Official Religion List
A viewset for viewing and editing Official Religions.
GET /api/rt/official-religions/?format=api
{ "count": 441, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/rt/official-religions/?format=api&page=2", "previous": null, "results": [ { "id": 1, "polity": { "id": 96, "name": "in_kampili_k", "long_name": "Kampili Kingdom", "start_year": 1280, "end_year": 1327 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 3, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“Thus, by 1324, the territories of the Delhi Sultanate reached up to Madurai, The last Hindu principality in the area, Kampili in south Karnataka, was annexed in 1328.” §REF§ (Chandra 2007 :101) Chandra, Satish. History of Medieval India: 800-1700. India, Orient BlackSwan, 2007. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/83WJWTC2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 83WJWTC2 </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 2, "polity": { "id": 91, "name": "in_kadamba_emp", "long_name": "Kadamba Empire", "start_year": 345, "end_year": 550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 5, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Saivist Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“That the religion of the Kadambas was Brahmanism and not Jainism is also established beyond doubt by another inscription of the same dynasty found in the Kadur Taluqua. Here Vishnuvarmma, the donor of the grant, is described as the ‘protector of the excellent Brahman faith’. Furthermore we know that some of the kings performed the asvamedha sacrifice. […] As this is a purely Brahman rite, it affords further proof that these [Kadamba] kings were not Jainas.” §REF§ (Moraes and Heras 1932: 250) George M. Moraes & Heras, H. (1932). The Kadamba Kula: A history of ancient and mediaeval Karnataka. Bombay: Furtado. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QJ4A35K9\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: QJ4A35K9 </b></a> §REF§ “Saivism flourished in the Kadamba dominions for a long time. But it did not have an undisputed sway over the people, for it had to contend with other religious rivals, such as Buddhism and Jainism. Nevertheless the wide propagation of Saivism is evident from the various mathas, the temples and the flourishing communities of Saiva ascetics that existed all over the country in the Kadamba period.” §REF§ (Moraes and Heras 1932: 250) George M. Moraes & Heras, H. (1932). The Kadamba Kula: A history of ancient and mediaeval Karnataka. Bombay: Furtado. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QJ4A35K9\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: QJ4A35K9 </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 3, "polity": { "id": 90, "name": "in_vakataka_k", "long_name": "Vakataka Kingdom", "start_year": 255, "end_year": 550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 3, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“It is now generally accepted that like the Sātavāhanas, the Vākātakas also were a Brāhmana family that rose into prominence in the early centuries of the Christian.” §REF§ (Mirashi 1951:2) Mirashi, V. V. (1951). THE HOME OF THE VĀKĀṬAKAS. Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 32(1/4), 1–18. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XP3D54UR\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: XP3D54UR </b></a> §REF§ “The Vākātaka kings before after him [Rudrasena II], with the exception of Prthivīsena II, were all devotees of Mahesvara (Siva), Māhesvaras, so it seems that his conversion to Bhagavatism had been part of an antenuptial contract.” §REF§ (Bakker 2010: 467) Bakker, Hans. October 2010. Royal Patronage and Religious Tolerance: The Formative Period of Gupta-Vakataka Culture. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Third Series. Vol. 20. No. 4. pp.461-475. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/U93I6H8E\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: U93I6H8E </b></a> §REF§ NB the following quote shows that the Vakataka rulers followed different types of Hinduism. “The two forms of Hinduism that are reflected predominantly in the material remains of the Vakataka kingdom are those in which either Mahesvara (i.e: Siva)or Bhagavat (i.e. Visnu) is the principal focus of worship. The devotees of Mahesvara call themselves Mahesvaras, those of the Bhagavat Bhagavatas. The kings of the eastern Vakatakas were either Mahesvaras or Bhagavatas.” §REF§ (Bakker 1997: 58) Bakker, Hans. 1997. The Vākāṭakas: an essay in Hindu iconology. Groningen: E. Forsten. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/V7U5GXKR\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: V7U5GXKR </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 4, "polity": { "id": 411, "name": "in_bahmani_sultanate", "long_name": "Bahmani Sultanate", "start_year": 1347, "end_year": 1518 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 8, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Sunni Islam", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"The Bahmani rulers were tolerant in religious matters, and though most of them were Sunnis, they did not persecute Shiism.\"§REF§(Chandra 2004, 184) Chandra, S. 2004. Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals, Part One: Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526). Revised Edition. Har-Anand. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/EWZWPHV6\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: EWZWPHV6 </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 5, "polity": { "id": 93, "name": "in_rashtrakuta_emp", "long_name": "Rashtrakuta Empire", "start_year": 753, "end_year": 973 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 2, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Jainism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "The quotes below suggest that some of the Rashtrakuta were Jain and others were Hindu or nominally Hindu. “It is a noteworthy fact that the revival of Hinduism did not affect the fortunes of Jainism in the Deccan. […] Many of the Rashtrakuta kings were themselves Jains and so were many of their viceroys and generals. The second cause was the influence of the work and achievements of a number of important Jain saints and writers like Samantabhadra, Akalankadeva, Vidyimanda, Mimikyanandin, Prabhachandra, Jinasena. Gunachandra, and Pampa.” §REF§ (Altekar 1934, 272) Anant Sadashiv Altekar, 1934. The Rashtrakutas and their times. Poona: Oriental Book Agency. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SZ3UZZT6\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: SZ3UZZT6 </b></a> §REF§ “Our period was probably the most flourishing period in the history of Jainism in the Deccan. […] In our period, however, the sect had no serious militant rival and was basking in the sunshine of popular and royal favour. The literary activity of the Jains was also remarkable in this age and they seem to have taken an active part in the education of the masses.” §REF§ (Altekar 1934, 309-310) Anant Sadashiv Altekar, 1934. The Rashtrakutas and their times. Poona: Oriental Book Agency. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SZ3UZZT6\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: SZ3UZZT6 </b></a> §REF§ “Among the Rashtrakuta emperors Amoghavarsha I was more a Jain than a Hindu. […] Many of the feudatories and officers of the Rashtrakutas were also Jains.” §REF§ (Altekar 1934, 311-312) Anant Sadashiv Altekar, 1934. The Rashtrakutas and their times. Poona: Oriental Book Agency. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SZ3UZZT6\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: SZ3UZZT6 </b></a> §REF§ “The Rashtrakuta kings were basically Hindus but very tolerant of other religions such as Jainism and Buddhism. Amoghavarsha I was attracted to Jainism, being a disciple of Jinasenacharya. Although Buddhism had declined, there were pockets of Buddhism in places like Dambal and Balligavi. Different Hindu sects such as Vaishnavism and Shaivism flourished during the period of the Rashtrakutas, and Vishnu and Shiva were popular gods. The family deity of the kings was the goddess Latana, known by different names such as Rashtrashyena and Manasa Vindyavasini. The Rashtrakutas were not averse to close relations with Arabs residing in the Sind area of northwestern India. Trade with them was encouraged, and Arab Muslims were sometimes even appointed as city administrators. Islam was slowly penetrating South India, with mosques being established in the coastal towns of Kayalpattanam and Nagore.” §REF§ (Mishra, 2016) Mishra, P. P. 2016. ‘Rashtrakuta Empire’. In The Encyclopedia of Empire. Edited by J. Mackenzie. Wiley. Credo Reference: https://search-credoreference-com.uea.idm.oclc.org/content/entry/wileyempire/rashtrakuta_empire/0?institutionId=1278. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DH2FKIBF\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: DH2FKIBF </b></a> §REF§ “Amoghavarsha I […] belittled Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism, yet numerous researchers are of the assessment that actually he presumably followed Jainism.” §REF§ (Math 2021,298) Math, B.G. 2021. ‘A study into the Rashtrakuta Dynasty.’International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews. Vol.3:2. Pp 297-299 Seshat URL: §REF§ “In religion he [Dantidurga] shared orthodox Hindu beliefs.” §REF§ (Altekar 1934, 41) Anant Sadashiv Altekar, 1934. The Rashtrakutas and their times. Poona: Oriental Book Agency. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SZ3UZZT6\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: SZ3UZZT6 </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 6, "polity": { "id": 93, "name": "in_rashtrakuta_emp", "long_name": "Rashtrakuta Empire", "start_year": 753, "end_year": 973 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 11, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Smarta Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "The quotes below suggest that some of the Rashtrakuta were Jain and others were Hindu or nominally Hindu. “It is a noteworthy fact that the revival of Hinduism did not affect the fortunes of Jainism in the Deccan. […] Many of the Rashtrakuta kings were themselves Jains and so were many of their viceroys and generals. The second cause was the influence of the work and achievements of a number of important Jain saints and writers like Samantabhadra, Akalankadeva, Vidyimanda, Mimikyanandin, Prabhachandra, Jinasena. Gunachandra, and Pampa.” §REF§ (Altekar 1934, 272) Anant Sadashiv Altekar, 1934. The Rashtrakutas and their times. Poona: Oriental Book Agency. