative of conquering armies or “state” administrators). The degree of centralization, mechanisms of political control, and social organization can only be guessed at or extrapolated through comparison with Zhengzhou and Anyang. This comparison can justifiably be made insofar (and only insofar) as many of Erlitou’s elite cultural forms appear to be ancestral to those found at Zhengzhou and Anyang, from architecture, to symbols of status and implements of ritual.49 Nevertheless, as will be discussed in more detail later on, there are considerable qualitative and quantitative differences between Erlitou, Zhengzhou, and Anyang, making their comparison—and especially the derivation of the lesser known from the better known—a more complex problem than most have credited. Seen in regional context, if Erlitou has its civilizational sphere (Baines and Yoffee 1998; Allan 2007), it was not alone.\" §REF§(Campbell 2014, 61-62)§REF§" }, { "id": 16, "polity": { "id": 471, "name": "cn_hmong_2", "long_name": "Hmong - Early Chinese", "start_year": 1895, "end_year": 1941 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": " On the local level, authority was informal and decentralized: 'Respected knowledgeable elders, heads of family groups, and religious experts of both genders served as informal leaders. Among the more Sinicized, landlords and those who had some literacy in Chinese exercised power in the community. Under the present system, those who are members of the Communist party stand as the official leaders of the community.' §REF§Diamond, Norma: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Miao§REF§ 'Traditionally, the Miao had little political organization above the village level, and the highest position was that of village leader. In China the Miao have come under the political organization common to the whole of China; where minority populations are dense, they live in autonomous counties, townships, or prefectures, where a certain amount of self-representation is allowed.' §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.britannica.com/topic/Miao\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.britannica.com/topic/Miao</a>§REF§ 'The Magpie Miao live in villages, occasionally compact but normally consisting of a cluster of separate hamlets. These are located on mountain slopes, usually far enough away from main transportation routes to be inaccessible and readily defensible. The Miao lack any political organization of their own, and are thoroughly integrated into the Chinese administrative system. The basic political, as well as economic and social unit, is the village. Villages are grouped into townships and divided into hamlets of about ten to twenty households each. The headmen of both the village and the hamlet are appointed by the chief of the township. The members of different villages or hamlets are bound principally by affinal ties. They may cooperate for the common good, but they lack any formal organization of an indigenous character. Disputes between members of the same hamlet are settled, if possible, within the hamlet. Those between members of different hamlets of the same village are adjudicated by a council composed of the village headman and the heads of the hamlets involved. If this council cannot effect a settlement, the litigants have a right to carry their dispute to the chief of the township or even to the Chinese court of the county.' §REF§Rui, Yifu 1960. “Magpie Miao Of Southern Szechuan”, 145§REF§ The integration of the Hmong population into the Chinese administrative structure started well before the onset of the republican period: 'When the Miao rebellion was put down in the first year of Chia Ch'ing /1796/, it was found that the policy of governing the Miao with Chinese was wrong. The then governor-general of Hunan and Kwangtung, Pi Yüan, submitted a plan to govern the Miao with Miao. The ministry's response to the memorial setting up regulations for Miao officials, Miao Chiang Chin- Yao Shan-Hou Shih I /Important Remedial Measures for the Miao Frontier Region/, has a passage, “Miao Chiang Pe Hu Chai Ch'ang Ming-Mu Ying Cho Liang Keng Ting /The Names of the Village Leaders of 100 Families Should be Decided after Due Deliberation/,” stating: “According to the memorial, in the three provinces of Szechwan, Kweichow, and Hupeh, such areas as Yu-yang and T'ung-jen were all previously governed by headmen, but following their application to be put under government officials, the administrative areas of chou, hsien, and ying were established, subject to the jurisdiction of civil and military authorities. In the Miao villages, there were established only village chiefs to govern a unit of 100 families. However, since Chinese were also permitted to fill these posts, gradually there were rapacious, unscrupulous rogues, whose mistreatment caused disturbances. It is requested that from among the Miao who have submitted, and on whom were conferred the peacock feather decoration /for merit, in early Ch'ing times/, there be selected some intelligent, aware persons, to be appointed at each ying /military station/ as native second captain /shoupei/, lieutenant /ch'ien-tsung/, and sergeant or corporal /wai-wei/, such positions to be filled through the governor-general and governor's /tu-wu/ yamen /tu-wu ya-men/ and to be subject to the control of the civil and military authorities. When the various t'ang hsin in the Miao area have official despatches to send, they can order the said native petty officers to select Miao to question and send, and also to give them some cash and rations. When officials traveling on official business require servants, they may also recruit them from the Miao, and pay them wages according to the Chinese scales. It would appear that the 100-families village chief was originally inaugurated to discipline the Miao, but these men were unimportant and their powers limited, as that the Miao did not heed them. Moreover, among the Chinese holding such positions there were rapacious, unscrupulous rogues, whose mistreatment led to disturbances. This should naturally be explained, deliberated, and changed, so as to fix