A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c42.s26.6

v3.c42.s26.6

*Vācaspati*'s father's patron, Hammīra, was identified by Hoernle 302 as Amīr Mu'izzuddīn Muḥammad, i.e., Muhammad Ghorī, who reigned in Delhi from A.D. 1193 to 1206. 303 As pointed out by P.V. Sharma 304 and J. Filliozat, 305 this identification cannot be maintained. P.V. Sharma holds that Hammīra was the famous king of Raṇthambhor (Raṇastambhapura) (A.D. 1283–1301), 306 the last of the Cāhamānas, to whom the *Hammīramahākavya* by the Jaina author Nayacandrasūri 307 is devoted, and who was attacked, defeated and killed by 'Alā-ud-Dīn Khaljī. Raiśarman is supposed to have resorted to the court of Muḥammad b. Tughluq (1325–1351), 308 i.e., the Muhammad mentioned by Vācaspati, after Hammīra's defeat and death. P.V. Sharma dates Vācaspati therefore to about A.D. 1340. 309 J. Filliozat, rightly observing that several persons called Hammīra are known in Indian history, is inclined to see Pramoda's patron Hammīra as the Mahārāṇā of Mewār, who recovered Chitor, several years after 'Alā-ud-Dīn had reduced it to submission in 1303. 310 J. Filliozat identified Raiśarman's patron as Muḥammad Shāh I Bahmanī, who reigned from A.D. 1358 to 1377. 311 He concluded that Vācaspati must have written his commentary around the middle of the fourteenth century. The quotations in this commentary are not of much avail in establishing his date, since the latest author quoted by him is Dalhaṇa.