Empires, materials and entanglements: the power of material entanglements in the Gupta Political Formation

Neill, Rebecca M.H. (2020) Empires, materials and entanglements: the power of material entanglements in the Gupta Political Formation. MPhil(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The Gupta Political Formation has been called “the golden-age” of India yet little archaeological study has been done on the period. Through the ideas of new materialism, in particular Hodder’s (2012) Theory of Entanglement, and Katchadurian’s (2016) Satrapal Conditions, this thesis aims to explore three powerful materials: textile clothing, metals and spices. These materials appear influential and integral to the inner workings of the Gupta Political Formation (GPF) and so provide the opportunity to investigate the political, social and economic movements made by the rulers of the GPF in pursuit of these materials. It is the purpose of this thesis to shine a light on their influence in the movements of the political machine we know as the Gupta Political Formation and to explore the inner-workings of empire through material desires and dependencies.

• Item Type: Thesis (MPhil(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Keywords: Archaeology, Indian studies, Gupta Empire, new materialism, entanglement, political machine.
• Subjects: C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts > School of Humanities > Archaeology
• Supervisor's Name: Glatz, Dr. Claudia and Harris, Dr. Susanna
• Date of Award: 2020
• Depositing User: Miss Rebecca M.H. Neill
• Unique ID: glathesis:2020-81918
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 15 Jan 2021 14:33
• Last Modified: 15 Jan 2021 14:40
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.81918
• URI: http://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/81918