: A Rulers, Regions and War Solty, ‘ ies in Verse Histories 1 ne J haan A NUMBER OF Braja poems SUrVIVE, V which, in terms of their structure content, and style read very much like the Persian chronicles of the Hime. These poems have significant new information which may enable us to understand several dimensions of the social and cultural history of the period. I examine some of these poems, to show how and in what sense these poems could be used as sources for history, and in manner the narratives in these poems are veritable histories. In the histories of Mughal north India written so far, Persian chronicles were regarded as an important | ce of history. It was said that premodern India did not have any other sources which could be called histories. Persian historiographic traditions were viewed as imported, and perceptions were formulated about the lack of a historical consciousness in premodern India. It was generally held that the skill of history writing amongst Indians and their consciousness of the past evolved as they encountered the West in the nineteenth century. Even /, those historians who attempted to explore the possibilities of history in vernaculars could at best write ‘quasi history’. The historians of the subaltern group based their research on vernacular, oral, and local sources and the experiences of “small people’ to study Indian society and politics, but they remained confined to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some recent research, however, has led to a radical change ta ae fans, Romila Thapar read Itihasa Purana as witness a Mangalleb sciousness in India, Kumkum Chatterjee examin i are Ra 4 narratives in the context of eighteenth-century ae TMS pe historian in Keshavdas, Among such writings, Th? Subtaha Tine by v Narayana Rao, David Shulman, and sani! book-length discussiens es a pineulatly distinct position. It is no ie fiaied Bee eh ont fe question of history writing In prem ‘ia Q ul refutation of the old view from southern In aes literature, however, still demands serious attention. Bee 'g upon a detailed discussion I submit that the historical poo,wy EES AND WARS: x speed here have varied contexts. A poet writing i, . ; 5 ing i anding che late sixteenth century when the Musieq ne eunéela cour au aon indubitabl ‘erent from the one who rae a az epte enth century in the Agra-Mathura Tegion wl ene . a oxiy had withered away. Their poetry wouldgecorg nite, Mga "a attitudes, and perceptions. Their statements, if examined re sends, \ were ‘historian poets” and not simply panegyrists, ‘Theis ae hey oA Necupation was a part OF ritual. Poets acted as the mo Banegyric =O Fings, often providing their patfons the ideals mage Dreceptors of kingship, guiding them to act in certain Waye po eens for ve vy embodiments of certain qualities. Playing these roles the poets, with a” —\| ‘Oy AX to the rulers. The large sections in each text devoted to rajdharma were ~~ ‘h ty ;, replicas OF authoritative administrative manuals of the ancient period “| “Uy ¢ with the required moderation in the rules according to the needs of the Bay [AY time. As shall be discussed besides constructing genealogies as a source “2:1 aad of legitimation, they acted to mobilize public support for their patrons- —, c Moreover, expressions of rajdharma in the vernacular served to acqu: \ ‘ia even the unlettered masses about kingship, and suggested the critic aid foundation on which the identity of the king and the region was taking *. ude shape. Keshavdas’ Ratan Bavani, Veer Charitra, Jahangir Jas Chandrika 2’ and Vigyan Gita; Raj Vilas of Maan; Chhatra Prakas of Gore Lal; we Jangnama of Shridhar Ojha and Sujan Charitra of Sudan are some poems si from which we can glean history from a different perspective than that i of the Persian chroniclers of Agra, Delhi, and Lahore. : 2 past ; re xr ara z av e Veer Charitra, the Bundelas and the Mughals [7° “oro ite Among the ieaiaal powers. Fe pundelas occupy an eminent place. 