The penetration of Mughal power into previously
autonomous regional kingdoms produced significant... more The penetration of Mughal power into previously autonomous regional kingdoms produced significant political, but also literary effects. In this article, I trace the advent of the Mughal political order to the princely state of Orcha (located in what is now north-western Madhya Pradesh) through the eyes of Ke´savd¯as (fl. 1600), the leading poet from that court. Ke´savd¯as is famous in Hindi literary circles as one of the progenitors of the Brajbhasha r¯ıti tradition, a constellation of courtly poetic and intellectual practices that flourished in a climate of mixed Mughal and sub-imperial patronage. There is a pronounced tendency to think of Ke´savd¯as’s work (and that of most r¯ıti poets) as a corpus of baroque, purely decorative poems largely comprising time-worn erotic and devotional themes. This preliminary study of Ke´savd¯as’s three historical poems will help to complicate such an understanding by bringing into our conceptual purview a fuller range of r¯ıti textual expression. These lesser known works by one of the foremost r¯ıti poets are certainly striking for their literary accomplishments, but they also serve as an invaluable window onto a critical moment in Orcha history. They constitute the perfect testing ground for the enterprise of retrieving historical meaning from the literary sources that were the dominant form of pre-modern Indian courtly self-expression, and the methodology employed here is to critically engage both aesthetic and historical perspectives simultaneously.
Brajbhasha literature is a domain of Mughal culture seldom investigated by
scholars, to the detri... more Brajbhasha literature is a domain of Mughal culture seldom investigated by scholars, to the detriment of our understanding of both. While the Mughal court is famed for its lavish support of Persian writers, a surprising number of Brajbhasha poets also attracted the notice ofMughal patrons. In this paper I look at the lives and texts of important Braj writers who worked in Mughal settings, with a view to uncovering the nature of the social, political and cultural interactions that this kind of patronage represents. Why these poets have been largely lost to social and literary history is another concern, along with the challenges of trying to recover their stories.
A wealth of Old Hindi texts in the Rajasthani and Brajbhasha dialects survives from the
early mod... more A wealth of Old Hindi texts in the Rajasthani and Brajbhasha dialects survives from the early modern period, but they remain an underused archive of Mughal history. The Māncarit (“Biography of Man Singh,” 1585) of Amrit Rai, one of the earliest known examples of Rajput literature about a Mughal manṣabdār, provides fascinating perspectives on Mughal power, as seen from the perspective of the court of Man Singh Kachhwaha, one of the leading regional kings of Akbar’s day. Amrit Rai was as much a poet as an historian, which makes the Māncarit and the many Rajput texts like it challenging to interpret, but the possibility of gaining alternative perspectives on Mughal state formation makes such a hermeneutic enterprise essential. Bien qu’il existe un riche corpus de textes en vieil hindi (dans les dialectes rajasthani et brajbhasha) datant de la période de la première modernité, ceux-ci demeurent une archive sous-exploitée de l’histoire moghole. Le Māncarit (« Biographie de Man Singh », 1585)d’Amrit Rai, un des plus anciens exemples de littérature rajput concernant un manṣabdār moghol, offre de fascinantes perspectives sur le pouvoir moghol du point de vue de la cour de Man Singh Kachhwaha, un des principaux royaumes régionaux de l’époque d’Akbar. Amrit Rai était autant poète qu’historien, ce qui fait de l’interprétation du Māncarit et des nombreux textes rajputs lui ressemblant une tache épineuse. Parce qu’elle peut permettre d’accéder à des perspectives alternatives sur la formation de l’État moghol, une telle entreprise herméneutique est toutefois essentielle.
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Papers by Allison Busch
autonomous regional kingdoms produced significant political,
but also literary effects. In this article, I trace the advent of the
Mughal political order to the princely state of Orcha (located in
what is now north-western Madhya Pradesh) through the eyes
of Ke´savd¯as (fl. 1600), the leading poet from that court.
Ke´savd¯as is famous in Hindi literary circles as one of the
progenitors of the Brajbhasha r¯ıti tradition, a constellation of
courtly poetic and intellectual practices that flourished in a
climate of mixed Mughal and sub-imperial patronage. There is a
pronounced tendency to think of Ke´savd¯as’s work (and that of
most r¯ıti poets) as a corpus of baroque, purely decorative poems
largely comprising time-worn erotic and devotional themes.
This preliminary study of Ke´savd¯as’s three historical poems will
help to complicate such an understanding by bringing into our
conceptual purview a fuller range of r¯ıti textual expression.
These lesser known works by one of the foremost r¯ıti poets are
certainly striking for their literary accomplishments, but they
also serve as an invaluable window onto a critical moment in
Orcha history. They constitute the perfect testing ground for the
enterprise of retrieving historical meaning from the literary
sources that were the dominant form of pre-modern Indian
courtly self-expression, and the methodology employed here is
to critically engage both aesthetic and historical perspectives
simultaneously.
scholars, to the detriment of our understanding of both. While the Mughal court is
famed for its lavish support of Persian writers, a surprising number of Brajbhasha
poets also attracted the notice ofMughal patrons. In this paper I look at the lives
and texts of important Braj writers who worked in Mughal settings, with a view
to uncovering the nature of the social, political and cultural interactions that this
kind of patronage represents. Why these poets have been largely lost to social and
literary history is another concern, along with the challenges of trying to recover
their stories.
early modern period, but they remain an underused archive of Mughal history. The
Māncarit (“Biography of Man Singh,” 1585) of Amrit Rai, one of the earliest known examples
of Rajput literature about a Mughal manṣabdār, provides fascinating perspectives on
Mughal power, as seen from the perspective of the court of Man Singh Kachhwaha, one of
the leading regional kings of Akbar’s day. Amrit Rai was as much a poet as an historian,
which makes the Māncarit and the many Rajput texts like it challenging to interpret, but
the possibility of gaining alternative perspectives on Mughal state formation makes such a
hermeneutic enterprise essential.
Bien qu’il existe un riche corpus de textes en vieil hindi (dans les dialectes rajasthani et
brajbhasha) datant de la période de la première modernité, ceux-ci demeurent une archive
sous-exploitée de l’histoire moghole. Le Māncarit (« Biographie de Man Singh », 1585)d’Amrit Rai, un des plus anciens exemples de littérature rajput concernant un manṣabdār
moghol, offre de fascinantes perspectives sur le pouvoir moghol du point de vue de la cour
de Man Singh Kachhwaha, un des principaux royaumes régionaux de l’époque d’Akbar.
Amrit Rai était autant poète qu’historien, ce qui fait de l’interprétation du Māncarit et des
nombreux textes rajputs lui ressemblant une tache épineuse. Parce qu’elle peut permettre
d’accéder à des perspectives alternatives sur la formation de l’État moghol, une telle entreprise
herméneutique est toutefois essentielle.