Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v1.c53.1

v1.c53.1

In his *Bhāminī-vilāsa*, Jagannātha tells us¹ that he passed his youth under the patronage of the emperor of Delhi, from whom, we are told elsewhere, he received the title of Paṇḍitarāja². This emperor seems to have been Shāh Jahān, whose son Dārā is eulogised in Jagannātha’s *Jagadābharaṇa*. He also seems to have lived under the protection of Nawāb Asaf Khān (d. 1641), a nobleman in the Court of Shāh Jahān, in whose praise he wrote his *Āsapha-vilāsa* and who is also referred to in a verse quoted in his *Rasa-gaṅgādhara* (p. 166). In the latter work, there is also a reference in a verse (p. 521) to Nuradīna which is apparently the Sanskritised form of one of the names of Jahāngīr, Shāh Jahān’s father. Shāh Jahān came to the throne in 1628 A.D., and was thrown into prison in 1658 A.D. It appears that while Jagannātha's younger days were passed under this emperor, Dārā-shikoh (d. 1659 A.D.) who came into power during the latter days of his father's reign, was his real patron. It is not unlikely, therefore, that Jagannātha's literary activity lay in the second and third quarters of the 17th century. Nāgeśa Bhaṭṭa commented upon his *Rasa-gaṅgādhara* in the beginning of 18th century, while Jagannātha himself attacks Appayya Dīkṣita who lived in the third quarter of the 16th century.