| Variable | Definition |
|---|---|
| Polity | The Seshat Polity ID |
| Year(s) | The years for which we have the data. [negative = BCE] |
| Tag | [Evidenced, Disputed, Suspected, Inferred, Unknown] |
| Verified | A Seshat Expert has approved this piece of data. |
| Variable | Definition |
|---|---|
| settlement_hierarchy_from | The lower range of settlement hierarchy for a polity. |
| settlement_hierarchy_to | The upper range of settlement hierarchy for a polity. |
| # | Polity | Year(s) | Settlement Hierarchy from | Settlement Hierarchy to | Description | Edit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 |
(Classic Tana) |
Full Year Range of Classic Tana is assumed. [1000, 1498] |
4 |
6 |
levels. Inferred from research carried out on the Kenyan coast (outside of this NGA) and Pemba Island (which lies within the NGA). Adding the level of "capital" to schemes proposed by Wilson, Kusimba and Fleisher. 1. Capital 2. Large towns 3. Small towns4. Large villages5. Small villages6. Isolated hamlets "A number of archaeologists have devised village classifications based on their physical features. Wilson’s (1982) study of Kenyan coastal settlements is the most often-cited attempt to address settlement patterns and the relationship between town and country for the Swahili, based on a database of some 400 settlements. He defined five types based on site size and the presence and amounts of stone (coral rag or limestone) architecture; these range in size from one to 15+ hectares, and from dispersed homesteads and hamlets with a single mosque or tomb, to cities with dozens of stone domestic structures, mosques and tombs. "Kusimba (1999b: 119) has offered a four-part classification of villages: walled villages, closely built villages, dispersed villages and hamlets, focusing on differences in ‘availability of suitable land, space and security’. This typology draws on ethnographic understandings. My own research on Pemba Island used a typology that included fieldhouse, hamlet, village, small town and town (Fleisher 2003: 134–5). These distinctions were made based on both site size and the nature of the deposits, including field houses and hamlets of 1 ha or less, villages of up to 3 ha, and small and larger towns, greater than 5 ha in size. Only small and large towns included stone architecture." [Fleisher_Wynne-Jones_LaViolette 2017] "The rise of Tumbatu as its principal town in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is reflected in the site’s extensive ruins (Map 3, p. xxiv; Horton in press). [...] The geographer Yaqut (writing c. 1220 ce) described Zanzibar as a centre of trade and Tumbatu as the new location of the people and seat of the king of the Zanj (Trimingham 1964)." [Fitton_Wynne-Jones_LaViolette 2017] |
|
| 42 |
(British East India Company) |
Full Year Range of British East India Company is assumed. [1757, 1858] |
None |
None |
levels. (1) Capital cityMurshidabad: Writing in 1770, the German priest Fr. Joseph Tieffenthaeler, stated that Marshidabad was about five miles long, stretching from Bamian to Lalbagh along the Ganges River. There were many suburbs divided into towns in the Murshidabad-Qasimbazar complex with beautiful houses and gardens situated along the Ganges River which ran through the expanded city. [Ray_Sreemani 2020] Calcutta: TBC (2) Market Towns There were several larger market towns in the Bengal region which were famous for selling certain goods, such as Jiaganj (cotton, sugar and grain), Azimganj (where south India merchants used to bulk purchase their items) [Ray_Sreemani 2020] (3) TownWhat distinguished them from villages, according to Majumdar, was that while they may also have had some agricultural activity, they served a “wide variety of functions, commercial, industrial, political, judicial and military.” But the greatest distinction was the luxury and wealth of the towns and it’s citizens, which the Ramacharita describes as “a city of rows of palaces” and as possessing ‘an immense mass of gems’.” [Majumdar 1943] “the archaeological record indicates that urban centres came up as early as the fifth century bce. During the following centuries large towns would develop along major rivers rather than