In Praise of Kings : Rajputs, Sultans and Poets in Fifteenth-century Gujarat

In Praise of Kings is a ground breaking study of the long-neglected fifteenth century in South Asian history. Contrary to the conventional focus on the Delhi-centred empires which consider this period as an age of decline, this book illuminates the cultural and political dynamism of the era. It reconstructs the fascinating world of the royal courts of Gujarat, including those of the Rajput chieftains and the regional sultans, through close readings of rarely used literary works in Sanskrit and Gujarati. The book also complicates another popularly held perception: that of Gujarat as the land of traders and merchants. Instead, it shows how Gujarat's warrior past was also integral to this region's identity and history. Cover......Page 1 In Praise of Kings......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 List of Maps......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 9 A Note on Transliteration and Usage......Page 12 Introduction......Page 15 Society and Polity in a Regional Setting......Page 18 Literary Innovations for Elaborating a Warrior Identity......Page 25 Re-discovering the Fifteenth-century Warriors......Page 30 Plan of the Book......Page 32 1. Setting the Stage......Page 35 The Chaulukya–Vaghela Polity, c. 940–1304......Page 38 Delhi Sultans in Gujarat, c. 1304–1407......Page 47 Local Polities......Page 52 Conclusion......Page 55 2. Raṇmallachanda......Page 58 A Dialogue between Literary Traditions......Page 61 Situating the Warrior Chieftain......Page 67 Resisting Authority and Imagining Domains......Page 72 The Imagery of Battle......Page 76 The Warrior Chieftain’s Heroic Persona......Page 78 Depictions of the Enemy......Page 83 Conclusion......Page 86 3. Gangadhara’s Oeuvre......Page 90 Local Kingdoms and Sultans in the Mid-fifteenth Century......Page 93 The Narratives......Page 97 The Rhetoric of Kingship......Page 101 Political Geography and Significance of Place......Page 108 Conclusion......Page 114 4. Rᾱjavinoda......Page 117 The Regional Imperium, 1411–1511......Page 120 The Sultans in Sanskrit Inscriptions......Page 125 Sarasvati Moves to the Sultan’s Court......Page 128 The Sultan’s Lineage and Multiple Domains......Page 133 Gurjaradesha as the Centre of Bharatavarsha: The Sultan as Paramount King......Page 137 Conclusion......Page 141 5. Rᾱs Mᾱlᾱ......Page 143 Gujarat in Forbes’s Time......Page 147 Rᾱs Mᾱlᾱ and Gujarat's Bardic Tradition......Page 152 Rᾱs Mᾱlᾱ and its Making......Page 154 Chieftains and Sultans in Rᾱs Mᾱlᾱ......Page 160 ‘Rajputs’ in Rᾱs Mᾱlᾱ......Page 166 Conclusion......Page 170 Conclusion......Page 172 Bibliography......Page 179 Index......Page 191 A study of the fifteenth century in South Asian history, this book reconstructs the fascinating world of the royal courts of Gujarat, including those of Rajput chieftains and regional sultans, through close readings of literary works in Sanskrit and Gujarati. It shows how Gujarat's warrior past was also integral to its identity and history. "Attempts close readings of several narratives that have rarely been used for historical analysis and studies the complex processes that contributed to the formation of Gujarat in the fifteenth century, and how it has subsequently shaped Gujarat's future" --Provided by publisher