responsibility. During the recent campaign those submissive Miao who accompanied the army and won peacock feather awards are numerous, therefore from these select those who are intelligent and aware, and who have the support of the rest, and according to the customary set-up of t'u-kuan /officials governing aboriginal tribes in West China/, every Ying should have one or two men to be native second captains, under whom there should be native lieutenants and sergeants, for better control of the Miao. Their number will depend upon the number of villages put under control, and they shall be appointed by the governor-general and governor's yamen and also be under the control of regional officials. If there are fights, robberies and thefts among the Miao these native officers will be asked to make the arrests. On their inspection tours, the governor-general and governor and military officials should examine the merits and demerits of these officers and reward or punish them accordingly to demonstrate justice, following the recommendations memorialized by Governor-general Ho Lin. When the t'ang-hsin system of communication in the Miao area has been abolished, official communications should be despatched according to old methods so as to avoid delay. In the regions where the t'ang-hsin system exists as before, the local officials /t'u kuan/ should be asked to pick out honest Miao to be given the responsibility of delivering messages after being questioned, to be paid wages and rations from unallotted funds, according to the scale for t'un soldiers. When officials traveling on official business need servants, then order the said Miao to serve, and pay them wages according to recommendations memorialized.”' §REF§Ling, Shun-sheng, Yifu Ruey, and Lien-en Tsao 1947. “Report On An Investigation Of The Miao Of Western Hunan”, 152§REF§ The Chinese administration operated from district towns and provincial capitals: 'Like Kweiyang, the hsien city of Lung-li was in an open plain, but a narrow one. The space between the mountains was sufficient for a walled town of one long street between the east and west gates and one or two on either side. There were fields outside the city walls. Its normal population was between three and four thousand, augmented during the war by the coming of some “companies” for the installation and repair of charcoal burners in motor lorries and the distillation of grain alcohol for fuel, an Army officers' training school, and the engineers' corps of the railway being built through the town from Kwangsi to Kweiyang. To it the people of the surrounding contryside, including at least three groups of Miao and the Chung-chia, went to market. It was also the seat of the hsien government and contained a middle school, postal and telegraph offices, and a cooperative bank, with all of which the non-Chinese, as well as the Chinese, had some dealings. A few of the more well-to-do families sent one of their boys to the middle school. Cases which could not be settled in the village or by the lien pao official, who was also a Chinese, were of necessity brought to the hsien court, as well as cases which involved both Miao and Chinese.' §REF§Mickey, Margaret Portia 1947. “Cowrie Shell Miao Of Kweichow”, 40b§REF§ 'The Ch'uan Miao are not a tribe with a political organization that includes the whole group. There are no tribal rulers, but they have local headmen, called gü leo or “old clubs,” who sometimes cooperate for the common good. These people are an ethnic group bound together by common language, ideals, and customs and by a strong sense of unity. They are very sociable and mutually helpful.' §REF§Graham, David Crockett 1954. “Songs And Stories Of The Ch’Uan Miao”, 4§REF§ The turbulences and conflicts of the republican period make the identification of a reliable code difficult." }, { "id": 17, "polity": { "id": 470, "name": "cn_hmong_1", "long_name": "Hmong - Late Qing", "start_year": 1701, "end_year": 1895 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "quasi-polity", "comment": null, "description": " The transition from the Qing dynastic to the Chinese republican period was characterized by significant political and economic transformations: 'From Song on, in periods of relative peace, government control was exercised through the tusi system of indirect rule by appointed native headmen who collected taxes, organized corvée, and kept the peace. Miao filled this role in Hunan and eastern Guizhou, but farther west the rulers were often drawn from a hereditary Yi nobility, a system that lasted into the twentieth century. In Guizhou, some tusi claimed Han ancestry, but were probably drawn from the ranks of assimilated Bouyei, Dong, and Miao. Government documents refer to the \"Sheng Miao\" (raw Miao), meaning those living in areas beyond government control and not paying taxes or labor service to the state. In the sixteenth century, in the more pacified areas, the implementation of the policy of gaitu guiliu began the replacement of native rulers with regular civilian and military officials, a few of whom were drawn from assimilated minority families. Land became a commodity, creating both landlords and some freeholding peasants in the areas affected. In the Yunnan-Guizhou border area, the tusi system continued and Miao purchase of land and participation in local markets was restricted by law until the Republican period (1911-1949).'