New History of the Marathas v1.c5.59

v1.c5.59

Hemādri holds an important place in the history of Mahārāshtra. He was in many respects far ahead of his times. He was not only a learned scholar, but also a minister (*Shrikaranadhipa*) of the Yādava rulers possessing great powers of organization and a wide outlook directed to the many-sided improvement of the people inhabiting the Yādava dominion. With the help of a number of scholars he promulgated a huge compendium of religious observances, entitled *Chaturvarga-Chintamani*. He also produced works on medicine, introduced a code of private and official etiquette and of forms of address in private and public correspondence. He changed the Devnāgari script so as to suit a fast running hand by joining the letters, a mode which is known as Modi and which has long been current in Mahārāshtra.⁸ A special art of constructing houses and temples with hewn stones piled one upon another without the use of cement or mortar, was invented by Hemādri and came to be widely adopted throughout Mahārāshtra. The grain Bajri as a cheap food-stuff of plentiful yield, is said to have been first introduced by Hemādri. To his great work *Chaturvarga-Chintamani* he has added an illuminating supplement entitled *Yādav-Prashasti* in which he has immortalized the history of the Yādava rulers ending with Mahādeva Yādava.