Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/738

 696 BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. [ Chap. Grouped Bengali songs may be grouped in main four সা classes :— I. The &7rtana songs to which we have already aluded, II. The songs of the kaviwal/as, 111. Religious songs, IV. The songs of the yatras or the popular drama. =o (a)—Kaviwallas and their Songs. Let us begin with the second of these groups, vig., the songs of the kaviwallas. The kaviwallas were parties of minstrels who sang songs mainly descriptive of incidents in the life of Krisna. Their party consisted of men and women who stood and sang in chorus. They were for this reason called Dafida-kavis or the standing minstrels. Their Danda leader generally composed songs relating to the a love of Radha and Krishna or to domestic scenes in Kailas—the abode of Civa and his consort Uma. Latterly a good deal of competition arose amongst different fazwallas. Cambhu Chandra, a son of Raja Krisna Chandra of Navadwipa, about the time of the battle of Plassey, began to organise professional bands of kaviwal/as, and a new ele- ment was introduced into their songs. The chief singer of one party, as a sequel to his own songs, would begin to compose extempore verses attack- ing the leader of the opposite party who would next occupy the stage. The latter would not be Attacks on , rival slow to make aretort at the end of his songs, and the arties. . . . . রি seething satire and gross vulgarity which came to characterise these fights of the aviwallas evoked a most animated interest from city audi- ence. But this corrupting influence was, compara- tively speaking, absent from the performances of village kaviwallas.