The Contents
In Favour of Govinddevji :
Historical Documents Relating to a Deity of Vrindaban and Eastern Rajasthan / Monika
Horstmann, in collaboration with Heike Bill.
1st ed. New Delhi, Manohar Publishers &
Distributors Ltd. 1999. xvi, 374 p. ills. maps. 29 cm.
In association with Indira Gandhi
National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi.
ISBN: 8173043159
Sri Govinddevji, a family deity of Amber's
Kachavaha dynasty, now dwells in jaipur, along with his consort Radha. His first
appearance, however, he made in Vrindaban where he came to reside in the great temple
built for him by Raja Mansingh and consecrated in 1590. Govinddevji was a symbol of
Mansingh's power and became a focus of political interaction of the Mughal Emperor and the
Kachavahas and, hence, an object of imperial and royal patronage. In the end of the
seventeenth century, Govinddevji and Radha, accompanied by Vrindaban's tutelary goddess,
Vrndadevi, were taken to the Amber territory to protect them from damage by the hands of
iconoclasts. This was in the latter part of Emperor Aurangzeb's rule when, with the crisis
of the Empire, regional Hindu Kingdoms became increasingly self-assertive. Thus, that move
from Vrindaban to Amber, the patrimonial land of the Kachavahas, also marked the Kachavaha
ruler's assertion of regional power and identity. Govinddevji and his consort eventually
came to reside in the palatial temple in the precincts of the City Palace of Maharaja
Savai Jaisingh's new capital, Jaipur. The rise of the deity to the status of a symbol of
regnal power also meant the rise of Gaudiya Vaishnavism and the deity's custodians to
power in the Kachavaha territory.
The documents published in this book span
more than three and a half centuries. In their own style which is that of fiscal and other
official papers, they tell of the fortunes of Govinddevji. Apart from their importance as
testimonies of religious policy, they also permit insight into the administrative and
diplomatic usage of the Kachavaha chancery, an aspect which the author has attempted to
highlight.
Contents
List of Abbreviations
Foreword - Kapila Vatsyayan
Preface
Note on Transcription
1. Introduction
2. The Documents: Diplomatic and
Administrative Aspects
----2.1. Appendices
---- -(1) Divans of Amber and Jaipur (1660 to 1812)
---- -(2) The Calendrical System
---- -(3) Seals
---- -(4) Measures, Weights and Currency
---- -(5) Siyaq Numerals
3. Calendar of Documents
4. Texts and Translations
Charts
----- -The Maharajas of Amber and Jaipur (1621-1880)
-------Grants in Favour of the Govinddevji Temple
-------The Custodians of the Govinddevji Temple
-------Kachavaha Revenue Administration
Bibliography
Index
Facsimiles
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Monika Horstmann (Monika Boehm-Tettelbach)
is Professor of Modern Asian Studies at the South Asia Institute, University of
Heidelberg.
Heike Bill holds an M.A. in Persian. She is
currently working for a human welfare organisation and engaged in relief work for women
victims of war in Afghanistan. |
