| Abstract: |
Empires contain a multiplicity of productive systems and strategies which may be differentially integrated with each other and the center. This paper examines six aspects of agricultural and craft production in the south Indian empire of Vijayanagara (c. AD 1340-1700). Agricultural production in the diverse ecological zones of the empire was integrated primarily through Hindu temples, and trade and craft production through temples and taxation. The economic value and political role of the goods produced, as well as the location of the producers, were the principal factors in determining the nature and degree of imperial involvement in production.
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