Page:A History of Hindi Literature.djvu/23

GENERAL SURVEY OF HINDI LITERATURE 9 up, and later Muhammadan sovereigns often found it more profitable to make alliances with the Rajput monarchs than to attack them. It was during this period that the modern ver- naculars of India were taking shape, and the earliest modern vernacular literature of Hindustan appeared in the form of the bardic chronicles of Rajputana. The stirring times in which they lived produced ample themes for the royal bards, and the liberal patronage of monarchs encouraged their labours. Though full of panegyric and embellished with many legends, and therefore not to be taken as sober history, their poems nevertheless are a stirring record of the desperate struggles between the Hindu kingdoms and their Muhammadan invaders, and of the heroism and chivalry which such a period called forth. The greatest name in the literature of this period is that of Chand Bardal, the bard of Prithvlraj. Contemporary with Chand was Jagnayak, while a famous^ bard of the middle of the fourteenth century was Sarang Dhar, w^ho sang the prowess of the valorous Hammir, Prince of Ranthambhor. The rise of the worship of Rama, which took place about the beginning of the fifteenth century, gave another great impetus to vernacular literature. One branch of Vaishnavas worshipped Vishnu under the form of Krishna and this form of worship had long been popular. Now, largely owing to the great influence of Ramananda, others made Rama their prin- cipal object of w^orship. A later development, due in some measure to Muhammadan influence, and in which Kabir was the first great teacher, was in the direction of a non-idolatrous theism. All these various move- ments were part of a great religious revival which was widespread amongst the people, and all began to use the vernacular for their literature. From this time on the vernacular literature was mostly dominated by religious ideals and almost entirely on the lines which had been laid down by the Vaishnava reformers. This period begins about 1400 and includes such