Page:A History of Hindi Literature.djvu/31

 EARLY BARDIC CHRONICLES 17 No hurt on Alha's body happ'd, His shield was lifted high ; At length the sword of Jambay snapp'd, Then wist he death was nigh. And lopped their limbs away ; Its master's need has it now betrayed, My life is lost to-day! " "Now, Raja, now my stroke take thou," And his elephant on he drove ; Howda to howda, tusk to tusk. Close met the champions strove. Then Alha forward dash'd his shield, With the boss he dealt a blow ; The elephant's driver was hurl'd to the field, And he waver'd to and fro. Then Jambay drew his dagger keen, Long time their steel they plied ; On Alha's body no hurt was seen, Pachsawad whirl'd his iron chain. Dashed the howda to the ground ; Soon Alha lighted on the plain. And fast his arms he bound.* Sarang Dhdir.—Sdra?ig Dkar, a bard who flourished in the middle of the fourteenth century, is said to have been a descendant of Chand Bardai. He is the reputed author of two poems known as the Hammir Rasa and the Hamniir Kavya, which are chronicles of the royal house of Ranthambhor. The valour of Hammir in his struggle against the emperor Ala-ud-din, at whose hands he received his death, is very famous. Sarang Dhar is also the author of an anthology of Sanskrit lyric stanzas called the Sar?igadhara Paddhati, which was published in 1363. These early bards had a long line of successors, some of whom will be mentioned later on. Their chronicles are valuable not only as literature, but as a record of the times in which they lived. Like the old 1 Calcutta Review, Vol. 63 (1876), pp. 414 ff.
 * I have hewn down elephants with this blade,
 * Now bind the foe," he cried.