§REF§Diamond, Norma: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Miao§REF§ Miao popular uprisings against the deleterious effects of economic and ethnic stratification continued well into the republican period: 'During the Qing, uprisings and military encounters escalated. There were major disturbances in western Hunan (1795-1806) and a continuous series of rebellions in Guizhou (1854-1872). Chinese policies toward the Miao shifted among assimilation, containment in \"stockaded villages,\" dispersal, removal, and extermination. The frequent threat of \"Miao rebellion\" caused considerable anxiety to the state; in actuality, many of these uprisings included Bouyei, Dong, Hui, and other ethnic groups, including Han settlers and demobilized soldiers. At issue were heavy taxation, rising landlordism, rivalries over local resources, and official corruption. One of the last Miao uprisings occurred in 1905 in western Hunan in opposition to Guomindang (Republican) continuation of the tuntian system, which forced the peasants to open up new lands and grow crops for the state.'" }, { "id": 18, "polity": { "id": 245, "name": "cn_jin_spring_and_autumn", "long_name": "Jin", "start_year": -780, "end_year": -404 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "loose", "comment": null, "description": "though was proto-centralization process in most Spring Autumn states over course of this period§REF§(Hsu 1999)§REF§" }, { "id": 19, "polity": { "id": 420, "name": "cn_longshan", "long_name": "Longshan", "start_year": -3000, "end_year": -1900 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "quasi-polity", "comment": null, "description": " \"In most regions, population growth during the Late Neolithic was coupled with the clustering of sites and the formation of site hierarchies. The few sites that were fortified stood at the top of the settlement hierarchy. More than 20 walled sites, some very large in scale, are known from the lower and middle Yellow River area. The relatively regular spacing of these sites, at a distance of some 30-50 km from one another (Guojia 2006, 2007; Liu 2004), suggests that they were central nodes of small-scale polities each covering some 1,500-2,000 km2. Other evidence, such as the association of fortified sites with prestigious buildings and artifacts and specialized production activities, also supports this hypothesis (Liu 2004, pp. 104- 105; Underhill et al. 2008).\" §REF§(Shelach and Jaffe 2014, 339)§REF§<br>\"The late Longshan period, that is, the latter part of the third millennium and the earlier part of the second millennium B.C., was the period of the legendary wan guo (ten thousand states), a term often seen in the later, classical period. The surge in interactions among these many states made the Longshan one of the most active periods in ancient Chinese history.\" §REF§(Chang 1999, 64)§REF§" }, { "id": 20, "polity": { "id": 266, "name": "cn_later_great_jin", "long_name": "Jin Dynasty", "start_year": 1115, "end_year": 1234 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 21, "polity": { "id": 269, "name": "cn_ming_dyn", "long_name": "Great Ming", "start_year": 1368, "end_year": 1644 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 22, "polity": { "id": 425, "name": "cn_northern_song_dyn", "long_name": "Northern Song", "start_year": 960, "end_year": 1127 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": "State with central government bureaucracy.§REF§(Levine 2008, 1) Levine, Ari Daniel. 2008. Divided by a Common Language: Factional Conflict in Late Northern Song China. University of Hawai'i Press. Honolulu.§REF§" }, { "id": 23, "polity": { "id": 258, "name": "cn_northern_wei_dyn", "long_name": "Northern Wei", "start_year": 386, "end_year": 534 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 24, "polity": { "id": 1, "name": "cn_qing_dyn_1", "long_name": "Early Qing", "start_year": 1644, "end_year": 1796 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 25, "polity": { "id": 2, "name": "cn_qing_dyn_2", "long_name": "Late Qing", "start_year": 1796, "end_year": 1912 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 26, "polity": { "id": 243, "name": "cn_late_shang_dyn", "long_name": "Late Shang", "start_year": -1250, "end_year": -1045 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": "\"The Shang Dynasty was a monarchy governed by a series of kings, 29 or 30 in total, over the course of almost 600 years. The king was served by officials who held specialized positions of authority and function; and the officials belonged to a hereditary class of aristocrats, usually related to the king himself.\"§REF§(The Shang Dynasty, 1600 to 1050 BCE. Spice Digest, Fall 2007. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://iis-db.stanford.edu/docs/117/ShangDynasty.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://iis-db.stanford.edu/docs/117/ShangDynasty.pdf</a>)§REF§<br>" }, { "id": 27, "polity": { "id": 260, "name": "cn_sui_dyn", "long_name": "Sui Dynasty", "start_year": 581, "end_year": 618 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 28, "polity": { "id": 261, "name": "cn_tang_dyn_1", "long_name": "Tang Dynasty I", "start_year": 617, "end_year": 763 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": "\"In evolving the forms of a new centralized government the T'ang based themselves on their predecessors, partially on the Sui but, in reality they reached back to the Han period. Their policy, however, differed in one very important respect from that of the Han: the establishment of semi-independent princedoms was not permitted and the entire country was ruled as one state and empire.\"§REF§(Rodzinski 1979, 118)§REF§<br>" }, { "id": 29, "polity": { "id": 264, "name": "cn_tang_dyn_2", "long_name": "Tang Dynasty II", "start_year": 763, "end_year": 907 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "confederated state", "comment": null, "description": " Unitary state early on then more like a confederated state.<br>\"Although ultimately defeated, the An Lu-shan rebellion revealed fully all the inherent weaknesses of the T'ang government. In effect, it broke its power, and while the dynasty lasted almost another century and a half it never recovered fully, in spite of the attempts made by some of the subsequent T'ang rulers, as for example Emperor Hsien-tsung (806-820), to restore a strong, centralized monarchy.\" §REF§(Rodzinski 1979, 130)§REF§<br>The An Lu-shan rebellion \"transformed a centralized, rich, stable and far-flung empire into a struggling, insecure and divided one.