Twilight of the Sultanate c16.s6.17

c16.s6.17

In Maharashtra also the Bhakti poets from Namdēva onwards enriched the regional Marathi language. The Abhangs of the Maratha bhakts have a soul-stirring appeal and are sung even to this day in the villages and towns of Maharashtra. So also is the case with the religious songs of Narsi Mehta (1415-81) and his followers in Gujarat. In the Punjab, Guru Nānak gave a new religion and also a new script—Gurmukhī (meaning from the Guru’s lips)—to the people. His compositions like *Āsa-di-war*, *Japjī*, *Dākhni Onkār* and *Sidh Gosht*, though devoid of any pretensions to literary perfection, are works of excellent merit. Equally important is the emergence of the Apabhramsa literature of the Jains of this period. Up to the eleventh century the Jains stuck to Sanskrit, but afterwards their philosophical and poetical works came to be written in the language of the people. In the *Apabhramsa*, rhyme, which is regarded as a speciality of modern Indian languages, is profusely used; and it gave shape to the Kanarese and Tamil languages in the south.