Viharas in Early Medieval Eastern India

In the introduction the importance of the study of the socio-economic condition of viharas is briefly discussed and the work written so far on the subject are mentioned. An exercise in historical geography of eastern India is made in the second chapter as a background for this study. The third chapter deals with one of our basic source materials i.e. archaeology of viharas in order to throw some light on the monastic settlement and its pattern in eastern India. In the fourth chapter we have discussed the wealth of viharas and also tried to show that viharas development as economic institutions ultimately led to their assumption of new roles and responsibilities in the contemporary society. In the fifth chapter the administrative organization of viharas is examined paying special attention to the management of property. The relationship between state society and viharas have been evaluated in sixth chapter where in the process viharas ideological role gets highlighted.