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Kashmiri poet and chronicler
Kalhana
(
Sanskrit
:
?????
,
romanized
:
kalha?a
) was the author of
Rajatarangini
(
River of Kings
), an account of the
history of Kashmir
. He wrote the work in
Sanskrit
between 1148 and 1149.
[1]
All information regarding his life has to be deduced from his own writing, a major scholar of which is
Mark Aurel Stein
.
Life
[
edit
]
Kalhana was born in a
Hindu
Brahmin
family to a Kashmiri minister, Chanpaka, who probably served king Harsha of the
Lohara dynasty
.
[2]
It is possible that his birthplace was
Parihaspore
and his birth would have been very early in the 12th century. The introductory verses to each of the eight Books in his
Rajatarangini
are prefaced with prayers to
Shiva
, a Hindu deity. In common with many Hindus in Kashmir at that time, he was also sympathetic to Buddhism, and Buddhists tended to reciprocate this feeling towards Hindus.
[3]
Even in relatively modern times, Buddha's birthday has been a notable event for Kashmiri Brahmins and well before Kalhana's time Buddha had been accepted by Hindus as an
avatar
of
Vishnu
.
[4]
Kalhana was familiar with earlier epics such as the
Vikramankadevacharita
of
Bilhana
, the
Ramayana
and the
Mahabharata
, to all of which he alludes in his own writings.
[5]
However, his own writings did not employ what Stein has described as "the very redundant praise and flattery which by custom and literary tradition Indian authors feel obliged to bestow on their patrons". From this comes Stein's deduction that Kalhana was not a part of the circle surrounding Jayasimha, the ruling monarch at the time when he was writing the
Rajatarangini
.
[6]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Stein, Vol. 1, p. 15.
- ^
"Kalhana | Kashmir Brahman"
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
.
- ^
Stein, Vol. 1, pp. 6-9, 15.
- ^
Stein, Vol. 1, p. 9.
- ^
Stein, Vol. 1, pp. 10-11.
- ^
Stein, Vol. 1, p. 17.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Wikiquote has quotations related to
Kalhana
.
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