Ritual Polity and Economy: the Transactional Network of an Imperial Temple in Medieval South India

RITUAL POLITY AND ECONOMY: THE TRANSACTIONAL NETWORK OF AN IMPERIAL TEMPLE IN MEDIEVAL SOUTH INDIA* BY JAMES HEITZMAN I. The Ritual Polity The paradigm of the "ritual polity" suggests that cultural meaning may explain the formation of the early state, the legitimation of its authority, and the spatial configurations of its political units. Several formulations of the ritual polity indicate that administration and con- trol over territory were not the bases of early political structures in South and Southeast Asia. Instead, kings at a central core who manifested the qualities of a universal overlord linked together "galactic polities," constellations of