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SZ3UZZT6\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: SZ3UZZT6 </b></a> §REF§ “Our period was probably the most flourishing period in the history of Jainism in the Deccan. […] In our period, however, the sect had no serious militant rival and was basking in the sunshine of popular and royal favour. The literary activity of the Jains was also remarkable in this age and they seem to have taken an active part in the education of the masses.” §REF§ (Altekar 1934, 309-310) Anant Sadashiv Altekar, 1934. The Rashtrakutas and their times. Poona: Oriental Book Agency. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SZ3UZZT6\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: SZ3UZZT6 </b></a> §REF§ “Among the Rashtrakuta emperors Amoghavarsha I was more a Jain than a Hindu. […] Many of the feudatories and officers of the Rashtrakutas were also Jains.” §REF§ (Altekar 1934, 311-312) Anant Sadashiv Altekar, 1934. The Rashtrakutas and their times. Poona: Oriental Book Agency. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SZ3UZZT6\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: SZ3UZZT6 </b></a> §REF§ “The Rashtrakuta kings were basically Hindus but very tolerant of other religions such as Jainism and Buddhism. Amoghavarsha I was attracted to Jainism, being a disciple of Jinasenacharya. Although Buddhism had declined, there were pockets of Buddhism in places like Dambal and Balligavi. Different Hindu sects such as Vaishnavism and Shaivism flourished during the period of the Rashtrakutas, and Vishnu and Shiva were popular gods. The family deity of the kings was the goddess Latana, known by different names such as Rashtrashyena and Manasa Vindyavasini. The Rashtrakutas were not averse to close relations with Arabs residing in the Sind area of northwestern India. Trade with them was encouraged, and Arab Muslims were sometimes even appointed as city administrators. Islam was slowly penetrating South India, with mosques being established in the coastal towns of Kayalpattanam and Nagore.” §REF§ (Mishra, 2016) Mishra, P. P. 2016. ‘Rashtrakuta Empire’. In The Encyclopedia of Empire. Edited by J. Mackenzie. Wiley. Credo Reference: https://search-credoreference-com.uea.idm.oclc.org/content/entry/wileyempire/rashtrakuta_empire/0?institutionId=1278. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DH2FKIBF\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: DH2FKIBF </b></a> §REF§ “Amoghavarsha I […] belittled Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism, yet numerous researchers are of the assessment that actually he presumably followed Jainism.” §REF§ (Math 2021,298) Math, B.G. 2021. ‘A study into the Rashtrakuta Dynasty.’International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews. Vol.3:2. Pp 297-299 Seshat URL: §REF§ “In religion he [Dantidurga] shared orthodox Hindu beliefs.” §REF§ (Altekar 1934, 41) Anant Sadashiv Altekar, 1934. The Rashtrakutas and their times. Poona: Oriental Book Agency. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SZ3UZZT6\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: SZ3UZZT6 </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 7, "polity": { "id": 97, "name": "in_vijayanagara_emp", "long_name": "Vijayanagara Empire", "start_year": 1336, "end_year": 1646 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 3, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "Royal patronage to both Saivism and Vaisnavism and a large following among different sections of the people point to the dominance of these two religions.\" §REF§ (Champakalakshmi 1990, 106) Champakalakshmi, R. 1990. “Review of Religion in Vijayanagara Empire by Konduri Sarojini Devi.” Social Scientist 18 (8/9): 105-8. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/I2FJEEGX\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: I2FJEEGX </b></a>. §REF§" }, { "id": 8, "polity": { "id": 95, "name": "in_hoysala_k", "long_name": "Hoysala Kingdom", "start_year": 1108, "end_year": 1346 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 6, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Vaisnavist Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“Despite the fact that most Hoysala rulers were Vaisnavites, Siva temples are numerically greater than those built by other sects.” §REF§ (Banerji 2019: 28) Banerji, N. A. (2019). Sectarianism in Medieval India: Saiva, Vaisnava, and Syncretistic Temple Architecture in Karnataka. United States: Lexington Books. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5IXX7PX\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: N5IXX7PX </b></a> §REF§ “There is evidence to presume that the Hoysala dynasty came to power with the help of a Jaina ascetic by the name of Shantideva. Bittiga, the considered greatest king of the Hoysalas, being his reign, that lasted from 1106 to 1141, as a Jaina. Later, having come under the sway of the erudite Hindu teacher Ramanuja, he converted to the Vishnuite branch of Hinduism and changed his name to Vishnuvardhana. None the less, his queen, Shantidevi, remained an active follower of Jaina religion. Her steadfastness, one may assume, will have facilitated the continuous building of Jaina temples at Halebid and other places in the Hoysala kingdom.” §REF§ (Titze and Bruhn 1998 :49) Titze, Kurt, Bruhn, Klaus, (1998). Jainism: A Pictorial Guide to the Religion of Non-violence. India: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NB9JH8A6\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: NB9JH8A6 </b></a> §REF§ “The Hoysalas were Jainas up to King Bittideva (1104-1141) who was converted to Visnuism by the Visnuite reformer Ramanuja, and he assumed the name Visnuvardhana. His first wife, Santaledevi, remained faithful to Jainism. […] It appeas that a few Hoysala-kings were converted back to Jainism, as its influence must have been generally strong every time in the court, because a number of excellent ministers and generals were worshippers of the Tirthankaras. Therefore, the decline of the Hoysala-empire at the beginning of the 14th century robbed Jainism of a significant support.” §REF§ (von Glasenapp 1999: 65) Glasenapp, H. v. (1999). Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation. India: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/X9DTJTJC\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: X9DTJTJC </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 9, "polity": { "id": 94, "name": "in_kalyani_chalukya_emp", "long_name": "Chalukyas of Kalyani", "start_year": 973, "end_year": 1189 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 5, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Saivist Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“The Chalukyas of Kalyani, lemulavada Chalukyas and the Nollamba Pallavas were devoted Saivites and they constructed many temples.” §REF§ (Ramamurti 1979: 89) N. Ramamurti, 1979. “Social And Religious Life As Depicted In The Chalukyan Sculptures”, M.Phil Dissertation, Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/S3A3R5IZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: S3A3R5IZ </b></a> §REF§ “The rulers of the Chalukyan dynasty, though ardent followers of Brahminical religion showed equal patronage to Jainism. The Jain monks were very active and they had made a serious attempt to bring the whole country under the influence of their religion.” §REF§ (Ramamurti 1979: 43) N. Ramamurti, 1979. “Social And Religious Life As Depicted In The Chalukyan Sculptures”, M.Phil Dissertation, Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/S3A3R5IZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: S3A3R5IZ </b></a> §REF§“The Chalukyas were ardent practitioners of Hinduism, more specifically, Shaivism, or followers of Shiva; and to a lesser extent, Vaishnavism, followers of Vishnu. In particular, deities, such as Shiva, Vishnu, Kartikeya, and the Sapta Matrikas, also known as the Seven Mothers, were worshipped, and many temples were built around the region in their dedication.\" §REF§ (Sasaki 2012, 15) Sasaki, Bryce. 2012. “Chalukya Dynasties.” Edited by Andrea Stanton, Edward Ramsamy, Peter Seybolt, and Carolyn Elliott. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia. Thousand Oaks, Calif.; London: SAGE Publications.Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/PG9MHRIA\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: PG9MHRIA </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 10, "polity": { "id": 89, "name": "in_satavahana_emp", "long_name": "Satavahana Empire", "start_year": -100, "end_year": 200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 3, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“In the light of available sources it is evident that the Satavahana period marked the expansion of Brahmanism in the Deccan. The Satavahana rulers followed and patronized Brahmanism liberally.” §REF§ (Dayma 2005: 156) Dayma, Yogender. (2005). STRUCTURE OF LEGITIMATION UNDER THE EARLY KADAMBAS. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 66, 155–166. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4NTBSDJQ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 4NTBSDJQ </b></a> §REF§ “Though the Satavahanas were followers of Brahmanism, there is evidence of their giving support to bhikkhus [Buddhist monastic].” §REF§ (Gadkari 1996: 140) Gadkari, Jayant. (1996). Society and Religion: From Rugveda to Puranas. India: Popular Prakashan. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ADKUMS3Z\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: ADKUMS3Z </b></a> §REF§ “The Satavahanas seem to have been improvised brahmanas, which accounts for their zealous support of the Brahmanical order.” §REF§ (Sharma 1966: 90) Sharma, R. S. (1966). SATAVAHANA POLITY. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 28, 81–93. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/V7KV3P74\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: V7KV3P74 </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 11, "polity": { "id": 434, "name": "ml_bamana_k", "long_name": "Bamana kingdom", "start_year": 1712, "end_year": 1861 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 12, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Bamana Religion", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "Regarding this variable and the elite religion variable, expert Wallace Teska states: \"It’s true that the elites of the Bamana empire practiced indigenous religions, but in some towns (usually ones centered on the slave trade) Muslims formed the majority and held political power — like in Banamba. In this sense, ‘official religion’ varied by village/town.