2 uss Veer Charitra is a long narrative tracing the process of the emergence of lis the Bundelas as a power. Ratan Bavani may be considered a prologue toy, se Veer Charitra, in which the poet introduces Ratnasena as the brave son ge of Madhukar Shah (1554-92).? In fifty-two verses, Keshavdas describes sf the battle fought between the armies of Akbar and Madhukar Shah fOr is teasons he does not specify. Ratnasena dies fighting valiantly ‘ a ¢ Bundelas could not win the battle. In this brief text, oe ei incessantly made on the part of a son to protect the dignity ol a a i he battle was fought between a Mughal army of sixty ¢ aa ah bad iy Bundela force of four thousand.* The army of Maénulsl 0” ie 1,500 mounted soldiers, 2,000 foot soldiers and 50,000 eleP "in y Poet claimed that none on the side of the Bundelas ca arises if sch accurately evaluates this text as a poem of resistance:G60. ee ik jedi undate : This is the Se of Veer Charitra, the date of th the fo included her In the eee he neomaphy hee four vf the text, the pedigree of the Bundelas, the geography of the kingt eee exails are better artic! ied. The brief mention o eto ‘eference to his kingship or kingdom and his setter indicate that this regional power was embryonic at the army Madhukar’s death in 1592. Given that Veer Charitra was com ime 9 1606 as per the internal exidencs, it‘emerges that Bir Sime" (DEIN, successor Of *fadhukar Shah and claimant to thes soee throne, had acquired enough strength between 1592 and 160 andl period may thus be seen as a period of state formation in Bun + This ‘The process of Bir Singh’s ascent, his negotiations with Akbar in mak; pee Pr phand a kingdom, and his adjustment with Jahangir are makin by the poet as an eyewitness account. recorded Wr Veer Charitra opens with an oblation to Ganesha and is suce by a description of three great kings, Man Singh the Kachhwaha tL reded 1¢i4), Rana Amar Singh (1596-1607) the Sisodia, and Bir 5 562- Bundela of Orchha. This verse seems to convey more than th Heh Deo contains. The ‘spurious Rajput clan’ as Kolff terms the B Bere dsit sae cciphiNoubar\Rajputand Sipabi, were located on the t i platform where the Kachhwahas and Ranas had st ce tivals of the Mughals. Moreover, Bir Singh ‘ood as partners or whereas the other two were tae usane is ea Bundelas were not politi ; f their clan, Clearly, the The poet See : sotially prominent at that juncture. dominant Rajput clans in an attem] ae paithtewovothenulersioLivg and his clan. Keshavdas then u Pods promote the status of the ruler himself as a distinguished litte a ‘olds his own ancestry and projects profound knowledge of dharna" politician, and an intellectual with The geo ee seography of the Bundela region is vividly described as a place “as the Sir - da River and sometimes s Tar as tI = ver i rorks ape Sa Ry et. Bundela history generally begins.in n 1531. Keshavdas links Bundels w Rudra Pratap who founded Orchha a descendant of Kush (son™ ela genealogy to the lineage ‘of Rama: t0 Tecognized as the Bundel: ce of Rama) nam ir Bhadra, who was scout with his fake he His grandson Arjunpal left Kashi after ae of Uttar Pradesh, on and settled in Mahoni, now in Jalon undhar in Madhya Pradesh, I npal’s son Sohanpal conquered Cat the earth like the Danes pedigree, his son, Rudra Pratap ° and founded the jn nis Ocean and God Rudra, descended and Madhukar Share Sit¥ Of Orchha.’ Hi i Chao Rudra Pr, « Shah expanded and a.” His successors Bharti ae atap died. and consolidated their territories ® d text of Keshavdas amongst all Shab wiRULERS, REGIONS AND Wars 161 er historical accounts, eage to the Bundelas ion of the Bundelas as These descriptions are not different from put Jiberate attempt to assign a Suryardaaht he mal the difference in Keshavdas. The identificati gut ansbi indie an attempt to assign them genealogies, thus were not necessarily history Kshatriya status, The fly fabricated to support the claims of the storically accurate, but his political status and to accommedae ae authority, is clan in this rationaliz 3 > a to My defined frame. he Bundelas, “y iz s they emerge in the oetry of 6 vaguely a a keshavdas, graduall shed their obscure identity ¢ ie Khatriyaization tO legitimize their freshly acquir rough a process of fer the death of Madhul ‘ed political power? Kbar_acknowled; nowledges “eggs |, Madhukars ce Ram Shah, in return for the latter’ Matha, Bir Singh, his brother, and immediat 1's support, as the king ely (fremont imperial choice. The poet views ie assumes the throne alte Jv wo Kings inthe same family. Bir Singh ext ituation as unusual, Vou, interesting is the honest confession in the poetry