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The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c26.s5: Sanskrit and Hindi literatures

The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c26.s5

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Sanskrit and Hindi literatures

c26.s5.1

The Hindu cultural activity was confined to the courts of the Hindu rajas and to our chief centres of learning and pilgrimage. It is natural that during an age of upheaval and insecurity, lacking in royal patronage, no great and immortal literary work that could compare with the masterpieces of Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti and Bana or of Tulsidas and Sur of a later age, could be produced by the Hindus. Yet it would be a mistake to suppose that the Hindu mind had become sterile as the result of Turkish conquest. The Hindus did not recognise Turkish superiority in the sphere of cultural and artistic activity. He went on with his own literary enterprise without minding the cramping effect produced on his mind by foreign conquest. The result was an abundant production of religious and philosophic literature, though not of the highest excellence. Ramanuja produced his commentaries on the *Brahmasutra* and Parthasarathi wrote a number of books on *Karma Mimansa*. The most important of these was *Shastra Dipika*. Jayadeva produced his famous *Gita Govinda* in the twelfth century. Several dramas were composed, such as, *Harakeli Nataka*, *Lalitavigraharaja Nataka*, *Prasanna Raghava* by Jayadeva in about 1200 A.D., *Hamir Mad-mardana* by Jai Singh Suri during 1219-1229, *Pradyumna-abhyudaya* of Ravi Varman, *Prataprudra Kalyan* of Vidyanath, *Parwati Parinaya* by Vaman Bhatta Bana, *Gangadas Pratap Vilas* by Gangadhar and *Vidagdha Madhava* and *Lalita Madhava* by Rup Goswami. One of the most notable works of Hindu law, named *Mitakshara*, was produced by Vijnanesvara during this period. Another work of law was *Dayabhaga* produced by Jimuta Vahana. The great astronomer, Bhaskaracharya flourished in this age. There were many commentators of *Yoga*, *Vaisesika* and *Nyaya* systems of our philosophy. Logic was also cultivated. Buddhist and Jain writers produced a number of works on logic. The greatest Jain logician of the period was Deva Suri. There were many religious reformers, and the Bhakti movement was the special product of the age. The court of Vijayanagar patronised Sanskrit learning on a large scale. There lived in that empire many notable scholars. The most important among them was Sayana, the commentator of the *Vedas*. While every form of literature in Sanskrit was cultivated during the period, little attention was paid to historical composition and only one treatise that might be called a chronicle was Kalhan's *Raja-tarangini* which was written about the middle of twelfth century A.D.

c26.s5.2

Hindi literature began to come into vogue during this period. Chand Bardai, Prithviraj's court poet, was one of the earliest writers of Hindi. He produced his famous work entitled *Prithviraj Raso*. Another poet was Sarangdhar who wrote two big poems about Hamir of Ranthambhor, called *Hamir Raso* and *Hamir Kavya*. Jagnayaka wrote a long poem, called *Alhakhanda*, which describes in stirring language the exploits of Alha and Udal, the two brave warriors of the Chandel king, Pramardi Deva of Mahoba. Amir Khusrav is considered by some critics as a Hindi poet also. Maithil literature, too, was greatly developed. One of the greatest writers of this language was Vidyapati Thakur who flourished towards the end of the fourteenth century and wrote works in Sanskrit, Hindi and Maithil. Many Bangali scholars produced a crop of literature. Raghunandan Misra's work on *Smriti* is too well-known to be mentioned in detail. Mirabai composed poems in Rajasthani. Several Marathi poets, notable among whom was Namadeva, flourished during the age. Guru Nanak produced verses in Panjabi. The bhakti movement became responsible for the growth and expansion of our modern Indian languages.

Cites (14)