\"\r\n\r\n\"Historically, Bamana culture was distinguished from other Mandekan peoples such as the Soninke and Maninka by the relatively slow progress that Islam was able to make against local traditional religion. Muslim families who were mostly of Soninke origin were present in the Bamana Segou state beginning with the time of its founder, Mamary Biton Kulubali (c. 1712-c. 1755), but the rulers (faamaaw) and most of the population continued in the traditional system of belief until the burning of the boliw and forced conversions following the Islamic conquest of Al-Hajj Umar in 1861. There were Muslims in Segou from the time of its founding, but the four great boliw were the cornerstones of the state religion and power structure, and the profound faith in their protective qualities doubtless had a good deal to do with the Bamana's extended resistance to Islam. A Segou \"faama\" could not govern without control of the four great boliw, which were critical to the acquisition and maintenance of political power.\"§REF§D. Conrad , 2008, in J.P. Colleyn (ed.) \"Bamana: the art of existence in Mali\" pp. 35-43. New York: Museum of African Art.§REF§" }, { "id": 12, "polity": { "id": 432, "name": "ma_saadi_sultanate", "long_name": "Saadi Sultanate", "start_year": 1554, "end_year": 1659 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 8, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Sunni Islam", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“In the early modern period, the Saadi dynasty (1554-1659) also contributed to the process of embedding Sharifism as the main characteristic of the political arena. They linked Sharifian rule with Moroccan political identity by claiming descent from the Prophet, though some scholars think that the name ‘Saadi’ derives from Halima Saadya, the Prophet’s wet nurse.” §REF§ (Rhorchi :2020) Rhorchi, Fatima. 2020. ‘Consolidating Authority in Seventeenth-Century Morocco: Sultan Moulay Ismail’s Strategies for Legitimacy.” In Dynastic Change: Legitimacy and Gender in Medieval and Early Modern Monarchy. Edited by Ana Maria S.A. Rodrigues. Milton Park: Taylor and Francis. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/6XDF437F\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 6XDF437F </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 13, "polity": { "id": 223, "name": "ma_almoravid_dyn", "long_name": "Almoravids", "start_year": 1035, "end_year": 1150 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 8, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Sunni Islam", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "The following quote states that the Almoravid empire was conceived as a centralised Islamic government: ‘the Moors exhibit much of pride in attributing to Ibn Yasin the foundation of the Islamic school, because he was a Moor himself, because he unified the tribes of western Sahara, and because he created an Islamic central government that started the Almoravid empire (from black West Africa to south of Spain).’ §REF§ El Hamel, C. (1999). ‘The Transmission of Islamic Knowledge in Moorish Society from the Rise of the Almoravids to the 19th Century.’ Journal of Religion in Africa, 29(1), 68. https://doi.org/10.2307/1581787 Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/45MHRCJJ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 45MHRCJJ </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 14, "polity": { "id": 229, "name": "ml_mali_emp", "long_name": "Mali Empire", "start_year": 1230, "end_year": 1410 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 8, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Sunni Islam", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "Regarding this variable, expert Wallace Teska emphasized: \"It’s important to also consider to whom they are making these professions. The people who recorded these accounts were Muslims, so, naturally, the rulers of Mali claimed to be devout Muslims. To their own people, however, they likely emphasized their significance within indigenous spiritual traditions (like the later faamaw of Bamana empire).\"\r\n\r\n\"In the Mali empire the Islamization of its rulers occurred at the end of the seventh/thirteenth century under the descendants of Sundiata. Although Ibn Battuta and Ibn Khaldûn maintain that this founding hero was converted to Islam, the Malinke oral tradition vehemently insists on his character as a 'pagan' magician and denies any conversion. But already Sundiata's son and successor Mansa Uli performed the pilgrimage during the reign of the Mamluk sultan, Baybars (658/1260-676/1277). Under his rule Mali expanded over the Sahel and took control of the trading towns of Waläta, Timbuktu and Gao, thus coming into a more direct contact with Islamized peoples than in the centuries before. From his reign onwards the royal pilgrimage became a permanent tradition among the mansas. The Islamic outlook of the empire took shape in the eighth/fourteenth century under Mansa Musa (c. 712/1312-738/1337) and his brother Mansa Sulaymän (f. 738/1341-761/1360) who encouraged the building of mosques and the development of Islamic learning.\" §REF§I. Hrbek and M. El Fasi, Stages in the development of Islam and its dissemination in Africa, in in M. El Fasi and I. Hrbek (eds.) General History of Africa, vol. 3: Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century (1988), pp. 56-91§REF§ “The early rulers of Goa and Ghana understood that their links with Muslim trade networks and borrowings from Islamic culture increased their power and wealth, even if they did not utter the Islamic profession of faith and pray in the Muslim way. They may have described themselves as Muslim and were generally acknowledged as such, but they had to retain the allegiance of subjects who remained non-Muslim or combined Islam with other heritages. It was a model that, with variations, was replicated throughout centuries of West African history and if applied even to sovereigns renowned for their Islamic piety, such as Mansa Musa of Mali and Askia (or Askiya) Muhammad I of Songhay.” §REF§ (De Moraes Farias 2020: 133) De Moraes Farias, Paulo F. 2020. ‘Islam in the West African Sahel’. In Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara. Edited by A. La Gamma. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HPASJ4RZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: HPASJ4RZ </b></a> §REF§ “Islamic law did not become the official law in the Sahel. On the contrary, Sahelian ways of thinking and those that had become established in the world of Islam entered into a form of dialogue. These ideological negotiations made it possible to articulate the projects of Sahelian authorities and the interests of trans-Saharan traders and the northern markets and rulers they supplied. The more the Sahelian rulers integrated themselves into the economic and cultural dynamics of the Islamic world, the more useful it become for them to borrow from the cosmopolitan idiom of Islam, within which they reaffirmed their political autonomy in the sphere of Islam. However, they also integrated foreign Muslim interest with arrangements formulated in older non-Muslim ideological idioms.” §REF§ (De Moraes Farias 2021: 112) De Moraes Farias, Paulo F. 2021. “De l’or et des esclaves: les routes transsaharieenes de l’esclavage Sahel, VIIIe -XIVe siecles. In Les mondes de l’esclavages- une histoire compare. Edited by P. Ismard et. al. Paris: Seuil. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8AZ2AJ6W\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 8AZ2AJ6W </b></a> §REF§ According to D.T. Niane, when traveller Ibn Battuta visited this polity late in the fourteenth century, he noted that \"the emperor also remained faithful to certain pagan customs, and Ibn Battuuta was shocked by many unorthodox practices. Apart from the presence of Arabs and the slight Muslim veneer, what happened at the court of the mansa differed very little from what might have been seen at the courts of non-Muslim kings, for example those of Mossi\" §REF§D.T. Niane. Mali and the second Mandingo expansion, in D.T. Niane (ed), \"The General History of Africa, vol. 4: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century\" (1984), pp. 117-171§REF§ “While Yerelinkon’s [Mansa Uli, the second Mansa of the Mali Empire] actual relationship to Sunjata is uncertain he would remain Yerelinkon to the Manika. In contrast, Ibn Khaldun identifies him as Wali, which together with the Pilgrimage reflects a decision to Islamicize the royal persona, a strategy by which several subsequent claimants would attempt to bring order to the realm. This use of dual names is instructive, reflecting Islam’s growth with a society yet wedded to its own social and cultural conventions. The pairing of Mande and Arabic names also reveals a sense of Mali as a realm of rising significance.” […] “Within the Mande cultural context, however, the hajj could be interpreted as a double move, a multiple and intertwining cultural signifier. In undertaking the required dali-ma-sigi or ‘quest’ to enter spiritual spaces to appropriate its power, the Simbon spent considerable time in certain natural formations and special sites- but what could be a greater source of power and blessing than the holy places of the Hijaz? In making hajj, therefore, Mande rulers were not only pursuing Islam, but also potentially gesturing toward indigenous, deeply embedded beliefs. Imbued with both Islamic and non-Islamic valence, the Pilgrimage is a spiritual feat like no other, representing a consummate political strategy of legitimization.” §REF§ (Gomez 2008: 97) Gomez, Michael. 