Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c7.s3.t3.49

c7.s3.t3.49

*Dancing and Singing.*—Among other amusements and recreations, dancing and singing were quite popular with the common people. A visitor to an Indian village in Hindustan still finds peasants and other folks gathering in their common *chowpals* for the Holi celebration to sing their popular ballads and dance. In some places, especially in the Doab, the popular annals of *Alhakhand* and the story of Nala and Damayanti are still recited in the evenings. We can quite imagine that the stirring episode of Raja Ratan Sen's escape from the royal prison of Delhi and the fight of Hamira Deva may have inspired the village minstrels and versifiers to sing of them. The Savan (Sravana) songs (for which special melodies of ‘*Hindola*’ and ‘*Savani*’ were composed during our period) were universally popular and were probably sung in communities and on the swings, as they are to-day.³