Priest-Kings or Puritans? Childe and willing subordination in the Indus

Coningham., R.A.E; Manuel, M.J.

doi:10.1177/1461957109339691

Priest-Kings or Puritans? Childe and willing subordination in the Indus

Coningham., R.A.E; Manuel, M.J.

Authors

Professor Robin Coningham r.a.e.coningham@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Dr Mark Manuel m.j.manuel@durham.ac.uk
Assistant Professor

Abstract

One of the Indus Civilization’s most striking features is its cultural uniformity evidenced by a common script, artefact forms and motifs, weights and measures, and the presence of proscribed urban plans. Early excavators and commentators utilized ideas of diffusion, and concepts of kingship and slavery remained prevalent within interpretations of the Indus. Whilst Childe questioned ideas of diffusion and hereditary rule he still identified a system of economic exploitation in which the vast majority of the population was subordinated. More recently scholars have begun to argue that small sections of the Indus population may have willingly subordinated themselves in order to secure positions of power. This article explores the dichotomy between traditional Eurocentric normative models of social organization and those derived from south Asian cultural traditions.

Citation

Coningham., R., & Manuel, M. (2009). Priest-Kings or Puritans? Childe and willing subordination in the Indus. European Journal of Archaeology, 12(1-3), 167-180. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461957109339691

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Apr 1, 2009
Deposit Date	Jun 11, 2010
Publicly Available Date	Jul 27, 2010
Journal	European Journal of Archaeology
Print ISSN	1461-9571
Electronic ISSN	1741-2722
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	12
Issue	1-3
Pages	167-180
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/1461957109339691
Keywords	Asceticism, Harappa, Indus Valley, Mohenjo-daro, Mortimer Wheeler, Social organization, Stuart Piggott, Vere Gordon Childe.

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Copyright Statement
The final definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal 'European journal of archaeology' 12, 1-3, 2009, Copyright © 2010 by European Association of Archaeologists, SAGE Publications by SAGE Publications Ltd at the 'European journal of archaeology' page: http://eja.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/