2008. African Dominion: A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Seshat ULR: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/RIE9U2C7\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: RIE9U2C7 </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 15, "polity": { "id": 224, "name": "mr_wagadu_3", "long_name": "Later Wagadu Empire", "start_year": 1078, "end_year": 1203 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 4, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Islam", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "Either through violent imposition or peaceful persuasion, the rulers of Ghana converted to Islam following contact with the Almoravids of North Africa, in about 1076 §REF§I. Hrbek and M. El Fasi, Stages in the development of Islam and its dissemination in Africa, in in M. El Fasi and I. Hrbek (eds.) General History of Africa, vol. 3: Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century (1988), pp. 56-91§REF§. \"The ruling class had a real interest in presenting an Islamized front - by the organization of its courts and by performing the pilgrimage - in order to establish and improve good relations with its North African clients and partners. In the internal sphere one of the great problems of the imperial rulers was how to secure the allegiance of other subjected pagan clans and peoples which possessed totally different ancestor and land cults from those of the ruling dynasty. A universal religion such as Islam seemed to offer a suitable solution; an effort was made to implant it at least among the heads of other lineages and clans and to establish a new common religious bond. The increasing extent of the empires made the effective administration of the realm more complicated; in this respect the help of Muslim scribes and other literate persons was indispensable for correspondence and control of state affairs. The influence of Muslim clerics at the courts must have been great, thus preparing the ground for the ultimate conversion of the ruler and his family.//\"This does not mean that the kings were necessarily very devout or deep Muslims. They also had to reckon with the local customs and traditional beliefs of the majority of their non-Muslim subjects who looked upon the rulers as incarnations of or intermediaries of supranatural powers. None of the rulers had the political power to enforce Islam or Islamic law without compromising the loyalty of the non-Muslims. This helps to explain the numerous pagan rites and ceremonies at the courts of Muslim kings like the mansas of Mali and of the askiyas of Songhay, men who had performed the pilgrimage and were commonly considered to be devout Muslims.\" §REF§I. Hrbek and M. El Fasi, Stages in the development of Islam and its dissemination in Africa, in in M. El Fasi and I. Hrbek (eds.) General History of Africa, vol. 3: Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century (1988), pp. 56-91§REF§" }, { "id": 16, "polity": { "id": 216, "name": "mr_wagadu_2", "long_name": "Middle Wagadu Empire", "start_year": 700, "end_year": 1077 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 24, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Wagadu Religion", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "According to a 11th-century account, \"Their religion is paganism and the worship of idols.\" §REF§al-Bakri, Abu Ubaydallah, 'A Description of 11th Century Ghana,' in \"Exploring the Global Past: Original Sources in World History, vo. 1\", edited by Dale Crandall-Bear (Dubuque, la.: Kendall/Hunt, 2001), 150-3§REF§" }, { "id": 17, "polity": { "id": 30, "name": "us_early_illinois_confederation", "long_name": "Early Illinois Confederation", "start_year": 1640, "end_year": 1717 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 25, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Illini religion", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "Although the Illini ‘accepted Christianity’, there is much debate as to what this meant both in practice as well as to the Illini. I have coded this variable ‘Illini religion’ as it seems they adopted the Christian god (based on the written records of the Christian colonists) but only within the confines of their own established religious beliefs. “As they embraced this new Christian God, the Illinois did not accept the French insistence that they worship only him. For the Illinois, different worldly spirits caused different worldly phenomena, and they continued to believe this even after they were taught of the Christian God.” §REF§ (Bilodeau, 358) Bilodeau, Christopher. 2001. ‘”They Honor Our Lord among Themselves in Their Own Way”: Colonial Christianity and the Illinois Indians’. American Indian Quarterly. Vol. 25. No. 3. Pp. 352-377. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/AFD5FRWH\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: AFD5FRWH </b></a>§REF§ “The Illinois worshiped one god above all others--Kitchesmanetoa, the \"spirit master of life\"--which they considered the maker of all things. They also honored the sun and the thunder, both of which were manifestations of Kitchesmanetoa that helped maintain life on earth.” §REF§ Illinois State Museum. 2000. ‘The Illinois Beliefs: Religion’. Museum.state.il.us. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T6XIUV2C\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: T6XIUV2C </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 18, "polity": { "id": 29, "name": "us_oneota", "long_name": "Oneota", "start_year": 1400, "end_year": 1650 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 26, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Upper Mississippian Religion", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "‘Rituals conducted within animate landscapes provide access and linkages to socio-religious based power and privilege. Mississippian plazas, for example, served as arenas where rituals could be publicly enacted to construct, contest, and negotiated (Kidder 2004; Cobb and Butler 2017), while medicine lodges and temples provide space for legerdemain theatrics that showcased powers bestowed and transferred to ritual practitioners by other-than-human beings (Dye 2020). To tap into the inherent powers of the cosmoscape, ritual specialists not only accessed the dawn time, but also performed and recounted its creation and the beginning of human existence (Morphy 1995; Staller 2008). Through rituals involving magical drugs, medicinal drinks, and purifying emetics, Mississippians created and maintained connections with spiritual entities at the ideological moment of creation through reciprocal obligations and cosmic debts (Cobb and Stephenson 2017). [...] Politically strategic decisions may be predicated on cosmopolitical conversations among ritual practitioners where reality is “fragmented, and many worlds can be at play in the same moment, contesting each other for relevance, or complementing one another’s perspectives” (Bold 2020, 197). We envision Oneota figural art on Tunican bottles as exhibiting cosmological beliefs in which conflicting or contrasting worldviews may be created, negotiated, resisted, and resolved.’ §REF§(Dye and Aid 2022: 88-89) Dye, David H. and Toney Aid. “Oneota and Tunican Cosmoscapes in the Lower Mississippi Valley.” In Archaeologies of Cosmoscapes in the Americas, edited by J. Grant Stauffer, Bretton T. Giles, and Shawn P. Lambert, 5:85–106. Oxbow Books, 2022.https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv3006xzg.8. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/89JNA4FA\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 89JNA4FA </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 19, "polity": { "id": 32, "name": "us_cahokia_1", "long_name": "Cahokia - Lohman-Stirling", "start_year": 1050, "end_year": 1199 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 27, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Mississippian Religion", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "Though authors differ as to whether this was a top-down or bottom-up process, this era saw the emergence of Mississippian culture, which included a significant religious valence. \"The Lohmann phase process of cultural homogenization (Emerson 1997; Pauketat 1996, 1998) across the American Bottom and adjacent areas demonstrated the social and cultural power of a central Cahokian elite to initiate change. In such early complex societies both the historic and archaeological records often note the presence of marked enclaves of 'foreigners'. Such foreigners are clearly 'others' to the residential populations. They may hold an ambivalent status within the local social and political structure or actually be excluded from participation in certain rituals and community functions.\"§REF§(Emerson and Hargrave 2000, 18). Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VZQ3PQ2R\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: VZQ3PQ2R </b></a>§REF§ \"I would argue that a new political order at Cahokia did not cause the new Mississippian technologies and material culture. This is because change was located within the encounters of difference. It was within the thirdspaces of those encounters that new meanings and new forms were conceived and combined in the re-created spaces of Cahokia. [...] It resulted in what we now call Mississippian.\"§REF§(Alt 2006, 302) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VKAWPV5E\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: VKAWPV5E </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 20, "polity": { "id": 418, "name": "in_gurjara_pratihara_dyn", "long_name": "Gurjar-Pratihara Dynasty", "start_year": 730, "end_year": 1030 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 3, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"The Gahadavala kings, like the Pratiharas whose religion has already been stated, did not confine their devotions to one member only of the great Hindu pantheon.\"§REF§(Tripathi 1989, 351)§REF§" }, { "id": 21, "polity": { "id": 388, "name": "in_gupta_emp", "long_name": "Gupta Empire", "start_year": 320, "end_year": 550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": true, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 5, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Saivist Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“Apart from the inscription, the coins of Chandra Gupta II indicate his personal religion of Vaishnavism.” §REF§ (Mookerji 1973, 51) Mookerji, Radhakumud. 1973. The Gupta Empire. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CM336BF3\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: CM336BF3 </b></a> §REF§ “While considering the question of the religion of the Imperial Guptas, the scholars who have already tackled the subject have reached the unanimous conclusion that the Guptas of the Imperial age were the followers of the Viasnava school and had implicit faith in Vaisnavism.” §REF§ (Dikshitar 1993, 285) Dikshitar, V.K. Ramachandra. 