on the exposed sea coast.” [van_Schendel 2009] (3) VillageMajumdar writes that since the beginning of historical record for Bengal, there have been well-established villages, in which the fields, meadows and woodlands have been organised to serve the population’s needs. They varied in size but people tended to live in compact groups within them They would all generally include livestock. The villages also contained “pits and canals (garta and nala) which might have served the purpose of drainage, barren tracts (ushara), tanks, reservoirs and temples, besides cattle-tracks and ordinary roads and paths.” [Majumdar 1943] (4) Hamlet [Furui 2020] |
|
| 43 |
(Chaulukya Dynasty) |
Full Year Range of Chaulukya Dynasty is assumed. [941, 1245] |
None |
None |
levels. Capital Somanatha religious centre Three important ports Other important cities "The villages formed the basic unit of administration." [Majumdar 1956, p. 208] |
|
| 44 |
(Bulgaria - Middle) |
Full Year Range of Bulgaria - Middle is assumed. [865, 1018] |
3 |
4 |
levels. 1. Capital 2. Town 3. Village 4. ? |
|
| 45 |
(Grand Principality of Moscow, Rurikid Dynasty) |
Full Year Range of Grand Principality of Moscow, Rurikid Dynasty is assumed. [1480, 1613] |
3 |
3 |
levels. 1. Capital Moscow 2. Towns Novgorod, Suzdal, Vologda, Ryazan 3. Villages |
|
| 46 |
(Gahadavala Dynasty) |
Full Year Range of Gahadavala Dynasty is assumed. [1085, 1193] |
None |
None |
None | |
| 47 |
(Axum III) |
Full Year Range of Axum III is assumed. [600, 800] |
4 |
4 |
levels. 1. Capital - city 2. Towns Many specialist workers "must have been urban dwellers, living in towns and cities that apparently did not need protection by surrounding walls ..." [Connah 2015, p. 141] "Intermediate-sized houses excavated at Matara would indicate that there were also people who belonged to neither the elite nor the peasantry, at least in Aksumite times." [Connah 2015, p. 141] Adulis known before the city of Aksum. [Kobishanov 1981, p. 381] 3. Village First century CE. "Where there used to be only villages, small towns and cities are now developing." [Anfray 1981, p. 376] 4. Hamlets Towns, villages and isolated hamlets. [Uhlig 2017, p. 94] "In central Tegray the ancient landscape was characterized by a clearly-cut hierarchy in size of the settlements, ranging from the city of Aksum, over 100ha in size, to small compounds less than 1ha in area, and included large and small villages, elite residences, residential compounds, farming hamlets and workshops. Large settlements, ranging from 7ha to over 11ha in area, were located mainly at the base or sometimes on the top of the hills. Isolated elite palaces were often scattered in the open plain. Villages, hamlets and compounds were located on the top or along the slopes of the hills." [Uhlig 2017, p. 96] |
|
| 50 |
(Axum II) |
Full Year Range of Axum II is assumed. [350, 599] |
4 |
4 |
levels. Population rise throughout this period. 1. Capital - city 2. Towns Many specialist workers "must have been urban dwellers, living in towns and cities that apparently did not need protection by surrounding walls ..." [Connah 2015, p. 141] "Intermediate-sized houses excavated at Matara would indicate that there were also people who belonged to neither the elite nor the peasantry, at least in Aksumite times." [Connah 2015, p. 141] Adulis known before the city of Aksum. [Kobishanov 1981, p. 381] 3. Village First century CE. "Where there used to be only villages, small towns and cities are now developing." [Anfray 1981, p. 376] 4. Hamlets Towns, villages and isolated hamlets. [Uhlig 2017, p. 94] "In central Tegray the ancient landscape was characterized by a clearly-cut hierarchy in size of the settlements, ranging from the city of Aksum, over 100ha in size, to small compounds less than 1ha in area, and included large and small villages, elite residences, residential compounds, farming hamlets and workshops. Large settlements, ranging from 7ha to over 11ha in area, were located mainly at the base or sometimes on the top of the hills. Isolated elite palaces were often scattered in the open plain. Villages, hamlets and compounds were located on the top or along the slopes of the hills." [Uhlig 2017, p. 96] |