Gujarati language is one of the modern Indian Aryan languages and has evolved from the later form of Shaurseni Prakrit, 'Nagar Apabhramsa'. Gujarati region of Gujarat, in addition to Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch is also the border region of Maharashtra and southwestern part of Rajasthan. Saurashtra and Kachchi are its other major dialects. The latter form of Apabhramsa, which Hemachandra Suri has indicated in his texts, is famous as 'Gurjar Apabhramsa' and many literary works are found in it. The area of this apabhramsa was originally Gujarat and western Rajasthan and in this view western Rajasthani or Marwari is closely associated with the Gujarati language.
The works of Gujjar or Shvetanavar Apabhramsa can be considered as the ancient works of Gujarati. These are often compositions composed in the folklore style of Jain poets. We have a rich literature of Raas, Phag and Churchery poetry, among which the prominent are Bharatbahubaliras, Revantdas, Thulibhaddafag, Neminathchoupai etc. Even after this, some prose compositions of the 13th-14th century are found, which together reveal the syncretic position of Juni Gujarati and Juni Rajasthani. In fact, until the 16th century, till Mirabai, Gujarati and western Rajasthani was an undivided language. Their diversion began around this century.
The history of ancient Gujarati literature is not particularly rich. Early works include Sridhar Kavi's 'Ranamallachhand' (1390 AD), which describes the battle of King Ranamall of Eider and the Muslim ruler of Gujarat. The second work is the Kanhaddeeprabandha (1456 AD) of the Padmanabha poet, which describes the attack and battle of Alauddin Khilji on Kanhadde, the king of Jalore. This poem is a beautiful composition of Veerras and comes in Gujarati literature and is enumerated in texts. At the same time, the wave of medieval cultural awakening also raged in Gujarat, whose two main representatives are Narsi Mehta and Bhalan Kavi. Narsi's time is disputed, but according to most scholars, they existed in the late 15th century. There are many legends about his devotion to Krishna. Narsi Mehta is the originator of Gujarati Padashitya, in which there is a unique expression of unconscious devotion. The time of the Bhalan poet is also considered to be approximately the same. He composed many poems about the mythological chronicles of Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavata and gave birth to Garbasahitya. In the depiction of Vatsalya and Shringar, Bhalan is considered perfect. Both these styles of verse literature and narrative poetry have provided many poets to medieval Gujarati literature. Another important personality of the first style is Mirabai (16th century), on whom the influence of Narsi is clearly reflected. Like Hindi and Rajasthani, many succulents of Mirabai are found in Gujarati, which are sung like folk songs in Gujarati people just like Narsi's verses. The style of narrative poetry is found in many poets like Nagar, Keshavdas, Madhusudan Vyas, Ganapati, but it is reflected in the extremist premananda.
Premanand Bhatt (17th century) is considered the supreme poet of Gujarati devotional literature. He was born in the Nagar Brahmin family of Baroda and was well versed in Sanskrit, Hindi, Gujarati etc. languages. Premanand composed poems on many lectures of Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata and Markandeepuran whose number is above 50. He is also the first playwright of Gujarati, who has three theatrical works. Along with sentimentality, they are characterized by ornate style. On this manner, poets also wrote mythological narratives, including many poems by Shamal Bhatt, Bhaktamal of Mukund, Rukminiharan of Devidas, God Marriage of Murari. The contemporary devotee of Premanand is the poet Akho (17th century) who was the sonar of Ahmedabad. Like Kabir, he has bitterly satirized the false hypocrisy, caste system and varna system of religion. They have both philosophical, devotional and reformist positions.
It has been said above that the Bhalan poet had developed a special poetry style - Garba style. This style is basically associated with dance folklore. In this style, many devotional eulogies related to deities were written in the 18th century. A different sect of Garbi poets started running, in which all types of people like Brahmins, Bhats and Patidars will meet. Prominent Garabi poets are Ballabh Bhatt, Pritam Das, Dhirobhakta, Neerant Bhakta and Bhoja Bhakta. The peak of this style is found in the songs of the Garbi emperor, Dayaram (1767–1852 AD). Dayaram is the best medieval Gujarati poet of Shringarasarpakar Geeti Kavya, who has expressed melodious expressions in simple and succulent style. His 48 compositions are found in Gujarati. Apart from this, he has composed poems equally in Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi and Urdu.
The Swaminarayan sect has also played a major role in the development of medieval Gujarati literature. The founder of this sect comes in the disciple tradition of Sahajanand Ramanand. The Sadhus of this sect have had considerable influence in Kutch and Gujarat. Philosophical facts, devotion and condemnation of social hypocrisy are the subjects of these monk poets. The principal poet of this sect is Brahmananda, whose many texts and eight thousand footsteps are found. Among other poets Muktananda, Manjukesananda and Devanand may be named....
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