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Navaratnas
Navaratnas (Sanskrit dvigu ''nava-ratna'', ) () or Nauratan was a term applied to a group of nine extraordinary people in an emperor's court in India. The well-known Nauratnas include the ones in the courts of the Hindu emperor Vikramaditya, the Mughal emperor Akbar, and the feudal lord Raja Krishnachandra. Vikramaditya's(Chandragupta II) Navaratnas Vikramaditya was a legendary emperor, who ruled from Ujjain; he is generally identified with the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II. According to folk tradition, his court had 9 famous scholars. The earliest source that mentions this legend is ''Jyotirvidabharana'' (22.10), a treatise attributed to Kalidasa. According to this text, the following 9 scholars (including Kalidasa himself) attended Vikramaditya's court: Another popular tradition mentions the astronomer Brahmagupta and the magician Vaitalik instead of Ghatkharpar and Vetala-Bhatta. Multiple scholars consider ''Jyotirvidabharana'' a literary forgery of a date later than ...
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Chandragupta II
Chandragupta II (r.c. 376-415), also known by his title Vikramaditya, as well as Chandragupta Vikramaditya, was the third ruler of the Gupta Empire in India, and was one of the most powerful emperors of the Gupta dynasty. Chandragupta continued the expansionist policy of his father Samudragupta, mainly through military conquest. Historical evidence suggests that he defeated the Western Kshatrapas, and extended the Gupta Empire from the Indus River in the west to the Bengal region in the east, and from the Himalayan foothills in the north to the Narmada River in the south. His daughter Prabhavatigupta was a queen of the southern Vakataka kingdom, and he may have had influence in the Vakataka territory during her regency. The Gupta Empire reached its zenith during the rule of Chandragupta. The Chinese pilgrim Faxian, who visited India during his reign, suggests that he ruled over a peaceful and prosperous kingdom. The legendary figure of Vikramaditya is probably based on Chandra ...
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Vikramaditya
Vikramaditya (IAST: ') was a legendary king who has been featured in hundreds of traditional stories including those in ''Baital Pachisi'' and ''Singhasan Battisi''. Many describe him as ruler with his capital at Ujjain (Pataliputra or Pratishthana in a few stories). The term ''Vikramaditya'' is also used as a title by several Hindu monarchs. According to popular tradition, Vikramaditya began the Vikrama Samvat era in 57 BCE after defeating the Shakas, and those who believe that he is based on a historical figure place him around the first century BCE. However, this era is identified as "Vikrama Samvat" after the ninth century CE. "Vikramaditya" was a common title adopted by several Indian kings, and the Vikramaditya legends may be embellished accounts of different kings (particularly Chandragupta II). Nevertheless, many scriptures from the Shaka era mentions the mighty ruler. Early legends Malava king Rajbali Pandey, Kailash Chand Jain and others believe that Vikramad ...
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Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expand and consolidate Mughal domains in India. A strong personality and a successful general, Akbar gradually enlarged the Mughal Empire to include much of the Indian subcontinent. His power and influence, however, extended over the entire subcontinent because of Mughal military, political, cultural, and economic dominance. To unify the vast Mughal state, Akbar established a centralised system of administration throughout his empire and adopted a policy of conciliating conquered rulers through marriage and diplomacy. To preserve peace and order in a religiously and culturally diverse empire, he adopted policies that won him the support of his non-Muslim subjects. Eschewing t ...
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Birbal
Birbal (; born Mahesh Das; 1528 16 February 1586), or Raja Birbal, was a Saraswat Hindu Bhatt Brahmin advisor and main commander (''Mukhya Senapati'') of army in the court of the Mughal emperor, Akbar. He is mostly known in the Indian subcontinent for the folk tales which focus on his wit. Birbal was appointed by Akbar as a Minister (Mantri) and used to be a Poet and Singer in around 1556–1562. He had a close association with Emperor Akbar and was one of his most important courtiers, part of a group called the ''navaratnas'' (nine jewels). In February 1586, Birbal led an army to crush an unrest in the north-west Indian subcontinent where he was killed along with many troops in an ambush by the rebel tribe. He was the only Hindu to adopt Din-i Ilahi, the religion founded by Akbar. Birbal was one of the first officers to join Akbar's court, possibly as early as 1556, when he was twenty-eight years old. He also had a naturally generous nature and all these traits combined—e ...
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Vetala Bhatta
Vetala Bhatta was a Sanskrit author from ancient India. He is known to have attributed the work of the sixteen stanza "Niti-pradeepa" (Niti-pradīpa, literally, the lamp of conduct). He is included among the legendary Navaratnas (group of nine scholars) of Vikramaditya Vikramaditya (IAST: ') was a legendary king who has been featured in hundreds of traditional stories including those in ''Baital Pachisi'' and ''Singhasan Battisi''. Many describe him as ruler with his capital at Ujjain (Pataliputra or Pratis ...'s court. References Legendary Indian people Hindu poets {{India-poet-stub ...
