Bhatti, the author of Ravanavadha, was the court poet of Dharasena IV (AD 645-650), the Maitraka ruler of Valabhi. Ravanavadha, (the Death of Rāvaṇa), more popularly known as Bhattikavya (Bhatti’s Poems), is a poem on the story of Rama.
Bhattikavya is sometimes included in the list of mahakavya.
Also called Trikanda, Amarakosha is a Sanskrit lexicon compiled in ancient India by Amarasimha who was one of the famous Navaratnas, or Nine Gems who adorned the court of the Gupta ruler Vikramaditya Chandragupta II (c. 376-415).
Most of Amarakosha’s works have been lost to us.
Illuminated mausoleum of Rahim in Delhi / Image Credit: Parveen Sharma Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, popularly known as Rahim, was a medieval Hindi poet, scholar of Sanskrit and Persian and powerful minister and military commander during Mughal emperor Akbar’s reign.
According to tradition he was one of Akbar’s ‘Navratnas (“Nine Jewels”). The Navratnas were nine individuals of extraordinary ability gracing the court of Akbar.
Rahim was born in 1556 to Bairam Khan, the preceptor to Mughal emperor Akbar. The father-son duo were both titled Khan-i-Khanan. Rahim was four years old when his father was killed in 1561 AD by an Afghan at Patan on his way to Mecca.
On the instruction of Akbar, Baburnamah was translated into Persian in 1589 by Rahim.
Malik Maqbool tomb Delhi/ Image source
Jahan Khan or Malik Maqbul whose mausoleum in the Nizamuddin Basti in Delhi is the earliest octagonal tomb in India was the Wazir (Prime Minister) of the Delhi Sultanate under Firuz Shah Tughluq ((r. 1351–1388), the third ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty.
Also known as Khan-i-Jahan Maqbul Tilangani, Malik Maqbul was originally a Brahmin from Telangana in the service of the Kakatiya kingdom in eastern Deccan. He converted to Islam when the kingdom under Prataprudra was annexed to the Delhi Sultanate in 1323 during the reign of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq who had sent his son Ulugh Khan (later Muhammad bin Tughlaq) to bring the Hindu kingdom under the Muslim rule. Malik Maqbul was known as Gannama Nayaka or Yugandhar before his conversion.
Malik Maqbul was given the title of Khan-i-Jahan by Firuz Shah Tughluq who had succeeded Muhammad bin Tughlaq in 1351 AD. Firuz Shah Tughluq appointed Malik Maqbul his Wazir. In this role Malik Maqbul managed the affairs of the state efficiently.
After the death of Maqbul in 1370, his son, Juna Shah, was made the prime minister by Firoz. He was, however, killed by Muhammad Khan, the third son of Firoz Tughlaq, when Juna Shah tried to wrest the control of the state and become the ruler himself.
Malik Maqbul lies buried in mausoleum in Nizamuddin West in Delhi. The mausoleum, built by his son Juna Shah, is considered the first octagonal tomb in India. Tomb of Sufi saint Shah Rukn-i Alam in Multan is the only other octagonal mausoleum in the Indian subcontinent that pre-dates this tomb.
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| Tomb of Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh / Image source |
Also known as Data Ganj Baksh (Distributor of Unlimited Power), Khwaja Ali Hujjwiri lived in 11th century AD and is considered to be the earliest Sufi Saint of repute who made India his home.
Sufism is a form of Islamic mysticism.
Born in Ghazni in Afghanistan, he died in Lahore and his tomb, known popularly as Data Darbar, is an important place of pilgrimage in the city.
Also called Shaykh al-Hujwiri, Khwaja Ali Hujjwiri was a scholar and is known for compiling Kashf-ul-Mahjoob or Kashf al-Mahjub (Revelation of Mystery), a Persian treatise on Sufism, which was translated into English by British Orientalist and scholar Reynold Alleyne Nicholson. The work gives the biographies of Sufis from Prophet Muhammad's days to his own time.
His shrine in Lahore was visited by famous Chisti saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti who paid his homage to him by hailing him as 'Ganj Baksh' , the perfect pir.
A contemporary of Chalukya King Pulakeshin II who defeated him on the banks of Narmada in 618 AD, Harsha was an Indian emperor who brought a semblance of stability to the politics of North India amidst the chaos that characterized the period following the decline of the Gupta empire.
The reign of Harsha, also known as Harshavardhana, is well documented compared to other ancient Indian rulers. His court-poet was the famous Brahmin author Banabhatta whose magnum opus is Harshacharita (The Deeds of Harsha). Chinese scholar and traveler Huen Tsang came to his court leaving a valuable description of India.
Harsha who ascended the throne in 606 at the age of sixteen was the second son of Prabhakaravardhana, a local king of the Pushyabhuti dynasty (Vardhana dynasty) ruling from Sthanvisvara (modern Thanesar in Kurukshetra district of Haryana).
Prabhakaravardhana grew in strength by successfully raiding against the Hunas, who still held parts of the Panjab, After Prabhakaravardhana, Harsha’s elder brother, Rajyavardhan, took over the reins of the kingdom. However, after a brief period, he along with his brother-in law and Maukhari ruler Grahavarman of Kannauj, was killed in a battle with Sasanka, the fierce anti Buddhist king of Bengal.
It was against this backdrop that Harsha became the ruler of Thanesar and as Grahavarman died childless he was invited by the nobles of Kannauj to assume the Maukhari throne.
After coming to the throne Harsha began to strengthen his position and brought most of Northern India, from Bengal to Gujarat, under his control. His empire was feudal in structure.
After bringing North India under his subjugation it was natural for Harsha to focus his attention on the Deccan. However it was an unsuccessful endevour as he was thoroughly defeated by Pulakeshin II as mentioned earlier.
Harsha was a scholar-king. He had authored three dramas: Ratnavali, Priyadarsika and Nagananda (the Joy of the Serpents).
After ruling for 41 years Harshavardhan died in 647 AD.
Achyuta Raya was a Vijayanagar ruler who succeeded to the throne in 1529 following the death of his half-brother Krishna Deva Raya, the greatest Vijayanagar emperor. If Portuguese chronicler Fernao Nuniz, who spent three years in Vijayanagar empire during the reign of Achyuta Deva Raya from 1535 to 1537, is to be believed, the Vijayanagar ruler was given to cruelty and tyranny. However, Achyuta Raya was not such a dishonest and weak ruler as maligned by Nuniz.
Achyuta Deva Raya ruled for 13 years and internal revolts ruled the roost during the period. However, he managed to keep the vast Vijayanagar dominions intact.
Achyuta Raya is more known for his work in the field of culture and religion. In 1534 he built the Tiruvengalanatha shrine in Hampi, more popularly known as Achyuta Raya Temple, named after him. The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Tiruvengalanatha, a form of Vishnu.
Purandaradasa, known as Father of Carnatic music or Karnataka Sangeetha Pitamaha. was patronized by Achyuta Deva Raya in whose court also flourished Sanskrit scholar Rajanatha Dindima and Kannada poet Chatu Vittalanatha. Rajanatha Dindima had written a Sanskrit poem named Achyutaraydbhyudaya dealing with the life of Achyuta Deva Raya.