\" §REF§(Peterson 1979, 464)§REF§<br>Ruth Mostern: Tang was a confederate state after the An Lushan rebellion and a unitary state before the rebellion. §REF§(Mostern, Ruth. Personal Correspondence. September 2016)§REF§" }, { "id": 30, "polity": { "id": 424, "name": "cn_wei_dyn_warring_states", "long_name": "Early Wei Dynasty", "start_year": -445, "end_year": -225 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "confederated state", "comment": null, "description": "all warring states kingdoms centralized control, but still relied to some degree on the hereditary noble lineages for support and resources" }, { "id": 31, "polity": { "id": 251, "name": "cn_western_han_dyn", "long_name": "Western Han Empire", "start_year": -202, "end_year": 9 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 32, "polity": { "id": 244, "name": "cn_western_zhou_dyn", "long_name": "Western Zhou", "start_year": -1122, "end_year": -771 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "loose", "comment": null, "description": " loose 1122-1045 BCE; unitary state: 1045-957 BCE; loose: 957-771 BCE Henry Maspero (1927) argued Zhou state was a \"loose federation of vassal states\" however this view has since been challenged. Herrlee G. Creel presented evidence Zhou was empire with a centralized government. §REF§(Roberts 2003, 14)§REF§" }, { "id": 33, "polity": { "id": 244, "name": "cn_western_zhou_dyn", "long_name": "Western Zhou", "start_year": -1122, "end_year": -771 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": " loose 1122-1045 BCE; unitary state: 1045-957 BCE; loose: 957-771 BCE Henry Maspero (1927) argued Zhou state was a \"loose federation of vassal states\" however this view has since been challenged. Herrlee G. Creel presented evidence Zhou was empire with a centralized government. §REF§(Roberts 2003, 14)§REF§" }, { "id": 34, "polity": { "id": 419, "name": "cn_yangshao", "long_name": "Yangshao", "start_year": -5000, "end_year": -3000 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "quasi-polity", "comment": null, "description": "\"Discovered by the Swedish geologist J. G. Andersson in 1920 at Yangshao village in Mianchi county, Henan, this was the first Neolithic culture to be found in China and is still the best known. More than a thousand archaeological sites of this culture have been found distributed in the Yellow River valley from Zhengzhou in the east to the upper reaches in Gansu and Qinghai. Within this vast area, the culture can be divided into several phases on the basis of ceramic styles. All of these, however, are of reddish color and are painted with various designs in black or dark brown (Fig. 1.4). Major vessel types include the bowl, water bottle, jar, and urn. Tripods and bowls on ring stands are seen in the east only, possibly being forms introduced from the eastern coastal areas.The Yangshao was a culture of millet farmers, already planting both Setaria and Panicum millets. The people lived in lineage units regularly laid out in villages. §REF§(Chang 1999, 49-52)§REF§" }, { "id": 35, "polity": { "id": 268, "name": "cn_yuan_dyn", "long_name": "Great Yuan", "start_year": 1271, "end_year": 1368 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 36, "polity": { "id": 435, "name": "co_neguanje", "long_name": "Neguanje", "start_year": 250, "end_year": 1050 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "quasi-polity", "comment": null, "description": "\"Bray (1984:337) suggests that the complexity of the Neguanje burial found by Mason implies a certain political complexity. Some speak of a tribal society, characterized by great variation, due to \"diverse degrees of influence, contact, or both at the same time, with neighboring cultural groups of the Rancheria (Guajira), Bajo Magdalena and southwestern Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta\" (Oyuela 1986:34). Nevertheless, knowledge about social organization during the Neguanje period is based almost exclusively on site excavations, which make any proposal about social organization difficult. \"Tribes\" are mentioned for the ancient phase because it is assumed that the societies that the Spanish found were organized as \"chiefdoms\". And, as anyone knows, tribes precede chiefdoms.\" §REF§(Langebaek 2005, 13)§REF§<br>Probably many small-size polities, even if the degree of centralization cannot be confirmed due to the lack of data: \"In the study region, the settlements for the three prehispanic periods have a convex deviation from the rule (figure 15). The convex tendency is most notable for the Late Period. This implies that it cannot be said that there were integrated or centralized systems, but rather, that there were poorly integrated systems with little centralization. [...] If the studied region were smaller than what is expected of a polity (or many, one for each bay for example), the results would be very different. [...] Only if the bays constituted one or many political units independent from any larger settlement beyond the study area, could it be said that none of the sites dominated the others. It is not possible to resolve this issue with the information presently available.\" §REF§(Langebaek 2005, 87)§REF§" }, { "id": 37, "polity": { "id": 436, "name": "co_tairona", "long_name": "Tairona", "start_year": 1050, "end_year": 1524 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "quasi-polity", "comment": null, "description": " \"Between A.D. 1100-1200 and until their demise around A.D. 1600 after a century of disease, displacement, and war, these people continued to settle the narrow river valleys of the northern and western faces of the Sierra Nevada. It is these polities that are considered to be the “Tairona” proper and upon which the greater part of the research in the area has concentrated.\" §REF§(Giraldo 2010, 53)§REF§\"The socio-political organization of Tairona culture during the early part of the sixteenth century consisted of relatively independent chiefdoms, each including a priestly class and a hierarchy of chiefs as well as specialists in arts and crafts (e.g., gold workers, semiprecious stone engravers, merchants). This arts and crafts specialization, coupled with intensive exchange of agricultural products, was possible because of the regional ecological diversity found in the SNSM. The diversity encouraged the development of centers of specialization and regions of production for items such as ceramics, lithic artifacts, and agricultural products. At last archaeologists are beginning to understand the ancient system as they reconstruct the web of roads and pathways that connected all of the sites (Oyuela-Caycedo 1987a, 1990; Herrera de Turbay 1985; Kurela 1993; Herrera 2000).