Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c3.7

v1.c3.7

The work deals with the guilds as an institution in the medieval period, with special reference to the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is not a history of any particular guild or of the guilds of any particular town, but a study of the guild system as a whole. The subject is vast, and I have had to limit the scope of my inquiry. I have confined myself to the study of the craft guilds, and have not dealt with the merchant guilds, which were a different type of organisation. I have also excluded the religious guilds, except in so far as they were connected with the craft guilds.