Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c4.s2.t3.6

c4.s2.t3.6

Under Sher Shah flourished the famous poet of Oudh, Malik Muhammad Jaisi, who wrote and sang in his sweet native Awadhi, and was proud of the fact. In some ways, he was greater even than Amir Khusrau, for while the latter was more or less confined in his treatment to Muslim society and adhered to the orthodox view of Islam, the former had drunk deep at the springs of both Hinduism and Islam, and was, as a matter of fact, more Hindu than Muslim in his outlook on life. He is the oldest vernacular poet of Hindustan of whose works we have any uncontested remains.¹ In his well-known book *Padumavati*, Malik Muhammad Jaisi deals with the events of the popular story of Raja Ratansen of Chitor : the marriage of the Raja with Padumavat, a princess of the distant Simhala ; his battle against ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji and imprisonment in Delhi ; and finally, his thrilling escape from the royal prison through the device of his queen and the valour of his two loyal adherents. The Simhala of the story (popularly believed to be Ceylon) is no other than an average Hindu capital in Northern India. The descriptions of the seas and the southern countries (given in the book to meet the requirements of Hindu dramatic conventions) are so fanciful that it may be doubted if the author ever ventured to go beyond the limits of the Doab and Oudh. Another book of fiction is the story of Baz Bahadur and Rupamati of Malwa which was composed by Ahmad-al-Umrei, and is now available in Crump’s rendering published under the title ‘Lady of the Lotus.’ It is an interesting though a sad poem and gives valuable side-lights on social life in Malwa.