A History of Indian Literature v3.c35.s7.58

v3.c35.s7.58

Other historical or half-historical works deserve to be mentioned briefly. In the first half of the 12th century Jalhaṇa, [metioned by Maṅkhaka (XXV, 75) ], in his poem Somapālavilāsa has described the life of King Somapāla of Rājapurī near Kashmir who had fought against Sussala, the Kashmirian prince². Towards the close of the 12th century A.D. was written the historical poem Pṛthvīrājavijaya³ that describes the seize of Ajmīr and Ḍilhī by Cāhumāna King Pṛthvīrāja, who died in 1193 A.D. [ The work that is not complete ] may have been written between 1178 and 1200 A.D. and was popular in the 14th and 15th centuries⁴. In his epic poem Kumārapālacarita, called also Dvyāśrayakāvya⁵, that is written partly in Sanskrit and partly in Prākrit, the learned Jaina monk Hemacandra proves himself simultaneously a poet, "historian" and grammarian in the two languages. The poem has 20 cantos in Sanskrit and 8 cantos in Prākrit. The first seven cantos are to serve as illustrations to the rules of the first seven sections of his Sanskrit grammar, whilst the eighth canto stands in a similar relation to the author's grammar of Prākrit. The work contains a history of the Caulukyas of Aṇhilvāḍ [Aṇahillapura] and particularly of Kumārapāla. In cantos XVI to XX, that are devoted to the latter, this prince is extolled above all as a pious Jaina, who prohibited bloody sacrifices and trading in flesh, got errected Jaina temples etc. The last two cantos contain moral and religious reflections. From the concluding portion of the work it is evident that Kumārapāla was full in life and at the peak of his fame when the poem was written. Hence it could not have been written before 1163 A.D.¹.