\" §REF§(Oyuela-Caycedo 2008, 423)§REF§\"I believe that a religious movement that included peoples with different languages and from diverse political units (Reichel-Dolmattoff 1954a, b; Reichel-Dolmatoff and Dussan 1955; Mason 1931, 1936, 1939; Oyuela-Caycedo 1986a) produced the expansion of the “Tairona culture”. Tairona culture was a religious complex that promoted colonization of the SNSM.\" §REF§(Oyuela-Caycedo 2008, 418)§REF§\"The Spanish encountered a truly complicated and fragmented political landscape with an assortment of ethnic and political groups of varying size, complexity, and regional power, amongst them those that may be thought of as the “Tairona”11 proper. Other groups residing in different parts of the Sierra Nevada at the end of the 15th century included the “Orejones” (Big Ears) and Chimilas to the Southwest and Southeast, the Tupe (Bari, Yuko-Yukpa) and Giriguano to the East, and the Guanebucan, Guajiro (Wayuu) and Cocina to the Northeast in the Guajira Peninsula. Spanish sources mention a number of “provinces” that they identify with these socio-political entities and called them accordingly; as in Provincia de los Orejones, Provincia de los Guanebucanes, and so on and so forth (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1951).\" §REF§(Giraldo 2010, 58-59)§REF§\"It is nevertheless, quite clear that some of these polities were larger and more powerful than others and actually exerted some degree of control over subject populations and territories. For example, 16th century Spanish sources constantly mention two notoriously large and powerful Tairona polities that stood out from all others: Bonda and Pocigueica, with whom they warred on and off throughout the 16th century. It is also equally true that no single polity exerted its domain over all others.\" §REF§(Giraldo 2010, 60)§REF§<br>At the time of conquest, various polities (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1951, 61):-Taironas along the rivers Don Diego, Buritaca and Guachaca (northern Sierra Nevada)-Bonda along the river Manzanares-the Santa Marta Coast populations also inhabited the Gaira and Durcino region to the South-another (possibly the same) group occupied the northern bays between Santa Marta and Dibulla-further away from Dibulla, the Guanebucán group-the populations of Betonia and Pocigueica<br>" }, { "id": 38, "polity": { "id": 196, "name": "ec_shuar_1", "long_name": "Shuar - Colonial", "start_year": 1534, "end_year": 1830 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "nominal", "comment": null, "description": " The Spanish colonial administration resided in Quito: 'During much of the colonial period, what is now Ecuador was under the direct jurisdiction of the law court (audiencia) of Quito and ultimately under the rule of the Spanish crown. Spanish culture was spread primarily by religious orders and male Spanish colonists. In the Sierra, the Spaniards established a colony of large estates worked by Indian peons. Settlements included semiautonomous Indian villages and Spanish and mestizo administrative and religious centres such as Quito, Ambato, and Cuenca. The making of rough textiles in primitive sweatshops was the only industry. The development of Roman Catholic religious establishments provided for the flowering of Baroque architecture, sculpture in wood and stone, painting, music, and other arts and crafts. In the tropical Costa, much of the population died as a result of introduced diseases, and the area remained unhealthy until the advent of modern medicine. As a result, the coast was somewhat neglected during the colonial period, although there was some shipbuilding and exporting of cacao (as cocoa beans) from the port of Guayaquil. The small coastal population of slaves, free blacks, and mixed ethnicities, with plenty of vacant land and less coercion of labour, developed a culture very different from that of the Sierra. In the Oriente, the region on the eastern slopes between the Andes and the headwaters of the Amazon, large populations of Shuar and other indigenous people successfully repelled European invaders; however, Jesuits and other missionaries were able to spread both Christianity and the Quichua language. The Spaniards used Quichua as a language of evangelization-at one period missionaries were required to know the language-and continued to spread it orally by means of Quichua speakers who travelled with them in further conquests. The country’s fourth major subdivision, the Galapagos Islands, were little more than pirate nests during the colonial period. They were to achieve world fame in the 19th century, because it was there that Charles Darwin made a major portion of the observations that led to his theories on evolution and his On the Origin of Species. The people of Quito, the Ecuadoran capital, claim that it was the scene of the first Ecuadoran patriot uprising against Spanish rule (1809). Invading from Colombia in 1822, the armies of Simón Bolívar and Antonio José de Sucre came to the aid of Ecuadoran rebels, and on May 24 Sucre won the decisive Battle of Pichincha on a mountain slope near Quito, thus assuring Ecuadoran independence.' §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.britannica.com/place/Ecuador/Cultural-life#toc25823\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.britannica.com/place/Ecuador/Cultural-life#toc25823</a>§REF§ While initially subject to Spanish colonial incursions, the Shuar tribes later resisted successfully: 'The first reported white penetration of Jivaro territory was made in 1549 by a Spanish expedition under Hernando de Benavente. Later expeditions of colonists and soldiers soon followed. These newcomers traded with the Jivaro, made peace pacts with them, and soon began to exploit the gold found in alluvial or glacial deposits in the region. Eventually the Spaniards were able to obtain the co-operation of some of the Indians in working the gold deposits, but