Kanhadade Prabandha was composed by poet Padmanabha in 1455 A.D. On account of its multifarious qualities, it has been hailed by such eminent scholars as Muni Jina Vijayaji and others as the finest work in old Gujarati or old Rajasthani, and the greatest patriotic work written in any Indian language during the medieval period.
The work gives a graphic account of the conquest of Gujarat by the Muslims during Sultan Alauddin's period and the fall of the two important Rajput principalities of Siwana and Jalor. But that is not all. In no other work written during this period we find a more clear picture of what really befell the people of India during the course of the establishment of Muslim rule in India, and how the Indians, at many places, took an honorable stand and put up a splendid fight, forcing the Muslim armies suffer many a humiliating defeats. The work gives an entirely different picture of Hindu psychology, character, ideals, capabilities and noble traditions of chivalry, which had their roots in their two great epics and even in earlier works, and of their superior culture and values, as well as their unshakable faith in their religion, than what is commonly known through the Persian histories. The work also exposes the falsity of many imaginative theories, fanciful explanations, and ingenious observations of some of the most eminent present day Indian historians of Medieval India about the nature and character of Turkish conquests in.
Dr. V.S. Bhatnagar is professor of History at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. He has done pioneering work in the archival records of the 17th and 18th centuries. His previous works include Life and Times of Sawai Jai Singh (1700-1743 A.D.), Impex India, Delhi, 1974. He has been closely associated with the Centre for Rajasthan Studies, University of Rajasthan, for the past several years, and has contributed a number of articles to research journals, and chapters to the Rajasthan State Gazeteers (New Series).
Kanhadade Prabandha was composed in V.S. 1512 (1455 A.D.) by Padmanabha, a Nagar Brahmana of Visalnagar, at the desire of Akhairaja, the fifth in descent from Raval Kanhadade Chauhana of Jalor, the intervening princes being Viramade, Megalde, Ambaraja and Khetsi (Canto IV, vss. 334-336, 341). The poet describes Akhairaja as a devout and virtuous prince, the fame of whose merit, earned by virtuous deeds (punyas), had spread far and wide (Canto IV, vs. 337).
We are, however, not in a position to say whether Akhairaja was an independent ruler of Jalor or he was living in exile-Jalor having been usurped by the Lohani Afghans through treachery, according to one account in 1394 A.D., and it remained thereafter in Afghan hands, first as vassals of the Gujarat Sultans and later of the Mughal Emperors, till one of the descendants of the usurper founded Palanpur State in Gujarat. It were perhaps the stringent circum- stances of Akhairaja which inspired our poet to bring out the best in him to portray in his great poetical work the glory of Jalor under Kanhadade, just four generations ago, and to immortalize the epic struggle, and sacrifice of the people of Siwana and Jalor in the defence of their independence by putting up an honourable fight to the last drop of their blood against the Turkish invaders. The poet does not give any more details about his patron than he gives about himself, and he was obviously too noble a person to care for his own name, the exalted theme of his work being his sole concern. So sure was he of his pious duty to tell the tale of Kanhadade's heroic struggle and sacrifice, a tale of highest ideals, noblest conduct, and burning patriotism that he regarded his composition no less pious than the Puranas, and capable of bestowing the same religious merit as the pilgrimage to a holy place bestows upon a pilgrim (Canto IV, vss. 345-51).
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