Page:A History of Hindi Literature.djvu/97

 BARDIC AND OTHER LITERATURE 83 Panna. He excelled in the heroic style. Sudan (fl. 1750) was a Brahman, who was patronised by Suraj Mai, a son of the Maharaja of Bharatpur. He wrote the Sujdn Charitr, which is an account of the battles in which Suraj Mai took part. Sudan is con- sidered to be an excellent narrative poet, especially in his account of the preparations for a battle, but he was not equal to Lai Kavi in his description of the battle itself. A bard who wrote in the Maithili dialect of Bihari was Lai J ha (fl. 1780), one of the most famous poets of Mithila. He was the author of a poem called Kanarpi Ghat Larai, which is a description of the battle of Kanarpi Ghat, in w^hich his patron Maha- raja Narendra Smgh, of Darbhanga, was victorious. Lai Kavi.— At the court of Raja Chhatrasal (1646- 1731), who ruled at Panna in Bundelkhand and was himself a poet, much encouragement was given to men of letters. The most famous of these was Ldl, generally known as Ldl Kavi. His full name was Goreldl Pzirohit. Besides waiting a treatise on lovers, he wrote in Braj Bhasha verse a celebrated work entitled Chhatra Prakd's. It gives an account of the wars and order of succession of the ancient Rajas of Bundelkhand, and the life of Chhatrasal and that of his father are related with great detail. Lai Kavi achieved great excellence as a narrative poet, especially in his description of a battle. The follow- ing is the account in the Chhatra Prakd's of Raja Chhatrasal's bravery at the battle of Deogarh : — " Raja Chhatrasal, valiant in war, dreadful in battle, famed for heroic achievements, active, vigorous, and powerful as a tiger, pene- trated into the midst of the Deogarh Raja's army ; while thousands of balls and arrows discharged at him fell like rain around. Firm and undaunted, redoubling his efforts he furiously attacked the numerous troops by whom he was surrounded. Entirely disregarding balls and bullets, he inflicted and received wounds in the enemy's ranks. The foe was confounded . The gods were amazed at the fighting of Chhatra- sal ; and, while repelling the attack of thousands, and scattering death and destruction around, Kali delighted to see his sword-dance. His progress no one could stop ; for, as soon as an antagonist had raised his sword, Chhatrasal, by superior dexterity, inflicted a wound ; and he was equally skilful in the use of the spear. Separated from his.