others remained hostile, killing many of the colonists and soldiers at every opportunity. Under the subjection of the Spaniards, the Jivaro were required to pay tribute in gold dust; a demand that increased yearly. Finally, in 1599, the Jivaro rebelled en masse, killing many thousands of Spaniards in the process and driving them from the region. After 1599, until nearly the middle of the nineteenth century, Jivaro-European relations remained intermittent and mostly hostile. A few missionary and military expeditions entered the region from the Andean highlands, but these frequently ended in disaster and no permanent colonization ever resulted. One of the few \"friendly\" gestures reported for the tribe during this time occurred in 1767, when they gave a Spanish missionizing expedition \"gifts\", which included the skulls of Spaniards who had apparently been killed earlier by the Jivaro (Harner, 1953: 26). Thus it seems that the Jivaros are the only tribe known to have successfully revolted against the Spanish Empire and to have been able to thwart all subsequent attempts by the Spaniards to conquer them. They have withstood armies of gold seeking Inkas as well as Spaniards, and defied the bravado of the early conquistadors.' §REF§Beierle, John: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Jivaro§REF§ The code cannot fully reflect the complexities of the colonial situation, with white settlers, subjected native communities, and de facto self-governing groups all inhabiting land nominally claimed by the Spanish crown and its administration in Quito. Most Shuar communities were de facto autonomous, hence the code." }, { "id": 39, "polity": { "id": 196, "name": "ec_shuar_1", "long_name": "Shuar - Colonial", "start_year": 1534, "end_year": 1830 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "quasi-polity", "comment": null, "description": " The Spanish colonial administration resided in Quito: 'During much of the colonial period, what is now Ecuador was under the direct jurisdiction of the law court (audiencia) of Quito and ultimately under the rule of the Spanish crown. Spanish culture was spread primarily by religious orders and male Spanish colonists. In the Sierra, the Spaniards established a colony of large estates worked by Indian peons. Settlements included semiautonomous Indian villages and Spanish and mestizo administrative and religious centres such as Quito, Ambato, and Cuenca. The making of rough textiles in primitive sweatshops was the only industry. The development of Roman Catholic religious establishments provided for the flowering of Baroque architecture, sculpture in wood and stone, painting, music, and other arts and crafts. In the tropical Costa, much of the population died as a result of introduced diseases, and the area remained unhealthy until the advent of modern medicine. As a result, the coast was somewhat neglected during the colonial period, although there was some shipbuilding and exporting of cacao (as cocoa beans) from the port of Guayaquil. The small coastal population of slaves, free blacks, and mixed ethnicities, with plenty of vacant land and less coercion of labour, developed a culture very different from that of the Sierra. In the Oriente, the region on the eastern slopes between the Andes and the headwaters of the Amazon, large populations of Shuar and other indigenous people successfully repelled European invaders; however, Jesuits and other missionaries were able to spread both Christianity and the Quichua language. The Spaniards used Quichua as a language of evangelization-at one period missionaries were required to know the language-and continued to spread it orally by means of Quichua speakers who travelled with them in further conquests. The country’s fourth major subdivision, the Galapagos Islands, were little more than pirate nests during the colonial period. They were to achieve world fame in the 19th century, because it was there that Charles Darwin made a major portion of the observations that led to his theories on evolution and his On the Origin of Species. The people of Quito, the Ecuadoran capital, claim that it was the scene of the first Ecuadoran patriot uprising against Spanish rule (1809). Invading from Colombia in 1822, the armies of Simón Bolívar and Antonio José de Sucre came to the aid of Ecuadoran rebels, and on May 24 Sucre won the decisive Battle of Pichincha on a mountain slope near Quito, thus assuring Ecuadoran independence.' §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.britannica.com/place/Ecuador/Cultural-life#toc25823\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.britannica.com/place/Ecuador/Cultural-life#toc25823</a>§REF§ While initially subject to Spanish colonial incursions, the Shuar tribes later resisted successfully: 'The first reported white penetration of Jivaro territory was made in 1549 by a Spanish expedition under Hernando de Benavente. Later expeditions of colonists and soldiers soon followed. These newcomers traded with the Jivaro, made peace pacts with them, and soon began to exploit the gold found in alluvial or glacial deposits in the region. Eventually the Spaniards were able to obtain the co-operation of some of the Indians in working the gold deposits, but others remained hostile, killing many of the colonists and soldiers at every opportunity. Under the subjection of the Spaniards, the Jivaro were required to pay tribute in gold dust; a demand that increased yearly. Finally, in 1599, the Jivaro rebelled en masse, killing many thousands of Spaniards in the process and driving them from the region. After 1599, until nearly the middle of the nineteenth century, Jivaro-European relations remained intermittent and mostly hostile. A few missionary and military expeditions entered the region from the Andean highlands, but these frequently ended in disaster and no permanent colonization ever resulted. One of the few \"friendly\" gestures reported for the tribe during this time occurred in 1767, when they gave a Spanish missionizing expedition \"gifts\", which included the skulls of Spaniards who had apparently been killed earlier by the Jivaro (Harner, 1953: 