Sriya Iyer (Cambridge), 'Economic Shocks and Religious Conflict in Medieval India'
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05/18/2026 05:00 PM
05/18/2026 06:30 PM
Europe/London
Sriya Iyer (Cambridge), 'Economic Shocks and Religious Conflict in Medieval India'
The talk is based on a paper co-authored with Dr Rohit Ticku (EUI Florence) and Dr Anand Shrivastava
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The talk is based on a paper co-authored with Dr Rohit Ticku (EUI Florence) and Dr Anand Shrivastava (Azim Premji University, Bengaluru).
Abstract: Economic downturns often spur religious or ethnic conflict. Using centuries of georeferenced data, we provide arguably the first empirical evidence of this phenomenon in medieval India. During major weather fluctuations, a Muslim state is 0.5 percentage points more likely to destroy a Hindu temple under its rule compared to one outside its control, whereas there is no difference in normal periods. Analyses of looting, warfare, and governance channels suggest that rulers desecrated temples primarily to quell rebellions and protect regime stability after climate-driven economic stress.
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