The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c14.s9.t6.4

c14.s9.t6.4

From the dates given about King Vīrasiṃhadeva it is clear that his reign coincided from beginning to end with the Imperial rule of Jahangir (1605-1627). Akbar died, be it noted, in 1605. We are told that Mitra-Miśra was "ordered" (ājnapto) by Vīrasiṃha to prepare the nibandha called *Vīramitrodaya* (p. 8). But whether it was completed by 1627 we do not know. Besides, the *Vīramitrodaya* is an encyclopaedic work like Hemādri's *Chaturvargachintāmaṇi* and is a compendium on the most diverse branches of law. The *Rājanītiprakāśa* is a part of this encyclopaedia and, as the title implies, deals with public law. The order in which the different portions were composed cannot yet be ascertained. It is not improbable that the volume *Rājanītiprakāśa* as well as some other volumes, were composed after Vīrasiṃha's and Jahangir's time, i.e., during the Imperial rule of Shahjahan (1627-1658). In any case, the *Vīramitrodaya* is associated with the glorious age of Indo-Saracenic Renaissance, nay, one of the greatest epochs of world culture.