26). Thus it seems that the Jivaros are the only tribe known to have successfully revolted against the Spanish Empire and to have been able to thwart all subsequent attempts by the Spaniards to conquer them. They have withstood armies of gold seeking Inkas as well as Spaniards, and defied the bravado of the early conquistadors.' §REF§Beierle, John: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Jivaro§REF§ The code cannot fully reflect the complexities of the colonial situation, with white settlers, subjected native communities, and de facto self-governing groups all inhabiting land nominally claimed by the Spanish crown and its administration in Quito. Most Shuar communities were de facto autonomous, hence the code." }, { "id": 40, "polity": { "id": 197, "name": "ec_shuar_2", "long_name": "Shuar - Ecuadorian", "start_year": 1831, "end_year": 1931 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "quasi-polity", "comment": null, "description": " Authority among the Shuar was mostly informal and local: '“At the present time the political organization of the Jivaros is at best a very flexible thing and is simple both in theory and in practice. The Jivaro-speaking peoples are divided into scores of so-called tribes. These tribal divisions, however, are merely artificial denominations given by the whites to groups more or less isolated in certain geographical units such as rivers or divides. Tribes in this sense have no existence in the minds of the Indians themselves.' §REF§Stirling, Matthew Williams 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians”, 38p§REF§ 'The simplest unit of organization is the patrilineal family group living under a single roof. Such a household is quite independent and self-sufficient, being subservient to no one. The head of the [39] household is usually the oldest man in it, known by the Spanish term ‘capito.’ Where there are a number of houses in the same general vicinity these may recognize a common war leader known by the Quechua term ‘curaka.’ It is significant that there is apparently no word in the Jivaro language indicating the equivalent of our idea of a chief.”' §REF§Stirling, Matthew Williams 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians”, 38p§REF§ 'The chieftain is called kuháku. In the case of disputes within the group he has no executive, but only advisory powers. He has no greater number of wives than any other respected member of the community.' §REF§Tessmann, Günter, b. 1884. 1930. “Indians Of Northeastern Peru”, 360§REF§ '“A typical unit or group under a curaka [KS: head of the household]consists of six or seven houses, each with its capito [KS: common war leader], situated over an area of 5 or 6 miles on some small river. Such a group has no name to designate it other than that of the stream on which it is located. The blood ties in such a group are likely to be rather close. All groupings of the Jivaros other than the household group proper, which is a natural family unit, are traceable directly to the custom of blood revenge. Such groups are in the nature of loose alliances for defensive or offensive warfare. Insomuch as war raids are purely in the nature of feuds, these alliances are never very extensive or very permanent.”' §REF§Stirling, Matthew Williams 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians”, 39p§REF§ '“The power of the curaka [KS: head of the household] is purely advisory and is confined to warfare. He had no authority to order men against their will for any purpose, even that of fighting. The curaka has no special insignia denoting rank and has no special privileges, other than the prestige which his position gives him. He holds his position only as long as he retains his personal influence with the group. Realinements of household groups are frequent as leaders lose prestige or die.”' §REF§Stirling, Matthew Williams 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians\", 39p§REF§ '“The number of households under the influence of a given curaka is subject to a great deal of fluctuation. It frequently happens that a strong curaka will build up a fairly powerful group of warriors about him. A weak curaka or capito may have a blood-revenge killing to attend to but will find himself outnumbered by the enemy to such an extent that he is afraid to attempt a killing with his own group. In this event he is likely to call upon the strong curaka to arrange the killing for him, paying him with a gun or a woman. Often, too, a weak curaka, fearing that his group would not be able successfully to defend themselves against an attack from enemies, will voluntarily place himself and his group under the influence of the strong curaka in a loose sort of alliance. In this way the strong group tends to grow and to become even stronger until one curaka may have 8 or 10 lesser curakas more or less under his control. This state of affairs is usually not very permanent. Owing to the loose organization and lack of any real power on the part of the head curaka, the large group becomes unwieldy or develops diverse interests and it tends to split up again into independent units. Consequently, in as little as 2 or 3 years' time, the original head curaka may find that one or more of his former lieutenants are now stronger than he.”' §REF§Stirling, Matthew Williams 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians”, 39§REF§ 'Although on some occasions considerable numbers of Jivaros unite for the purpose of war raids, or in defense against attack from invaders, their decentralized manner of living makes this rather difficult. Living as they do in individual houses, each containing a few families at most, and separated one from the other by considerable distances, there is no concentration of population at any one place such as would tend to produce large engagements.”' §REF§Stirling, Matthew Williams 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians”, 42§REF§ This decentralized pattern even applied to more prominent leaders: 'Four or five years ago there was a strong chief on the Upano River named Tuki, known to the Ecuadoreans as José Grande. In the manner previously