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Rajashekhara (Sanskrit Poet)
Rajashekhara (; ) was a Sanskrit poet, dramatist and critic. He was the court poet of the Gurjara Pratiharas. Rajashekhara wrote the ''Kāvyamīmāṃsā'' between 880 and 920 CE. The work is essentially a practical guide for poets that explains the elements and composition of a good poem. He is most noted for the ''Kārpūramañjarī'', a play written in Maharashtri Prakrit. Rajashekhara wrote the play to please his wife, Avantisundarī, a woman of taste and accomplishment. Rajashekhara is perhaps the only ancient Indian poet to acknowledge a woman for her contributions to his literary career. Life In his ''Bālarāmāyaṇa'' and ''Kāvyamimāṃsā'', Rajashekhara referred himself by his family name ''Yāyāvara'' or ''Yāyāvarīya''. In ''Bālarāmāyaṇa'', he mentioned that his great grandfather Akalajalada belonged to Maharashtra. In the same work, he described his father Durduka as a ''Mahamantrin'' (minister) without providing any details. He mentioned in his works ...
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Dinesh Chandra Sircar
Dineshchandra Sircar (1907–1985), also known as D. C. Sircar or D. C. Sarkar, was an epigraphist, historian, numismatist and folklorist, known particularly in India and Bangladesh for his work deciphering inscriptions. He was the Chief Epigraphist of the Archaeological Survey of India (1949–1962), Carmichael Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture at the University of Calcutta (1962–1972) and the General President of the Indian History Congress. In 1972, Sircar was awarded the Sir William Jones Memorial Plaque. Early life and education Sircar was born to a family of Ayurvedic physicians at Krishnanagar. He graduated with Honours in Sanskrit in 1929 and obtained a First Class in his MA Examination in 1931 in Ancient Indian History and Culture with specialisation in Epigraphy and Numismatics from the University of Calcutta. Selected bibliography He authors more than forty books both in Bengali and English. Some of his best-known books include: * ''পাল- ...
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Nighantu
( sa, निघण्टु, ) is a Sanskrit term for a traditional collection of words, grouped into thematic categories, often with brief annotations. Such collections share characteristics with glossaries and thesauri, but are not true lexicons, such as the kośa of Sanskrit literature. Particular collections are also called . While a number of nighantavas devoted to specialized subjects exist, the eponymous Nighantu of the genre is an ancient collection, handed down from Vedic times. It was the subject of the Nirukta ''Nirukta'' ( sa, निरुक्त, , "explained, interpreted") is one of the six ancient Vedangas, or ancillary science connected with the Vedas – the scriptures of Hinduism.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Nirukta" in The Illustrated Encyclope ..., a commentary, together with a treatise on etymology, by Yaska. Technically, Yaska's Nirukta should designate his commentary only, but traditionally the Nighantu has been understood to be included in it. The T ...
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Vikrama Samvat
Vikram Samvat (IAST: ''Vikrama Samvat''; abbreviated VS) or Bikram Sambat B.S. and also known as the Vikrami calendar, is a Hindu calendar historically used in the Indian subcontinent. Vikram Samvat is generally 57 years ahead of Gregorian Calendar, except during January to April, when it is ahead by 56 years. Alongside Nepal Sambat, it is one of the two official calendars used in Nepal. In India, it is used in several states. The traditional Vikram Samvat calendar, as used in India, uses lunar months and solar sidereal years. The Nepali Bikram Sambat introduced in 1901 CE, also uses a solar sidereal year. History A number of ancient and medieval inscriptions used the Vikram Samvat. Although it was reportedly named after the legendary king Vikramaditya, the term "Vikrama Samvat" does not appear in the historical record before the 9th century; the same calendar system is found with other names, such as Krita and Malava. In colonial scholarship, the era was believed to be bas ...
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Siddhasena Divakara
Siddhasēna Divākara ( pka, सिद्धसेन दिवाकर) was a ''jain monk'' in the fifth century CE who wrote works on Jain philosophy and epistemology. He was like the illuminator of the Jain order and therefore came to be known as ''Divākara'', "Sun". He is credited with the authorship of many books, most of which are not available. ''Sanmatitarka'' (‘The Logic of the True Doctrine’) is the first major Jain work on logic written in Sanskrit. Qvarnström, Olle; Jainism and Early Buddhism: Essays in Honor of Padmanabh S. Jaini, page 154. Life Siddhasena Divakara is said to have lived in fourth or fifth century CE. He was a Brahmin by birth and a scholar. He was initiated by ''Acharya'' Vruddhavadi. According to the tradition, Siddhasena Divakara once planned to translate all the Jaina works from prakrit to Sanskrit. He was asked by his master to visit all the Jain temples as a punishment. He thus visited the Jain temples for twelve years. He then came upon ...
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Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Old Indo-Aryan language varieties. The most archaic of these is the Vedic Sanskrit found in the Rig Veda, a colle ...
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Bhoja
Bhoja (reigned c. 1010–1055 CE) was an Indian king from the Paramara dynasty. His kingdom was centered around the Malwa region in central India, where his capital Dhara-nagara (modern Dhar) was located. Bhoja fought wars with nearly all his neighbours in attempts to extend his kingdom, with varying degrees of success. At its zenith, his empire extended from Chittor in the north to upper Konkan in the south, and from the Sabarmati River in the west to Vidisha in the east. Because of his patronage to scholars, Bhoja became one of the most celebrated kings in the Indian history. After his death, he came to be featured in several legends as a righteous scholar-king. The body of legends clustered around him is comparable to that of the Emperor Vikramaditya. Bhoja is best known as a patron of arts, literature, and sciences. The establishment of the Bhoj Shala, a centre for Sanskrit studies, is attributed to him. He was a polymath, and several books covering a wide range of top ...
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