1993. The Gupta Polity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GCGBPGRT\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: GCGBPGRT </b></a> §REF§ “The Gupta monarchs style themselves Paramabhagaratas and this is sufficient to show that they clung to the Vaishnava religion and they were themselves Vaishnava.” §REF§ (Dikshitar 1993, 291) Dikshitar, V.K. Ramachandra. 1993. The Gupta Polity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GCGBPGRT\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: GCGBPGRT </b></a> §REF§ “Saivism was also the accepted religion of both royalty and commonfolk and effectively left its impress on the people in the Gupta times.” §REF§ (Dikshitar 1993, 298) Dikshitar, V.K. Ramachandra. 1993. The Gupta Polity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GCGBPGRT\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: GCGBPGRT </b></a> §REF§ “A study of these monuments reveal that they Gupta monarchs were worshippers of Siva in his different manifestations. They were not only devotees of this god but were equally devoted to the consort of Siva, Parvati, and Karttikeya, the son of Siva and also of the Saptamatrkas all connected to Siva worship. These monuments devoted to the various gods and goddesses of the Saiva pantheon are enough to demonstrate the fact fully that they were worshippers both in Visnu and Siva temples.” §REF§ (Dikshitar 1993, 299) Dikshitar, V.K. Ramachandra. 1993. The Gupta Polity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GCGBPGRT\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: GCGBPGRT </b></a> §REF§ NB also: “To achieve this end the Durga cult came in very handy and by offering their prayers to this goddess they were able to win a large empire. That is why we find that they engaged themselves in the worship of Sakti; for they realised that Saktism as an aspect of religion was rooted in Vedic literature, and without Sakti the purusa becomes an inactive principle. The very fact that the worship of Sakti was a fundamental concept in their religion indicates beyond a shadow of doubt that the Gupta monarchs were to some extent Sakta worshippers also.” §REF§ (Dikshitar 1993, 308) Dikshitar, V.K. Ramachandra. 1993. The Gupta Polity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GCGBPGRT\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: GCGBPGRT </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 22, "polity": { "id": 388, "name": "in_gupta_emp", "long_name": "Gupta Empire", "start_year": 320, "end_year": 550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": true, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 6, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Vaisnavist Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“Apart from the inscription, the coins of Chandra Gupta II indicate his personal religion of Vaishnavism.” §REF§ (Mookerji 1973, 51) Mookerji, Radhakumud. 1973. The Gupta Empire. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CM336BF3\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: CM336BF3 </b></a> §REF§ “While considering the question of the religion of the Imperial Guptas, the scholars who have already tackled the subject have reached the unanimous conclusion that the Guptas of the Imperial age were the followers of the Viasnava school and had implicit faith in Vaisnavism.” §REF§ (Dikshitar 1993, 285) Dikshitar, V.K. Ramachandra. 1993. The Gupta Polity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GCGBPGRT\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: GCGBPGRT </b></a> §REF§ “The Gupta monarchs style themselves Paramabhagaratas and this is sufficient to show that they clung to the Vaishnava religion and they were themselves Vaishnava.” §REF§ (Dikshitar 1993, 291) Dikshitar, V.K. Ramachandra. 1993. The Gupta Polity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GCGBPGRT\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: GCGBPGRT </b></a> §REF§ “Saivism was also the accepted religion of both royalty and commonfolk and effectively left its impress on the people in the Gupta times.” §REF§ (Dikshitar 1993, 298) Dikshitar, V.K. Ramachandra. 1993. The Gupta Polity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GCGBPGRT\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: GCGBPGRT </b></a> §REF§ “A study of these monuments reveal that they Gupta monarchs were worshippers of Siva in his different manifestations. They were not only devotees of this god but were equally devoted to the consort of Siva, Parvati, and Karttikeya, the son of Siva and also of the Saptamatrkas all connected to Siva worship. These monuments devoted to the various gods and goddesses of the Saiva pantheon are enough to demonstrate the fact fully that they were worshippers both in Visnu and Siva temples.” §REF§ (Dikshitar 1993, 299) Dikshitar, V.K. Ramachandra. 1993. The Gupta Polity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GCGBPGRT\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: GCGBPGRT </b></a> §REF§ NB also: “To achieve this end the Durga cult came in very handy and by offering their prayers to this goddess they were able to win a large empire. That is why we find that they engaged themselves in the worship of Sakti; for they realised that Saktism as an aspect of religion was rooted in Vedic literature, and without Sakti the purusa becomes an inactive principle. The very fact that the worship of Sakti was a fundamental concept in their religion indicates beyond a shadow of doubt that the Gupta monarchs were to some extent Sakta worshippers also.” §REF§ (Dikshitar 1993, 308) Dikshitar, V.K. Ramachandra. 1993. The Gupta Polity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GCGBPGRT\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: GCGBPGRT </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 23, "polity": { "id": 414, "name": "in_ganga_nl", "long_name": "Neolithic Middle Ganga", "start_year": -7000, "end_year": -3001 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 8, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Sunni Islam", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"Like every other Mughal ruler, Aurangzeb was born a Muslim and practiced his inherited religion throughout his life.\"§REF§(Truschke 2017: 66) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/MQAWGCQB\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: MQAWGCQB </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 24, "polity": { "id": 405, "name": "in_gahadavala_dyn", "long_name": "Gahadavala Dynasty", "start_year": 1085, "end_year": 1193 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 5, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Saivist Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"The Gahadavala kings, like the Pratiharas whose religion has already been stated, did not confine their devotions to one member only of the great Hindu pantheon. Thus, while they officially describe themselves as 'Paramamahesvara,' i.e., 'devout worshippers of the god Siva,' their records also invoke in the beginning the blessings of Sri (Laksmi), the goddess of prosperity, and Damodara (Ganesa), and on the seals attached to the copper-plates there are representations of the flying Gardua and conch-shell (Pancajanya conch?), which may indicate their predilection towards Vaisnavism.\"§REF§(Tripathi 1989, 351) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/EAMVURAK\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: EAMVURAK </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 25, "polity": { "id": 415, "name": "in_ganga_ca", "long_name": "Chalcolithic Middle Ganga", "start_year": -3000, "end_year": -601 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 91, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "unknown", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"We do not have any indication about the religious beliefs of the Chalcolithic inhabitants of the Middle Ganga Plain.\"§REF§(Singh 2004: 149) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/D6NWCU5A\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: D6NWCU5A </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 26, "polity": { "id": 384, "name": "in_mahajanapada", "long_name": "Mahajanapada era", "start_year": -600, "end_year": -324 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 31, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Vedic Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "The following suggests that Brahmanism was the official religion, but that towards the end of this period the spread of Buddhism began to change this in some polities. \"We can imagine that the old orthodoxy, linked as it was to the Brahman varna, might have had a diminishing appeal to an urbanising and reshaping Kshatriya class, especially in the mid-Ganga region, which was lightly Brahmanised in any case. [...] Buddhism found royal patronage most momentously in the kingdom of Magadha, which emerged as an imperial power under the rule of the Nandas in the fourth century bce.\" §REF§(Babb 2020: 38) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/KWR3R7US\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: KWR3R7US </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 27, "polity": { "id": 87, "name": "in_mauryan_emp", "long_name": "Magadha - Maurya Empire", "start_year": -324, "end_year": -187 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": true, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 3, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“There can be little doubt that Candragupta must have invoked further the assistance of Canakya to guide him in the administration of the empire by awarding to him the office of chancellorship. From the extant Arthasastra, of which he was the author, it is transparent that the public religion of the state as well as the personal religion of the Emperor were the same, namely the Brahmanical religion.” §REF§ (Dikshitar 1993, 262-263) Dikshitar, V.R. Ramachandra. 1993. The Mauryan Polity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5AXDPMXJ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 5AXDPMXJ </b></a> §REF§ “Candragupta is said to have been a Jaina and Bindusara, the father of Asoka, favoured the ajivikas, both of which were non-orthodox sects, and if anything were antagonistic to brahmanical ideas. It is therefore not surprising that Asoka himself did not conform to brahmanical theory and preferred to patronize the Buddhists.” §REF§ (Thapar 2012, 4). Thapar, Romilia. Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCU2B4QM\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: VCU2B4QM </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 28, "polity": { "id": 87, "name": "in_mauryan_emp", "long_name": "Magadha - Maurya Empire", "start_year": -324, "end_year": -187 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": true, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 2, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Jainism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“There can be little doubt that Candragupta must have invoked further the assistance of Canakya to guide him in the administration of the empire by awarding to him the office of chancellorship. From the extant Arthasastra, of which he was the author, it is transparent that the public religion of the state as well as the personal religion of the Emperor were the same, namely the Brahmanical religion.” §REF§ (Dikshitar 1993, 262-263) Dikshitar, V.R. Ramachandra. 1993. The Mauryan Polity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5AXDPMXJ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 5AXDPMXJ </b></a> §REF§ “Candragupta is said to have been a Jaina and Bindusara, the father of Asoka, favoured the ajivikas, both of which were non-orthodox sects, and if anything were antagonistic to brahmanical ideas. It is therefore not surprising that Asoka himself did not conform to brahmanical theory and preferred to patronize the Buddhists.” §REF§ (Thapar 2012, 4). Thapar, Romilia. Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCU2B4QM\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: VCU2B4QM </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 29, "polity": { "id": 397, "name": "in_chola_emp", "long_name": "Chola Empire", "start_year": 849, "end_year": 1280 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 5, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Saivist Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"The reigns of Rājarāja I and his son Rājēndra I, spanning the period 985-1044 A.D., represent a period of consolidation between the innovations of the earlier bhakti enthusiasts and the new departures under later innovators such as Rāmānuja, around the beginning of the 12th century A.D.) Their reigns were important for a strengthening of the institutional framework of sectarian Hinduism in general and of Śaivism in particular. The early decades of imperial Chola rule, from the late 9th century up through the reigns of these two kings, constituted the period in which the Tamil Śaivite canon was standardized and reduced to systematic order.\" §REF§ (Spencer 1969, 46) Spencer, George W. 1969. ‘Religious Networks and Royal Influence in Eleventh Century South India’. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Vol 12: 1. Pp. 42-56. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5XDG98BE\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 5XDG98BE </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 30, "polity": { "id": 630, "name": "sl_polonnaruva", "long_name": "Polonnaruwa", "start_year": 1070, "end_year": 1255 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 37, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Theraväda Buddhism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“The inevitable result of the Cōḷa conquest was the Hindu-Brāhmanical and Saiva religious practices, Dravidian art and architecture, and the Tamil language itself became overwhelmingly powerful in their intrusive impact on the religion and culture of Sri Lanka. [...] It is against this background that the recovery of Buddhism under the Polonnaruva kings needs to be reviewed. The most substantial contributions came from Vijayabāhu I and Parākramabāhu I. The unification of the saṅgha in the latter’s reign was one of the most significant events in the history of Sinhalese Buddhism […] The resuscitatory zeal of these two monarchs in particular demonstrated afresh the remarkable resilience of Sri Lankan Buddhism. Sinhalese bhikkhus maintained contacts with distant centres of Buddhism like Nepal and Tibet; they also made vigorous but unsuccessful attempts to spread their teachings in Bengal, apart from engaging in spirited disputes with their Theravādin colleagues in South India on questions relating to the interpretation of the canon. It was South-East Asia, however, that was most receptive to their teachings, and the expansion of Sinhalese Theravāda Buddhism in that region was an important trend in this cultural history during this period.” §REF§ (De Silva 1981, 73-74) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4R6DQVHZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 4R6DQVHZ </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 31, "polity": { "id": 634, "name": "sl_jaffa_k", "long_name": "Jaffna", "start_year": 1310, "end_year": 1591 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 1, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Buddhism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"Dambadeniya rulers worked tirelessly for the development of Buddhism as the state religion.\"§REF§(Sudharmawathie 2013, abstract) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/D6HGQZ9R\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: D6HGQZ9R </b></a>§REF§ “For Buddhism, then, this was a period of trouble. As the ‘official’ religion it shared in the vicissitudes of the state, with recurrent episodes of accelerated deterioration coinciding more or less with periods of political instability and intermittent revivals when strong rulers imposed their authority on the country. [...] [T]he official religion had long since ceased to be purely Theravada.” §REF§ (De Silva 1981: 194) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4R6DQVHZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 4R6DQVHZ </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 32, "polity": { "id": 743, "name": "nl_dutch_emp_2", "long_name": "Late Dutch Empire", "start_year": 1815, "end_year": 1940 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 38, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Calvinist Christianity", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"However, the VOC encouraged the inhabitants of the territory under their control to adopt Calvinism. The membership of the Dutch Reformed Church was made a prerequisite for high offices. Nevertheless, there was no great consistency in this practice.\"§REF§(Paranavitana 2004, 10) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/PAUD9EW9\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: PAUD9EW9 </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 33, "polity": { "id": 628, "name": "sl_dambadeniya", "long_name": "Dambadaneiya", "start_year": 1232, "end_year": 1293 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 1, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Buddhism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"Dambadeniya rulers worked tirelessly for the development of Buddhism as the state religion.\"§REF§(Sudharmawathie: 2013) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/D6HGQZ9R\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: D6HGQZ9R </b></a>§REF§ “For Buddhism, then, this was a period of trouble. As the ‘official’ religion it shared in the vicissitudes of the state, with recurrent episodes of accelerated deterioration coinciding more or less with periods of political instability and intermittent revivals when strong rulers imposed their authority on the country. [...] [T]he official religion had long since ceased to be purely Theravada.” §REF§ (De Silva 1981: 194) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4R6DQVHZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 4R6DQVHZ </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 34, "polity": { "id": 633, "name": "sl_anuradhapura_1", "long_name": "Anurādhapura I", "start_year": -300, "end_year": 70 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 37, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Theraväda Buddhism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"[K]ings who patronised the official religion, Buddhism, supported Hindu temples and observed Brāhmanic practices as well.” §REF§ (De Silva 1981, 9, 50). De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4R6DQVHZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 4R6DQVHZ </b></a> §REF§ “Though it was never able to displace Theravāda Buddhism from its position of primary, Mahāyānism had a profound influence on Sri Lankan Buddhism.” §REF§ (De Silva 1981, 49) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4R6DQVHZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 4R6DQVHZ </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 35, "polity": { "id": 627, "name": "in_pandya_emp_3", "long_name": "Pandya Empire", "start_year": 1216, "end_year": 1323 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 5, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Saivist Hinduism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 36, "polity": { "id": 635, "name": "sl_anuradhapura_2", "long_name": "Anurādhapura II", "start_year": 70, "end_year": 428 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 37, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Theraväda Buddhism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"[K]ings who patronised the official religion, Buddhism, supported Hindu temples and observed Brāhmanic practices as well.” §REF§ (De Silva 1981, 9, 50). De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4R6DQVHZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 4R6DQVHZ </b></a> §REF§ “Though it was never able to displace Theravāda Buddhism from its position of primary, Mahāyānism had a profound influence on Sri Lankan Buddhism.” §REF§ (De Silva 1981, 49) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4R6DQVHZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 4R6DQVHZ </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 37, "polity": { "id": 631, "name": "sl_anuradhapura_3", "long_name": "Anurādhapura III", "start_year": 428, "end_year": 614 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 37, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Theraväda Buddhism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"[K]ings