Shridhar Vyas

Shridhar Vyas was a 14th-15th century poet from western India. He is known for his historical and heroic poetry, Ranmall Chhand.^[1]

Shridhar Vyas
Born	later 14th century Idar
Died	Idar
Occupation	Poet Warrior Advisor
Notable work	Ranmall Chhand Dasham Skandh

Life

There is not much information regarding his personal life. Vyas is a designation of the Brahman performing religious tasks in royal households or society. He was probably an officer in royal court with this designation. K. M. Munshi portrays him as a poet patronized by the king.^[2][3][4]

He is associated with Ranmall, the Rathore Rajput ruler of Idar.^[2]

Works

He is known for Ranmall Chhand, the historic-heroic poem written circa 1400. It describes the defeat of Muzzafar Shah I (Zafar Khan), the Muslim governor of Anhilwad Patan appointed by Delhi Sultanate, at Ahmedabad by Ranmall in 1398.^[5][3][6] It is considered one of the best heroic poetry of Old Gujarati which is mixed with Avahatatha, the artificial literary speech of court poets. He may have personally witnessed the battle. It is also historical work as its veracity can be verified by contemporary Muslim chronicles. The poem starts with ten Sanskrit verses followed by 60 Gujarati verses full of words of Persian and Arabic origin. It employs words with consonants to produce heroic feelings. His description of battle, characterization of hero and metrical patterns made it unique in Gujarati literature.^[3][2][7]

His Dasham Skandh is a Gujarati version of the 10th book of Bhagavata Purana. There are only 127 verses of its incomplete form available due to fragmentary manuscript.^[2]

He has also written Saptashati Chhand or Ishvari Chhand which is also heroic poem based on Durga Saptashi, the part of Markandeya Purana. It has 120 verses.^[2]

See also

• List of Gujarati-language writers

References

1. George M. Moraes (1972). Historiography in Indian languages: Dr. G.M. Moraes felicitation volume. Oriental Publishers. p. 142.
2. Lal (1992). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 4607–4608. ISBN 978-81-260-1221-3.
3. Milestones in Gujarati Literature: By Krishnalal Mohanlal Jhaveri. Gujarati Printing Press. 1924. p. 62.
4. Mansukhlal Maganlal Jhaveri (1978). History of Gujarati Literature. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 17.
5. Ayyappappanikkar (1 January 1997). Medieval Indian Literature: An Anthology. Sahitya Akademi. p. 455. ISBN 978-81-260-0365-5.
6. Institute of Historical Studies (Calcutta, India) (1979). Historical biography in Indian literature. Institute of Historical Studies. p. 200.
7. Sita Ram Sharma (1992). Gujarati. Anmol Publications. p. 56. ISBN 978-81-7041-545-9.

External links

• History of Gujarati Literature