Society in Early Historic Tamilakam

 
Unfortunately, there is a dearth of authentic source material dealing with forts and fortifications reflecting the military architecture of India despite its abundant wealth, save a few reports here and there in the Memoirs of Archaeological Survey of India and District Gazetteers and a few Publications on the subject (viz) Forts of India by Verma, Amrit (1985); Forts of India by Fass, Virginia (1986) and Defence Architecture of Early Karnataka by S.K. Joshi (1985), which appeared in recent years, However, in the case of A.P., in spite of its being rich in the remains of forts on the plains, river banks and hilltops, no such work appeared till now. In this context comes the book "FORTS OF ANDHRA PRADESH", which emphasizes this much-neglected aspect in the architectural and historical studies of Andhra Pradesh. It attempts to critically examine the rise th and evolution of forts coupled with the concept of defense and classification of forts based mainly on the data available in Archaeological Excavations, extant remains, literary texts both Sanskrit and Telugu, and Local Records from Pre State to State Societies in Andhra Desa. The book also examines the nature and functional role of the forts in ancient and medieval periods in the context of contemporary trends of warfare and the way how the forts evolved themselves taking into account, the methods of attack and defence and the different kinds of weapons and strategies employed in Warfare. The book also furnishes an interesting account of the system of organising and maintenance of forts during different periods, i.e. the different officers employed, the taxes levied etc.