that e als."" What is °° eo (2 him by his father, encroach of Baraun entrusted to sane Jalal Shah. This alarr es upon the lands belonging to Akbar or ¥ mesa . ms the Mus ch Ls yurt and the”emperor shows his s ree, Im; Bran cet i, | evra he prc ea Pied te sow, wih a promiae of raising bisgmavaa) to five thousan ah for mediation" oft two ee eee al dizstiade Bini to five thousand. Ram Shah assures feral es i ‘ ir Singh.” Bir Singh Deo, determined to ropes sesblshihie wna in Orchha by overruling all the claims of his salwib tollaborateaaaith a at the murder of Shaikh Abul Fazl in Be eae ellious Prince Salim.” The reasons why Bir sph Shek ar proached Salim have also been narrated contextually; Bir a Man Sinch facing problems with other Rajput rulers, the Rana and Raja en fads a in particular, though the reasons are not specified. The family ee eel lescribed at length by the poet as one of the causes, and Akbar’s ye Keene ane his submission made the situation even more cri ee to join caine concludes that Bir Singh and his men had no choice:but 0 a camp. igs % fae rewarded by the Prince for killing Abul Faz which intensifies je court, Th with Akbar; it also makes the situation critical in the Bundela Gat dest GAL woneluded in favour of Bir Singh with the op? ingshi kbar in 1605. Jahangir then confers upon Bir Singh Deo the f ip of Orchha including all ancestral lands of the Bundelas. Bir i 4) Sigh readily accep. ily accepts the suzerainty of Jahangir and even renames Orchha as fi angir Pur 7 In the reba tte the poet explains Bir Singh’ lim, Bir Singh is projected as discussing * 5 decision to ally with he matter in a162. LITERATURE, Ce eee END ng, A native named Mi a nded the sunk eting: ave 3 tl . Frfluence extends Tasik have become estranged; Mirzs etion with the Ranas and N°" “he domestic feud while another consiqer” Das is afraid and war sh the repeate dd firmans of Akbar, The the Mughal Pe ei TIndrajit and it is decided that they shoulg «" then discussed in, The text refers to many such join session” Prayag an ¢ how carefully the strategies were formulated, Th indicator of how ween the regions is also apparent. One nero amie ag clecieat of truth that rules out the charge of poetic fang these Tbe port gives us minute details of each interaction between the Mughals and the Bundelas. The complex process may be influenced by ihe intervention of locals while the proposals of Abul Faz! or Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khana may be knocked down. Akbar may be jalim op Turk and Jahangir could be dubun din ka swami or protector of both the faiths. Khan-i-Khana’s arrival in Orchha on his way to the Deccan campaign (in 1595), the refusal of Bir Singh to meet him, the Bundela kinsfolk convincing Bir Singh for a meeting, Khan-i-Khana taking him along to the Deccan, offering him a jagir in the Deccan and Bir Singh’s humble refusal with an insistence on affirming the claim for his homeland, are some of the details not available in other accounts. The poet continues and records the death of Prince Murad in the Deccan in 1598, an expedition to the Deccan in person by Akbar in 1600, his halt at Narwar for negotiation with Bir Singh, and his departure with instructions to Ram Shah. The initiative by the local people around Bir Singh and the imperial nobles of the emperor and Ram Shah reflect the perceptions of loyalty and the cause for which each of them was fighting. Individual aspirations cut across the clan and kinship affiliations on both the sides. For historians, this is candid evidence that Akbar, at the time when he was believed to have secured a high degree of centralization in his vast empire, failed to strike a truce with a newly emerging Bundela power in the vicinity of his capital city. The Bundelas, whose military strength was weakened according to the poet himself, became a mighty power in less ae the Mughals during the-eighteent century. It was ¢ or icentity and the support of the locality during the late sixteen" es or en aay which facilitated their rise, Economic and cultural factors We"? Be sesponsble for the formidablegrowth ofthe region, f avdas i iti ; : Bande ‘hus began his writing of Ratan Bavani as a recor H Ss Partners Tn thence to the Mughal power and extolled them ue a ¢ Mughal imperium bar masters of their kingdom: SY