Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c4.s2.t3.2

c4.s2.t3.2

1. Folklore and Fiction.—Few words are needed to recommend to a student of social history the examination of folklore. Folklore lacks the flourish and glamour of a court chronicle, and the accuracy and lucidity of other books of history or historical documents. But in its own way it professes ‘to reconstruct a spiritual history of Man, not as exemplified by the outstanding works of poets and thinkers, but as represented by the more or less inarticulate voices of the ‘folk.’¹ The claims of Folklore to the status of a scientific study are being slowly recognized. The period under review begins with the voluminous collection of stories, namely, the *Jawami‘-ul-Hikayat* of Muhammad ‘Awfi. The author lived in the reign of Sultan Iltutmish and dedicated his great work to his minister, Nizam-ul-mulk Junaidi. It is a neatly compiled book, carefully classified into chapters and sections according to its contents.² It was too early to expect from a Muslim writer an intimate touch with the social life of the country of his domicile. Thus the *Jawami‘-ul-Hikayat* speaks more of foreign Muslim centres, like Ghazni and Bagdad, and very little of Multan or Delhi. It does not forget, however, to give some interesting side-lights on the life of the Sultans. As a whole, its value is meagre. *Purush-Pariksha* of Vidyapati Thakur, though written in the conventional style of the contemporary books of ethics, is very useful for our purpose.³ It starts with an examination of Hindu ethical ideals, and illustrates its moral from illustrations with examples from the ancient as well as from the contemporary social life; the range of choice of historical examples does not exclude the Muslims or the lower Hindu classes. As a whole, our period is marked by the decay of Sanskrit literature, and we can turn with profit to the rising Prakrits or provincial dialects for information of value.