Social and Economic Conditions of Karnataka- A. D.- 400-1000 (An Old and Rare Book)

The book deals with the principles of urban and regional planning with special emphasis on practical applications. The first part of the book explains various aspects of urban and regional planning including village planning. The second part deals with case studies pertaining to town planning. metropolitan planning and regional planning. A special feature of the book is the description of ancient town planning in India and the introduction of a separate chapter dealing with space standards for ready reference by planners and other persons in the field. The use of urban and regional planning as a tool in bridging the wide gap between the urban and rural life is clearly brought out in the course of the book. The conurbation which seems to delude many town planners and city administrators in controlling and regulating its growth is discussed and the application of legal tools, like town planning legislation, administ ration, land-use planning and zoning has been substantiated in the existing context. In addition, the book deals with the philo sophy of government regarding locational decisions, urbanisation, minimum facilities in areas, decentralisation of industrial activity, and a host of other urban and regional planning problems which are the policy issues to be steadily pursued by people in authority, as otherwise the result would be the creation of unmanageable Megalopolis." Extensive and latest statistical data are organised in suitable tabular form. These tables present data which can be easily taken out and used by the reader for comparative purposes. They are also summarised by population groups, town size and geogra phical locations. Attractive illustrations have enhanced the usefulness of the book.

Born in Mangalavarapet (Channapatna) Bangalore District in the year 1950. Educated in Government Arts and Science College, Bangalore and Manasagangotri, Mysore. Obtained M.A. degree in Ancient History & Archaeology in the year 1973. He joined the Post-graduate Department of Ancient History and Archaeology of the Mysore University as a Research Fellow and subsequently became a Lecturer in 1981 He was awarded the Ph.D., degree by the Mysore University in the year 1981. Besides this he has also passed the Post-graduate Diploma-in-Epigraphy. He has served as the Chairman, Department of Studies and Research in Ancient History and Archaeology University of Mysore from 1989 to 1992, He has participated in many Archaeological Excavations. At present he is working as a Reader in Manasagangotri, Mysore. He has many research papers to his credit, published in various reputed Journals on different aspects of Indian History, Culture and Archaeology.

Study and research on different aspects of Karnataka history and culture have been slowly progressing due to the untiring efforts of various scholars. In recent years a new trend in historical research was established by the efforts of Dr. M. Chidananda Murthy, Kuppuswamy and others. Their efforts were more in the form of studying the social and economic conditions than studying the political history. Fascinated by this new line of enquiry. I decided to study some aspects of social and economic condititions of Karnataka upto the period 1000 AD. This was possible because of a research fellow ship granted to me by the Mysore University. I acknowledge their help. study included here relate to only some aspects such as religion, education, caste system, daily life. land and agriculture, taxation, industry and coinage. Epigraphy has been the main source though other sources like numismatics, literary works and archaeolo gical data have also been made use of wherever possible In this endeavour, I have received help and guidance from. many individuals and institutions. At the outset I must acknowledge the encouragement received from Prof. D. Javare Gowda, who was then. the Vice Chancellor of the Mysore University. I am grateful to Dr. A. V. Narasimha Murthy, Professor in the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology. Manasagangothri for his guidance and valuable suggestions. Dr K. V. Ramesh, Joint Director General of Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi has encouraged me by contributing, a weighty foreword to this book. Sri H. R. Nagaraja Sharma has designed the Jacket in a meaningful way.