A History of Sanskrit Literature c14.s8.4

c14.s8.4

Fate unfortunately has left only one fragmentary and defective manuscript of a poem of some historical interest, the *Pṛthvīrājavijaya*,³ an account of the victories of the Cāhamāna king of Ajmir and Delhi, Pṛthvīrāja, who won a great victory over Sultan Shihāb-ud-dīn Ghorī in 1191, though he was shortly afterwards ruined and slain. The poem seems to have been written in the lifetime of the king probably just after that victory, though as it is unfinished this is a mere conjecture. The name of the author is unknown, but he may have been a Kashmirian, as is suggested by his imitation of Bilhaṇa's style; his form of exordium, in which he mentions Bhāsa; and the fact that he is mentioned by Jayarath in the *Alaṁkāravimarçinī* (*c.* 1200), and is commented on by Jonarāja (*c.* 1448) of Kashmir.