Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c13.s1.40

c13.s1.40

From the fifteenth century onwards the vernacular literatures arise and partly displace Sanskrit literary activity. But in the north the vernacular writers yield little to the student of political theory. Everywhere there are translations or abridgments of the epics and Purāṇas, but it is significant that some noted medieval poets who told the story of Rāma modelled themselves on the Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa rather than on Vālmiki. They neglect the political side even of the traditional wisdom almost completely. It is remarkable that some of the greatest figures in Hindi literature, Sūradāsa and Tulsidāsa, for instance, though they lived close to Agra, the capital of the Muslim Empires, in the sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth centuries, do not make the slightest allusion to contemporary political institutions, events or ideas. With the exception of those who were patronised by Muslim sovereigns or nobles, the vernacular writers, as a class, in Muslim India, almost studiously ignore politics.¹ In Rājputānā and Central India where Hindus retained their partial independence, literature concerns itself a little with politics. There are heroic lays embedded in the epic. Prithvirâjâso which, though ascribed to Chandabardâi and partly to his son Jalhana of the twelfth century, was really composed by many hands from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century. It repeats the traditional political ideas, glorifies martial prowess, state independence and feudal loyalty.¹ Other Râjpût compositions, many of which are perserved in Mss. in the palace libraries and private collections in Râjpût states, particularly in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, and Bundi, closely resemble the Râso. Other poems reflect the ideas of the bards. The same remark applies to the Central Indian composition of which an excellent Ms. collection exists in the palace library of Chhatarpur.