The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c15.s1.33

c15.s1.33

As will be clear from its similarity with the small-scale situation of the village and the surrounding wastes, the inner frontier was ubiquitous. But it was, of course, weightiest around the main through routes, which attracted the greatest density of interested parties, especially bands of warriors, and a correspondingly high level of competition and conflict. These areas amounted in many cases to what might be called "frontier marches",⁴⁴ which included both revenue-paying regulation tracts around the market centers and uncontrolled areas in ever-changing balance. Now cultivation and regulation were extended, then again sedition took over, whole tracts reverting to mawās status and giving shelter to "malefactors" and "non-chiefs."