Epigraphical Insights into Knowledge Systems and Educational Institutions of the Hoysala Period (c. 1115–1319 A.D.)

Abstract

This paper examines the structure of early medieval higher education and institutional sustenance in Karnataka under the Hoysala Empire. Utilizing a rich corpus of localized epigraphical data from Shravanabelagola, Kuskūru, Harihara, Belur, Arsikere, Mattavara, Somanathapura, Tenginaghatta and other centres, we analyse how Royal elites, ministerial families, and monastic institutions patronised and built a resilient infrastructure for knowledge production. Academic legitimacy in the Hoysala realm was defined by a standardized, cross-sectarian curricular profile—most clearly embodied in the titles ‘Traividya’ and ‘Siddhāntadeva’—which balanced orthodox Brahmanical disciplines with heterodox Jaina dialectics. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that the physical and intellectual survival of these institutions relied on a sophisticated fiscal ecosystem. By linking state-sanctioned tax immunities (‘sarvamānya’) with direct revenue allocation, the Hoysala state structurally embedded scholastic centres within the daily pulse of the regional economic landscape.