| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61 |
(Wattasid) |
Full Year Range of Wattasid is assumed. [1465, 1554] |
2 |
3 |
levels. 1. Capital 2. Towns 3. "The XVIth century witnessed a fundamental change in the circumstances of the Maghrib. By 1500, the reigning dynasties, the Wattasids in Morocco, the Zayyanids (or 'Abd al-Wadids) in Tlemsen, and the Hafsids in Tunis, no longer exercised more than a titular headship beyond the walls of their capital cities. The result was an anarchic decentralization in which the various towns, the peoples of the Aures, Kabyle, Rif, and Atlas mountains, and the tribes of the plains, led a more or less autonomous existence." [Barbour 1969, p. 97] |
|
| 62 |
(Yadava Dynasty) |
Full Year Range of Yadava Dynasty is assumed. [1190, 1318] |
3 |
3 |
levels. Sources mention three types of settlement: 1. The capital, Devagiri [Sreenivasa_Murthy_Ramakrishnan 1978, p. 105] 2. Cities and TownsThese are mentioned in the same breath and administered in the same way, which suggests they were more or less the same thing [Kamath 1980, pp. 149-151] . 3. Villages [Kamath 1980, pp. 149-151] |
|
| 63 |
(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] |
|
| 64 |
(Portuguese Empire - Early Modern) |
Full Year Range of Portuguese Empire - Early Modern is assumed. [1640, 1806] |
5 |
5 |
levels. 1. Lisbon __in Portugal__ 2. Provincial centers administered by royal government 2. Provincial centers administered by local grandes 2. Judicially privileged municipalities (inferred from information on administrative hierarchy)"The kingdom was also divided up into six judicial circuits, each corresponding to a province (comarca) and presided over by a superior magistrate known as a corregedor. In addition, Lisbon and sometimes Santarém had their own corregedores. These magistrates exercised administrative and judicial authority in the king’s name – though their right to enter and hold court in the seigneuries of the great lay and ecclesiastical magnates, and in the territories of the judicially privileged municipalities, was long resisted." [Disney 2009] 3. Smaller centers (inferred) 4. Villages (inferred) __in the colonies__ 2. Goa"In 1530 Goa became the permanent seat of the viceroy rather than Cochin, which had been the only possible alternative. In theory the viceroy’s jurisdiction was vast, including all Portuguese possessions and interests east of the Cape of Good Hope and even extending to the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic. However, the huge distances involved and the gradual emergence ofa parallel far-flung network of informal settlements and possessions meant that viceroys in practice controlled only a relatively small core area." [Disney 2009] __in the Estado da India (African and Asian colonies)__ 3. Other colonies4. Smaller settlements, largely indigenous population5. Pre-existing villages, largely indigenous population"Despite the elevated population density, the peopling of the Old Conquests was by nature markedly rural: the inhabitants were dispersed in various villages, some of large size, but with a scarcity of real urban centres. Only the capital (Goa City or “Old City”), stood out as a large city in the Goan context." [De_Matos_Jarnagin 2011] __in Brazil__ 3. Other colonial administrative centers4. Ports5. Farms and plantations E.g.: "For most of the colonial period Portuguese settlement in Brazil remained heavily concentrated along the coastal fringe. [...] Therefore ports played a major role in every captaincy. In most cases, the administrative capital was a port; otherwise a port was invariably sited nearby. Salvador, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Vitória, Santos and Ilhéus all conformed to this pattern. [...] Clustered round the ports of the principal captaincies, and along nearby rivers and coast, was a steadily widening zone of farms and plantations." [Disney 2009] |
|
| 65 |
(Deva Dynasty) |
Full Year Range of Deva Dynasty is assumed. [1150, 1300] |
None |
None |
levels. (1) Capital cityDevapatura (2) Citye.g. the smaller city of Pattikera [Majumdar 1943] (3) Town Towns were often emporiums of trade as well as political centres. What 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] (4) 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] |
|
| 66 |
(Early Modern Sierra Leone) |
Full Year Range of Early Modern Sierra Leone is assumed. [1650, 1896] |
2 |
3 |
None | |
| 67 |
(Monte Alban V Late Postclassic) |
Full Year Range of Monte Alban V Late Postclassic is assumed. [1101, 1520] |
2 |
3 |
levels. For each of the 15-20 smaller polities, there was a head town with supporting villages and hamlets. [Blanton_et_al 1979, p. 85] By 900 CE, Monte Albán was no longer a primary center, although it continued to be occupied. [Flannery_Marcus 1996, p. 34] 1. Main town of the polity 2. Village3. Hamlet "Table 10.9. Monte Alban V population hierarchy in Oaxaca and Ejutla." [Feinman_Nicholas 2013, p. 172] Valley of Oaxaca: Level I: 11504-13831; II: 6324-6649; III: 1192-3430; IV: 736-953; V: 486-665; VI: 308-545; VII: 204-297; No rank: 8-199. [Feinman_Nicholas 2013, p. 172] |
|
| 68 |
(Monte Alban V Early Postclassic) |
Full Year Range of Monte Alban V Early Postclassic is assumed. [900, 1099] |
2 |
3 |
levels. For each of the 15-20 smaller polities, there was a head town with supporting villages and hamlets. [Blanton_et_al 1979, p. 85] By 900 CE, Monte Albán was no longer a primary center, although it continued to be occupied. [Flannery_Marcus 1996, p. 34] 1. Main town of the polity 2. Village3. Hamlet "Table 10.9. Monte Alban V population hierarchy in Oaxaca and Ejutla." [Feinman_Nicholas 2013, p. 172] Valley of Oaxaca: Level I: 11504-13831; II: 6324-6649; III: 1192-3430; IV: 736-953; V: 486-665; VI: 308-545; VII: 204-297; No rank: 8-199. [Feinman_Nicholas 2013, p. 172] |
|
| 69 |
(Sena Dynasty) |
Full Year Range of Sena Dynasty is assumed. [1095, 1245] |
None |
None |
levels. (1) Capital city (2) TownTowns were often emporiums of trade as well as political centres. What 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] |
|