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The term ''Alha Khand'' is used to refer to poetic works in
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
which consists of a number of ballads describing the brave acts of two 12th century
Banaphar Banaphar, also spelled Banafar and Banafer, is a clan native to the Indian subcontinent of mixed Ahir and Rajput descent. The legendary 12th century generals Alha Alha (देवनागरी: आल्हा ; ISO: Ālhā ) was a legendar ...
heroes,
Alha Alha (देवनागरी: आल्हा ; ISO: Ālhā ) was a legendary general of the Chandel king Paramardideva (also known as Parmal), who fought Prithviraj Chauhan in 1182 CE. He is one of the main characters of the '' Alha-Khand'' ...
and Udal, generals working for king Paramardi-Deva (Parmal) of
Mahoba Mahoba is a city in Mahoba District of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the Bundelkhand region, well known for the ninth century granite Sun temple built in Pratihara style. It is also well known for the 24 rock-cut Jain tirthankara image ...
(1163-1202 CE) against
Prithviraj Chauhan Prithviraja III (IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; reign. – 1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in present- ...
(1166–1192 CE) of
Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "''Aj ...
. The works has been entirely handed down by oral tradition and presently exists in many recensions, which differ from one another both in language and subject matter. The
Bundeli Bundeli (Devanagari: बुन्देली or बुंदेली; or Bundelkhandi) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Bundelkhand region of central India. It belongs to the Central Indo-Ayran languages and is part of the Western Hi ...
,
Bagheli Bagheli (Devanagari: बघेली) or Baghelkhandi is a Central Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Baghelkhand region of central India. Classification An independent language belonging to the Eastern Hindi subgroup, Bagheli is one of the ...
,
Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, w ...
,
Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...
, Maithili, and
Kannauji Kannauji is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Kannauj region of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Kannauji is closely related to Hindustani, with a lexical similarity of 83–94% with Hindi. Some consider it to be a dialect of Hindustani, ...
recensions are the most well known among these. The original language of this work has been continuously modernized over the centuries to suit the dialect of the reciter and it has been lost wholly in this process. This epical work is believed to have been written by Jagnayak (or Jagnik), a contemporary to
Chand Bardai Chand Bardai was an Indian poet who composed ''Prithviraj Raso'', an epic poem in Brajbhasa about the life of the Chahamana king Prithviraj Chauhan. The poem presents him as a court poet of Prithviraj. According to it, after Prithviraj was defea ...
and the court poet of
Chandela The Chandelas of Jejakabhukti was an Indian dynasty in Central India. The Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region (then called ''Jejakabhukti'') between the 9th and the 13th centuries. They belonged to the Chandel clan of the Rajputs. ...
ruler Paramardi Deva (Parmal) of
Mahoba Mahoba is a city in Mahoba District of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the Bundelkhand region, well known for the ninth century granite Sun temple built in Pratihara style. It is also well known for the 24 rock-cut Jain tirthankara image ...
in
Bundelkhand Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central & North India. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with the larger portion lyin ...
. The original work is now lost. The ballads from this work are still sung during the monsoons by the professional bardic singers (known as the ''Alhet''s) in various parts of northern India, mostly in
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
, eastern
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
and northern
Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
. There are two main version of texts. ''Mahoba Khand'': This work was discovered as a manuscript by Shyamsundar Das in 1901 as one of the two sections of a manuscript labelled "Prithviraj Raso". Shyamsundar Das concluded that it is separate text and published it using the title ''Parmal Raso'' in 1919. It has 36 cantos, starting from the origin of the Chandellas and ends with Alha becoming a disciple of yogi
Gorakhnath Gorakhnath (also known as Goraksanath, c. early 11th century) was a Hindu yogi, saint who was the influential founder of the Nath Hindu monastic movement in India He is considered one of the two notable disciples of Matsyendranath. His follower ...
and retiring to forests as a monk. The author laments on the end of the Hindu kingdoms and the beginning of the Pathan rule. It uses the traditional metres like doha, chaupai, chhappaya etc. ''Mahoba Samaya'' is a section of some of the
Prithviraj Raso The ''Prithviraj Raso'' (IAST: Pṛthvīrāja Rāso) is a Braj language epic poem about the life of Prithviraj Chauhan (reign. c. 1177–1192 CE). It is attributed to Chand Bardai, who according to the text, was a court poet of the king. Th ...
manuscripts. The story given is essentially the same as in Mahoba Khand. It however does not have a section on the origin of Chandellas. ''Alha-khand'': With 23 cantos, starting with Pritvhiraj winning over Sanyogita and ending with Bela becoming sati. In 1865, Charles Elliott compiled a recension by collating various oral versions into 23 cantos and this recension was the basis of the first printed edition in 1871. Later
George Abraham Grierson Sir George Abraham Grierson (7 January 1851 – 9 March 1941) was an Irish administrator and linguist in British India. He worked in the Indian Civil Service but an interest in philology and linguistics led him to pursue studies in the languag ...
enlarged this recension with additional inputs. Portions of this recension was translated into English ballad metre by William Waterfield, under the title of ''The Nine-Lakh Chain or the Maro Feud'' (1876). Later, this translation, along with the abstracts of the untranslated portions and an introduction written by Grierson was published under the title of ''The Lay of Alha: A Saga of Rajput Chivalry as Sung by Minstrels of Northern India'' (1923). The most popular version of Alha-Khand is the text written by Lalitaprasad Mishra, composed at the request of Prayag Narayan, the son of
Munshi Nawal Kishore Munshi Nawal Kishore (3 January 1836 – 19 February 1895) was a book publisher from India. He has been called Caxton of India. In 1858, at the age of 22, he founded the Nawal Kishore Press at Lucknow. This institution today is the oldest printi ...
in Samvat 1956 (1900 CE). The work was written in the ''Alha'' metre. It has the same 23 cantos as The Lay of Alha, but has much more detailed narration.


