Conquest and resistance in context : a historiographical reading of Sanskrit and Persian battle narratives
Abstract
In a 1963 article, “Epic and Counter-Epic in Medieval India,” Aziz Ahmad argued
that two different languages, cultures, and historical attitudes developed in mutual
ignorance of each other: Muslims wrote “epics of conquest” while Hindus wrote “epics
of resistance.” This dissertation examines four texts identified by Aziz Ahmad: Amir
Khusrau’s Khaza’in al-Futuh and Deval Rani wa Khizr Khan (epics of conquest) as well as
Nayacandra Suri’s Hammira Mahakavya and Padmanabha’s Kanhadade Prabandh (epics of
resistance) written during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Aziz Ahmad’s model is based on reactions; the texts show interactions. All of
the texts responded to conquest by search for authority in a reconstituted post–
conquest world. Amir Khusrau reacted to the Mongols’ thirteenth–century conquest of
Persia and its implications for the Muslim community. Instead of facing westwards
toward Mecca and the ‘Abbasid caliphate, Muslims turned inward to the Sufi and the
sultan. Yet the ultimate search for authority occurred between neither the Sufi nor the
sultan, but within the Muslim community as it forged an Indo–Muslim identity distinct
from its Persianate predecessor. ‘Ala’ al-Din Khalji’s fourteenth–century conquest of
Western Hindustan (Gujarat, Rajasthan) expedited a similar search for authority among
Hindus. Delhi Sultanate conquest led to a search for authority that resulted in the
formation of a Rajput social identity. This Rajput identity simultanesouly incorporated
the ethos of the traditional ksatriya warrior and challenged the ksatriya’s birthright as
warrior. Rather than a warrior class, the Rajputs became a warrior society actively
promoted in the Hammira Mahakavya and Kanhadade Prabandh.
A close reading of these four texts not only refutes Ahmad’s assertion that
Persian, Sanskrit, and vernacular texts developed in ignorance of each other, it
demonstrates an active exchange between these three distinct literary traditions. Amir
Khusrau introduced Indic literary imagery into the Duval Rani wa Khizr Khan, which in
turn aided in the establishment of an Indo–Persian literature. The Hammira Mahakavya
and Kanhadade Prabandh utilized Muslims as carriers of Rajput identity. In crossing
these literary boundaries, these authors and texts reveal a single social, cultural, and
historical attitude that existed in a literary and cultural symbiosis.
Department
Description
text
Subject
Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī, ca. 1253-1325. Khazāʼin al-futūh
Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī, ca. 1253-1325. Duvalranī Khāzir Khān
Nayacandrasūri, 15th cent. Hammīramahākāvya. English & Hindi
Padmanābha, 15th cent. Kānhaḍade prabandha
Indic literature--History and criticism
Persian literature--History and criticism
Islamic literature--History and criticism
Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī, ca. 1253-1325. Duvalranī Khāzir Khān
Nayacandrasūri, 15th cent. Hammīramahākāvya. English & Hindi
Padmanābha, 15th cent. Kānhaḍade prabandha
Indic literature--History and criticism
Persian literature--History and criticism
Islamic literature--History and criticism