described, all of the curakas from Macas on the Upano River to Mendez on the Paute River became subchiefs under him until he was generally recognized as the strongest of all of the Jivaro curakas. However, he was beginning to grow old by this time and some of his subcurakas were strong men in their own right. About 2 years ago, Ambusha, who had been gradually gaining in power and becoming famous for his head-hunting activities, split off with his own group, taking several curakas and their men with him. A little later Utita did the same thing. At the time of the writer's visit (1931), although Tuki was recognized by the Government of Ecuador as being head chief of the Macas-Mendez region, actually he had lost all power excepting that over his own family group and was in reality no more than a capito. These divisions of the organization, if it may be termed such, took place apparently without any ill-feeling or formal announcements.' §REF§Stirling, Matthew Williams 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians”, 40§REF§ While Ecuador claimed nominal sovereignty over the Oriente, bureaucratic control was low and no regular governmental officials were present in Shuar communities. The Shuar themselves did not recognize Ecuadorian rule: '“Rising in the western foothills of the Cordillera Oriental the Rio Zamora flows through Loja, where it is joined by the Rio Malacatos. ( ) Ten miles farther north, in confluence with the Rio de las Juntas, it breaks through the Andes and enters the province of Oriente, the Amazon region of Ecuador, comprising a northwestern part of the basin of the great river. Vast in extent and largely unknown, unexplored and unmapped, this territory has always been a bone of contention among the republics of Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru. But although the particular portion of it which I visited, on a reconnaissance of the Rio Zamora, was supposedly under the sovereignty of Ecuador, no evidence of administrative authority was to be found there, nor did the savages of the Jíbaro tribe who live there acknowledge allegiance to the government at Quito.”' §REF§Hermessen, J. L. 1917. “Journey On The Rio Zamora, Ecuador”, 435§REF§ Accordingly, 'quasi-polity' most closely reflects the realities on the ground." }, { "id": 41, "polity": { "id": 367, "name": "eg_ayyubid_sultanate", "long_name": "Ayyubid Sultanate", "start_year": 1171, "end_year": 1250 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": " unknown/ nominal/ loose/ confederated state /unitary state<br>After the death of Saladin, his sons contested control over the sultanate, but Saladin's brother al-Adil eventually established himself as Sultan in 1200. In the 1230s, the Ayyubid rulers of Syria attempted to assert their independence from Egypt and remained divided until the Sultan as-Salih Ayyub restored Ayyubid unity by taking over most of Syria, except Aleppo, by 1247." }, { "id": 42, "polity": { "id": 367, "name": "eg_ayyubid_sultanate", "long_name": "Ayyubid Sultanate", "start_year": 1171, "end_year": 1250 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "loose", "comment": null, "description": " unknown/ nominal/ loose/ confederated state /unitary state<br>After the death of Saladin, his sons contested control over the sultanate, but Saladin's brother al-Adil eventually established himself as Sultan in 1200. In the 1230s, the Ayyubid rulers of Syria attempted to assert their independence from Egypt and remained divided until the Sultan as-Salih Ayyub restored Ayyubid unity by taking over most of Syria, except Aleppo, by 1247." }, { "id": 43, "polity": { "id": 367, "name": "eg_ayyubid_sultanate", "long_name": "Ayyubid Sultanate", "start_year": 1171, "end_year": 1250 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": " unknown/ nominal/ loose/ confederated state /unitary state<br>After the death of Saladin, his sons contested control over the sultanate, but Saladin's brother al-Adil eventually established himself as Sultan in 1200. In the 1230s, the Ayyubid rulers of Syria attempted to assert their independence from Egypt and remained divided until the Sultan as-Salih Ayyub restored Ayyubid unity by taking over most of Syria, except Aleppo, by 1247." }, { "id": 44, "polity": { "id": 510, "name": "eg_badarian", "long_name": "Badarian", "start_year": -4400, "end_year": -3800 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " There is no evidence for centralization, political authority or government.<br>" }, { "id": 45, "polity": { "id": 514, "name": "eg_dynasty_1", "long_name": "Egypt - Dynasty I", "start_year": -3100, "end_year": -2900 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": "The \"early Egyptian state was a centrally controlled polity ruled by a (god-)king from the Memphis region. §REF§(Bard 2000, 65)§REF§<br>" }, { "id": 46, "polity": { "id": 515, "name": "eg_dynasty_2", "long_name": "Egypt - Dynasty II", "start_year": -2900, "end_year": -2687 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": "The \"early Egyptian state was a centrally controlled polity ruled by a (god-)king from the Memphis region. §REF§(Bard 2000, 65)§REF§<br>" }, { "id": 47, "polity": { "id": 205, "name": "eg_inter_occupation", "long_name": "Egypt - Inter-Occupation Period", "start_year": -404, "end_year": -342 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 48, "polity": { "id": 232, "name": "eg_mamluk_sultanate_1", "long_name": "Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate I", "start_year": 1260, "end_year": 1348 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 49, "polity": { "id": 239, "name": "eg_mamluk_sultanate_3", "long_name": "Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate III", "start_year": 1412, "end_year": 1517 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 50, "polity": { "id": 236, "name": "eg_mamluk_sultanate_2", "long_name": "Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate II", "start_year": 1348, "end_year": 1412 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Polity_degree_of_centralization", "degree_of_centralization": "unitary state", "comment": null, "description": null } ] }