Dr Noboru Karashima, the well known historian of medieval South India died yesterday at Tokyo and the field of medieval history stands impoverished today as he was responsible for some path breaking research. In 1996 Professor Burton Stein passed away and with the death of Karashima, a whole generation of stalwart historians has ended. A few years back Dr James Heitzman passed on and I can say that medieval history of Peninsular India will never be the same again.
Dr Noboru Karashima began his study of medieval South India by adopting a new method one that looks at history from the locality or nadu outwards. He studied the inscriptions found in a particular locality and dissected the internal variations in the structure of the inscriptions in terms of social groups mentioned, revenue terms, the titles of the parties involved in the transactions and the personal names of the functionaries mentioned in the record. One of his early publication was a comprehensive computerized data base of personal names found in Chola inscription. One can say that Karashima was a pioneer in the use of machine searchable databases. Another important contribution of Karashima lay in his comparative stusy of the social and economic resources of brhamadeya and ordinary peasant villages, the ur. His pioneering paper on Allur and Isanamangalam still hold the field. Under his leadership micro study of peasant localities became the norm. The work of Mitzhushima on the Nattar in the 18th century was inspired by the methodological implications of Karashima's work. The publications edited by Professor Noboru Karahima under the rubric of the Institute of Oriental Cultures are impressive micro studies based on a wealth of information culled from the archaeological sources. Unlike Burton Stein who raised medieval historiography to a very high level of theoretical abstraction with the use of the concept of the segmentary state, Noboru Karashima based his analysis entirely on the empirical evidence at hand and eschewed theoretical consideration. I would say that like most Japanese historians, Karashima oriented his work broadly toward material factors. There is no place for oriental notionas of "caste" "identity" and "satic society" in the works of Karashima.
Towards the last phase of his life, Karashima trned his attention towards Vijayanagara History. His book Towards a New Formation and Concordance of Nayakas in Vijayanagara Inscriptions, both pub;lished by Oxford University Press mark important milestones in Vijayanagara historiography. The death of Noboru Karashima is a great loss and those of us in the filed of medieval history will remain indebted to him.
Dr Noboru Karashima began his study of medieval South India by adopting a new method one that looks at history from the locality or nadu outwards. He studied the inscriptions found in a particular locality and dissected the internal variations in the structure of the inscriptions in terms of social groups mentioned, revenue terms, the titles of the parties involved in the transactions and the personal names of the functionaries mentioned in the record. One of his early publication was a comprehensive computerized data base of personal names found in Chola inscription. One can say that Karashima was a pioneer in the use of machine searchable databases. Another important contribution of Karashima lay in his comparative stusy of the social and economic resources of brhamadeya and ordinary peasant villages, the ur. His pioneering paper on Allur and Isanamangalam still hold the field. Under his leadership micro study of peasant localities became the norm. The work of Mitzhushima on the Nattar in the 18th century was inspired by the methodological implications of Karashima's work. The publications edited by Professor Noboru Karahima under the rubric of the Institute of Oriental Cultures are impressive micro studies based on a wealth of information culled from the archaeological sources. Unlike Burton Stein who raised medieval historiography to a very high level of theoretical abstraction with the use of the concept of the segmentary state, Noboru Karashima based his analysis entirely on the empirical evidence at hand and eschewed theoretical consideration. I would say that like most Japanese historians, Karashima oriented his work broadly toward material factors. There is no place for oriental notionas of "caste" "identity" and "satic society" in the works of Karashima.
Towards the last phase of his life, Karashima trned his attention towards Vijayanagara History. His book Towards a New Formation and Concordance of Nayakas in Vijayanagara Inscriptions, both pub;lished by Oxford University Press mark important milestones in Vijayanagara historiography. The death of Noboru Karashima is a great loss and those of us in the filed of medieval history will remain indebted to him.
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