Table of Contents

PREFACE ; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ; INTRODUCTION: CONCEPTUAL PRELIMINARIES ; SECTION I: HISTORIOGRAPHY AND METHOD ; 1. EARLY SOCIAL FORMATIONS: A HISTORIOGRAPHIC REVIEW ; 2. THE COURSE OF SOCIAL HISTORIOGRAPHY OF KERALA ; 3. SEMIOTICS OF ANCIENT TAMIL POETICS: A METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATION ; SECTION II: EARLY SOCIAL FORMATIONS ; 4. PREHISTORIC LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN WESTERN GHATS: INTERPRETING ROCK-ART ; 5. TRIBES, FOREST, AND SOCIAL FORMATION IN EARLY SOUTH INDIA ; 6. FORMS OF PRODUCTION AND FORCES OF CHANGE IN ANCIENT TAMIL SOCIETY ; 7. EARLY IRON AGE ECONOMY: PROBLEMS OF AGRARIAN EXPANSION IN TAMILAKAM ; 8. WRITING, LITERACY, AND SOCIAL FORMATIONS IN THE TAMIL SOUTH ; 9. TOWARDS A NEW DISCOURSE: DISCURSIVE PROCESSES IN EARLY SOUTH INDIA ; SECTION III: SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS ; 10. SOCIAL FORMATION FROM THE ANCIENT TO EARLY MEDIEVAL ; 11. HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS OF THE STATE FORMATION IN THE DEEP SOUTH ; 12. ASPECTS OF GREAT TRANSFORMATION IN ANCIENT KERALA ; 13. FROM CLAN AND LINEAGE TO HEREDITARY OCCUPATIONS AND CASTE ; 14. SPREAD OF WRITING IN THE TAMIL SOUTH AND ITS SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS ; SECTION IV: THE NEW SOCIAL FORMATION ; 15. TEMPLES AS SITES OF THE NEW SOCIAL FORMATION ; 16. THE FORMATION OF CASTE SOCIETY IN KERALA: HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS ; 17. ASPECTS OF THE RESERVOIR SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION IN THE P?N?YA COUNTRY ; INDEX

About the Author

Rajan Gurukkal is the Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala. Previously, he served as Professor and Director, School of Social Sciences, at the same university.