who patronised the official religion, Buddhism, supported Hindu temples and observed Brāhmanic practices as well.” §REF§ (De Silva 1981, 9, 50). De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4R6DQVHZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 4R6DQVHZ </b></a> §REF§ “Though it was never able to displace Theravāda Buddhism from its position of primary, Mahāyānism had a profound influence on Sri Lankan Buddhism.” §REF§ (De Silva 1981, 49) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4R6DQVHZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 4R6DQVHZ </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 38, "polity": { "id": 629, "name": "sl_anuradhapura_4", "long_name": "Anurādhapura IV", "start_year": 614, "end_year": 1017 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 37, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Theraväda Buddhism", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"[K]ings who patronised the official religion, Buddhism, supported Hindu temples and observed Brāhmanic practices as well.” §REF§ (De Silva 1981, 9, 50). De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4R6DQVHZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 4R6DQVHZ </b></a> §REF§ “Though it was never able to displace Theravāda Buddhism from its position of primary, Mahāyānism had a profound influence on Sri Lankan Buddhism.” §REF§ (De Silva 1981, 49) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4R6DQVHZ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 4R6DQVHZ </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 39, "polity": { "id": 670, "name": "ni_bornu_emp", "long_name": "Kanem-Borno", "start_year": 1380, "end_year": 1893 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 4, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Islam", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“Islam had an important political role in Kanem-Bornu as the change of dynasty between the Duguwa and the Sayfawa in the 11th century seems to have been triggered by political and religious factors. Indeed, Hummay (r.1075–1080) became ruler of Kanem and founded the Sayfawa dynasty with the help of a pro-Islam faction in the Kanem court (Lange 1993: 265). Moreover, Islam had an influence on the expansionist policies of the state as the development of the kingdom could be justified by the conversion of non-Muslims. Islam also influenced the discourse of state-creation as rulers during this period claimed to be descended from a Yemenite ancestor, the 7th century figure Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan of Himyar (Smith 1983). Moreover, since the end of the 15th century, and maybe since an earlier date, the mai (the head of the empire) assumed the title of “caliph” (Lavers 1993: 257) and the Sayfawa throne was also supposed to be the degal lisalambe, the “cradle of Islam.” As a consequence, the mais used Islamic advisors and, in theory, their power could not exceed the prescriptions of the Sharia. This creation of a Muslim religious ancestry was a common practice through which trans-Saharan African empires could assert their religious and kinship ties with Arabia.” §REF§Hiribarren, V. (2016). Kanem-Bornu Empire. In N. Dalziel & J. M. MacKenzie (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Empire (pp. 1–6). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.: 3. <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/KNHK5ANQ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: KNHK5ANQ </b></a>§REF§ “The Kanuri people of Borno cannot separate their state and society from Islam, because throughout remembered history, the Borno state, society and the religion of Islam are each an aspect of the other. Islam had been a state religion in Borno's precursor state of Kanem as far back as the early thirteenth century A.D., where more than a century earlier, a ruler of Kanem had already converted to Islam, and the religion was penetrating peacefully through foreign traders and itinerant scholars even much earlier.” §REF§Tijani, K. (1993). THE MUNE IN PRE-COLONIAL BORNO. Berichte Des Sonderforschungsbereichs, 268(2), 227–254: 228. <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2VQBX7DW\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 2VQBX7DW </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 40, "polity": { "id": 775, "name": "mw_northern_maravi_k", "long_name": "Northern Maravi Kingdom", "start_year": 1500, "end_year": 1621 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 45, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Maravi Religion", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"There can be no doubt that the Maravi rulers saw the existing territorial shrines as a hindrance to their ambitions, and those who controlled the shrines viewed the state cults as a threat to their position[...]. [T]he only workable solution may have been some adaptation of the autochthonous religion in combination with their own cult. [...] It seems clear from traditions collected in several parts of Maravi country that the Mbewe clan put up a most vigorous resistance, which is understandable in view of their central role in the cult system. On several occasions the Maravi resorted to the use of arms to bring about the desired innovations. At a very early stage one of the Kalongas sent war parties up to Kaphirintiwa [traditionally believed to the oldest shrine], but these were successfully repulsed by the Mbewe. \"The next stage may have been a Maravi attempt to set up a rival system. This is suggested by a body of tradition which is found among both the northern and southern Maravi and which in our case is represented by the biographies in the Mbona II and III traditions. In Texts II/A and II/B the rulers of the early states try to establish their own rain-calling agencies.\" §REF§(Schoeffeleers 1992: 47-48) Schoeffeleers, J.M. 1992. River of Blood: The Genesis of a Martyr Cult in Southern Malawi, c. A.D. 1600. The University of Wisconsin Press: 33-34. <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/A88E23E4\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: A88E23E4 </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 41, "polity": { "id": 687, "name": "Early Niynginya", "long_name": "Kingdom of Nyinginya", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 46, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Cwezi-Kubandwa Religion", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"There is little doubt that immigrant Babito kings relied heavily on their supposed dynastic relationship to the Cwezi in their quest for ideological legitimacy. Kings made public pilgrimages and gave generous gifts to the shrines of Cwezi deities on behalf of their people. That Cwezi deities all had their own Nilotic mpako (pet) names, which were used by the initiated in their supplications, supports the argument that the incoming Nilotic Babito attempted to domesticate a pre-existing religious system (Beattie 1961a: 13).5 Yet this relationship between kings and Cwezi spirits was ever-evolving, shaped, it seems, by the complexities of alliance building and favour seeking. That the priestly elite maintained some autonomy and influence was best illustrated during royal succession struggles, when shrine heads sometimes accepted the risks involved in partisanship.\" §REF§(Doyle 2007: 563) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9EXDF5UP\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 9EXDF5UP </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 42, "polity": { "id": 609, "name": "si_freetown_1", "long_name": "Freetown", "start_year": 1787, "end_year": 1808 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 47, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Protestant Christianity", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"The Africans repatriated from England, North America, and the Caribbean between 1787 and 1800 came with their plethora of Christian churches and train of missionaries. For these groups, Christianity was not simply an external imposition but part of an identity that had been forged in the crucible of Atlantic enslavement, resistance, and freedom. While they had many disagreements with their abolitionist benefactors, some of them violent, Christianity did provide a common ground for the different groups.\"§REF§(Cole 2013: 17) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GDHQC76E\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: GDHQC76E </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 43, "polity": { "id": 607, "name": "si_early_modern_interior", "long_name": "Early Modern Sierra Leone", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1896 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 49, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Sierra Leone Religion", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, Mande Muslim traders migrated to the Guinea-Sierra Leone hinterland seeking land and trade relations (Skinner 1978:34-35; cf. Triminghan and Fyfe 1960:36). They settled in villages along the trade routes of Sierra Leone, forming villages of their own where they combined cultivation with their trade. The Mande were accepted by the indigenes among whom they settled and with whom they intermarried (Triminghan and Fyfe 1960:36). [...] Another account of the infiltration of Islam into Sierra Leone recounts its expansion south from the Sudan through small groups of Fula and Mandingo traders in the eighteenth century (Fyle 1981:27; cf. Bah 1991:464). Upon arrival in any place, and during their temporary or permanent stay, the Fula and Mandingo opened schools to teach Arabic and the tenets of Islam (Alharazim 1939:14; cf. Parsons 1964:226; Bah 1991:464). Many of the people and their leaders rallied around these teachers, embraced the Muslim faith, and became the patrons of their teachers (1939:14). [...] In spite of this seemingly fruitful interaction between the Mandingo and the indigenes, these early Fula and Mandingo immigrants did not succeed in establishing Islam in Sierra Leone to any strong degree (1981:29).”