Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c12.s1.t2.2

c12.s1.t2.2

Among the several topics which have recently been addressed via the study of inscriptions, one of the most important and controversial is the nature of the state and of kingship among the traditional Indian kingdoms, with the Coḷa empire serving as the focus for most studies. The central figure in these studies is Burton Stein, whose works, most notably *Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India*, have stimulated extensive discussion and further research. Although Stein's characterization of the Coḷa empire (and by extension of other traditional Indian kingdoms) as a "pyramidal segmentary state" with a king whose principal function is more ritual than executive has not been universally accepted,¹³ it has come to constitute the central focus of subsequent discussion of the subject.