Book release: Minor Majesties

Valérie Gillet begun her exploration of the realm of “minor dynasties” of the Tamil country in 2015. The first outcome of this long-term endeavour is Minor Majesties: The Paḻuvēṭṭaraiyars and their South Indian Kingdom of Paḻuvūr, 9th-11th centuries A.D. This book is a study of the small ancient kingdom of Paḻuvūr, a town located on the northern bank of the Kāvēri river, about 30 kilometers north of Tanjavur.

Today, the town is divided in two distinct villages, Kīḻappaḻuvūr and Mēlappaḻuvūr, but between the ninth and the eleventh centuries C.E., Paḻuvūr was the capital of the dynasty of the Paḻuvēṭṭaraiyars, a minor dynasty of “little kings” who swore allegiance to the Cōḻa dynasty.

Inscription #14, southern façade of the Avaṉikantarpa Īśvaragṛhattu Mahādeva temple, Mēlappaḻuvūr

This study is mainly based on a corpus of 136 Tamil inscriptions spread across four still-standing Śaiva temples, out of which about a third are published here for the first time. The text of these inscriptions and their tentative translations are gathered at the end of the book, in the Appendix 1. Their analysis brings forth a better understanding of the functioning of the minor dynasty of the Paḻuvēṭṭaraiyars whose little kings often appear in the inscriptions of the temples, as well as the interactions between the temples and their patronizing communities. The small size of Paḻuvūr with its hub of still-standing monuments permits an exceptionally clear overview of the possible relations between distinct temples, allowing readers to behold complexities related to sponsorship, organisation, and functioning of these religious entities.

The study of Paḻuvūr also reveals how these religious monuments—accruing wealth but, in exchange, enabling donors to accrue merit and power—became a place for the fabrication of political discourses and powers, specific social configurations and religious practices.

Hard copies are available from the publisher, while the PDF version is an open-access download.