§REF§(Conteh 2009: 92-93) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WNZ725MA\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: WNZ725MA </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 44, "polity": { "id": 710, "name": "tz_tana", "long_name": "Classic Tana", "start_year": 1000, "end_year": 1498 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 4, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Islam", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"A tenth-century first-hand account by al-Mas’udi (Freeman-Grenville 1962) described the place ‘Qanbalu’, with a Muslim ruling family (probably on Pemba; LaViolette, this volume).\"§REF§(Zhao and Qin 2015: 433) Zhao, B. and D. Qin. 2015. Links with China. In S. Wynne-Jones and A. LaViolette (eds.) The Swahili World pp. 430-443. Routledge. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/UTT8K4EQ\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: UTT8K4EQ </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 45, "polity": { "id": 220, "name": "td_kanem", "long_name": "Kanem Empire", "start_year": 850, "end_year": 1380 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 91, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "unknown", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "No information found in the literature consulted, which focuses almost exclusively on the period following the advent of Islam." }, { "id": 46, "polity": { "id": 679, "name": "se_jolof_emp", "long_name": "Jolof Empire", "start_year": 1360, "end_year": 1549 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 50, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Wolof Religion", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "According to expert Douglas Thomas, he also mentions, \"According to the literature, the populace did show a marked reluctance to Islam early on, probably because Islam presented marked challenges to the socio-economic order.\" “Although exposed to Islamic influences through Muslim clerics, traders and court advisers, the Djolof Empire, unlike Tekrur resisted Islamization and most leaders and people remained firmly attached to their traditional religious practices. §REF§ (Gellar, 2020) Gellar, Sheldon. 2020. Senegal: An African Nation Between Islam and the West. Second Edition. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ZCQVA3UX\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: ZCQVA3UX </b></a> §REF§" }, { "id": 47, "polity": { "id": 608, "name": "gm_kaabu_emp", "long_name": "Kaabu", "start_year": 1500, "end_year": 1867 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 51, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Kaabu Religion", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "The following quote suggests that the official religion for the Kaabu was traditional religion, expert should confirm this. “Niane concurs with the seventeenth century French traveller Jojolet de la Courbe, who called Kaabu a pagan kingdom [around the 13th century]. However, by the seventeenth century it was very tolerant of Islamic dyula traders – this tolerance may itself have been because the dyula themselves leavened their Islam with non-Islamic rituals.” §REF§ (Green 2011, 42) Green, T. 2011. The Rise of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Western Africa, 1300–1589. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DV3R5U4Q\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: DV3R5U4Q </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 48, "polity": { "id": 657, "name": "ni_formative_yoruba", "long_name": "Late Formative Yoruba", "start_year": 650, "end_year": 1049 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 53, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Orisha Religion", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“Another significant development that took place during the LF [Late Formative] era was the transformation in religious worship and ideology, with the accompanying emergence of minimalist figurative human sculptures. The Oramfe cult/deity that had held together the loose socio political confederacy of the Early Formative polities in Ile-Ife ceased to be the nexus of political ideology and religious worship. Rather an elaborate and hierarchical ritual structure developed and the royal personality rather than the physical landscape became the focus of religious activities at the community level. Although natural phenomena such as hills and rivers continued to play important roles in religious worship, not only did royal rituals become the core of public participation but also the institutions of these rituals became a major source of patronage of arts and of religious and social values.” […] “This association suggests that the artistic innovations of the LFP [Late Formative Period] were derived in part from the structural contexts of the preceding EFP [Early Formative Period] and in part from the factional conflicts that pervaded the LFP. In fact, the figurative human stone sculptures from Ile-Ife are associated in the oral traditions and religious worship with the political leaders that belonged to the Obatala factional group: Obatala, Oreluere, and Ijugbe. It seems that the emergence of humanism-realism in stone sculptures especially in rendition of political figures of the Late Formative Period, was an innovation that developed in the context of the shifts in political cleavages that narrowed the apparatus of decision-making to few personalities. The pervading conflicts of the period most likely accentuated the visibility of leaders with charismatic and strong personalities. The leadership skills and talents of those individuals, as administrators and warriors, earned them ascribed supernatural qualities that formerly applied to only the non-human entities such as Oramfe hill. These deified personalities therefore became the focus of religious worship and artistic representation.” §REF§ (Ogundiran 2003: 45) Ogundiran, Akinwumi. 2003. ‘Chronology, Material Culture, and Pathways to the Cultural History of Yoruba-Edo Region, 500 B.C. – A.D. 1800. In Sources and Methods in African History: Spoken, Written, Unearthed. Edited by Toyin Falola and Christian Jennings. Rochester: University of Rochester Press. Seshat URL:<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HXUJMWBD\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: HXUJMWBD </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 49, "polity": { "id": 657, "name": "ni_formative_yoruba", "long_name": "Late Formative Yoruba", "start_year": 650, "end_year": 1049 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 54, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Ruler Cult", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "“Another significant development that took place during the LF [Late Formative] era was the transformation in religious worship and ideology, with the accompanying emergence of minimalist figurative human sculptures. The Oramfe cult/deity that had held together the loose socio political confederacy of the Early Formative polities in Ile-Ife ceased to be the nexus of political ideology and religious worship. Rather an elaborate and hierarchical ritual structure developed and the royal personality rather than the physical landscape became the focus of religious activities at the community level. Although natural phenomena such as hills and rivers continued to play important roles in religious worship, not only did royal rituals become the core of public participation but also the institutions of these rituals became a major source of patronage of arts and of religious and social values.” […] “This association suggests that the artistic innovations of the LFP [Late Formative Period] were derived in part from the structural contexts of the preceding EFP [Early Formative Period] and in part from the factional conflicts that pervaded the LFP. In fact, the figurative human stone sculptures from Ile-Ife are associated in the oral traditions and religious worship with the political leaders that belonged to the Obatala factional group: Obatala, Oreluere, and Ijugbe. It seems that the emergence of humanism-realism in stone sculptures especially in rendition of political figures of the Late Formative Period, was an innovation that developed in the context of the shifts in political cleavages that narrowed the apparatus of decision-making to few personalities. The pervading conflicts of the period most likely accentuated the visibility of leaders with charismatic and strong personalities. The leadership skills and talents of those individuals, as administrators and warriors, earned them ascribed supernatural qualities that formerly applied to only the non-human entities such as Oramfe hill. These deified personalities therefore became the focus of religious worship and artistic representation.” §REF§ (Ogundiran 2003: 45) Ogundiran, Akinwumi. 2003. ‘Chronology, Material Culture, and Pathways to the Cultural History of Yoruba-Edo Region, 500 B.C. – A.D. 1800. In Sources and Methods in African History: Spoken, Written, Unearthed. Edited by Toyin Falola and Christian Jennings. Rochester: University of Rochester Press. Seshat URL:<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HXUJMWBD\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: HXUJMWBD </b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 50, "polity": { "id": 686, "name": "tz_karagwe_k", "long_name": "Karagwe", "start_year": 1500, "end_year": 1916 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Official_religion", "coded_value": { "id": 46, "name": "Religion", "religion_name": "Cwezi-Kubandwa Religion", "religion_family": null, "religion_genus": null }, "comment": null, "description": "\"There is little doubt that immigrant Babito kings relied heavily on their supposed dynastic relationship to the Cwezi in their quest for ideological legitimacy. Kings made public pilgrimages and gave generous gifts to the shrines of Cwezi deities on behalf of their people. That Cwezi deities all had their own Nilotic mpako (pet) names, which were used by the initiated in their supplications, supports the argument that the incoming Nilotic Babito attempted to domesticate a pre-existing religious system (Beattie 1961a: 13).5 Yet this relationship between kings and Cwezi spirits was ever-evolving, shaped, it seems, by the complexities of alliance building and favour seeking. That the priestly elite maintained some autonomy and influence was best illustrated during royal succession struggles, when shrine heads sometimes accepted the risks involved in partisanship.\" §REF§(Doyle 2007: 563) Seshat URL: <a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9EXDF5UP\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 9EXDF5UP </b></a>§REF§" } ] }