Page:A History of Hindi Literature.djvu/28

 14 A HISTORY OF HINDI LITERATURE in 1192. Legend and fiction are mixed up with history in the Prithi Raj Raso. The repeated conflicts related to have taken place between Prithi Raj and Sultan Shihabuddin seem to be quite unhistorical, and the Mughals are brought on the stage thirty years before they really appeared in Indian History. It is therefore doubtful whether the document in its entirety is a con- temporary poem, but the language used, which is transitional in character and abounds in strange forms which have long since ceased to be used, makes it seem likely that the original core of the poem is certainly the work of Chand BardaT, and that it is one of the earliest poems in Hindi which have survived. Owing to the difficulty of the language it is a poem not easy to read even for scholars, but those who have studied it have a high opinion of its literary merits. It is of immense value from the point of view of linguistic study. The following lines are taken from the twentieth book of Chand' s epic. The fair Padmavati, daughter of Padam Sen, an opponent of Prithi Raj, had heard of the nobility of Prithiraj, as he had of her beauty, and when her marriage was arranged with another, she sent a message by a parrot to Prithiraj to come and rescue her. Prithiraj came with an arm.y to seize her as his bride : — " Watching the road in the direction of Delhi, Happy was she when the parrot returned, Hearing the news, glad were her eyes ; The maiden was elated with the tokens of love, She tore off the dirty clothes from her body, Purified, and anointed, and adorned herself with robes, Called for priceless jewels (for her person) from head to foot, Arrayed with the tokens of the king of love. Filling a golden tray with pearls, Lighting a lamp she waved it round, Taking her confidante with her, boldly the maiden Goes as Rukmini went to meet Murari ; Worshipping Gauri, revering Sankar ; Circumambulating and touching their feet. Then on seeing King Prithiraj, She smiled bashfully, hiding her face through shame. Seizing her hand, putting her on horseback.