Characters

*
Banaphar Banaphar, also spelled Banafar and Banafer, is a clan native to the Indian subcontinent of mixed Ahir and Rajput descent. The legendary 12th century generals Alha Alha (देवनागरी: आल्हा ; ISO: Ālhā ) was a legendar ...
s: Brothers Dasraj (sons Alha, father of Indal, and Udan), Bachchharaj (sons Malkhan and Sulkhan), Todar, Rahmal. *
Chandela The Chandelas of Jejakabhukti was an Indian dynasty in Central India. The Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region (then called ''Jejakabhukti'') between the 9th and the 13th centuries. They belonged to the Chandel clan of the Rajputs. ...
s: King Parmal married to Malhna (sister of Parihar Mahil), sons Brahmanand (married to Bela (daughter of Prathviraj), Ranjit, daughter Chandrabal. * Jagnik: the author, son of Parmal's sister *
Jaichand Jaya-chandra (IAST: Jayacandra, r. c. 1170–1194 CE) was a king from the Gahadavala dynasty of northern India. He is also known as Jayachchandra (IAST: Jayaccandra) in inscriptions, and Jaichand in vernacular legends. He ruled the Antarvedi co ...
: last king of Kannauj * Mir Talhan: The Sayyad who accompanies the Banaphars, with 9 sons and 18 grandsons. *
Prithviraj Chauhan Prithviraja III (IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; reign. – 1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in present- ...
: the father of Bela


Contents

The heroes of this poem are two brothers, Alha and Udal (or Udan), the generals of Parmal’s army who fought in the battle of Mahoba between
Prithviraj III Prithviraja III (IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; reign. – 1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in present- ...
and Parmal in c.1182. The narration begins with the early exploits of Alha and Udal. They fought with the Karingarai (or Kalingarai) and killed him to avenge the killings of their father Dassaraj (or Dasraj) and uncle Baccharaj. Later they fought the battle of Mahoba. According to the
Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...
and the
Kannauji Kannauji is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Kannauj region of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Kannauji is closely related to Hindustani, with a lexical similarity of 83–94% with Hindi. Some consider it to be a dialect of Hindustani, ...
recensions, Alha married ''Sonvati'' (''Sonva''), the princess of Nainagarh (
Chunar Chunar is a city located in Mirzapur district of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is nearby Mirzapur city. The railway tracks passing through Chunar Junction railway station leads to major destinations of India, including Howrah, Delhi, T ...
), while according to the some other Western Hindi recensions he married ''Macchil'', the daughter of ''Raghomacch'' of
Haridwar Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district. The city is situated on the righ ...
. Apart from Alha and Udal, the brave deeds of other heroes like Malkhan and Sulkhan (the sons of Baccharaj), Brahamjit (the son of Parmal) and Talhan Syed are also described in this work. This work narrates the details of fifty-two wars in total.


Historicity

While the poetic licence is apparent in the modern versions of the ballads, the attack of Prithviraj Chauhan is directly attested by two inscriptions of 1182CE at Madanpur near Lalitpur in a Jain temple. Alha is sometimes called Alhan. Alhan (अल्हण) was a popular name in 12-13th century in North India. The genealogy of Chandela ruler Parmal (Parmardi) given in Mahoba Khand or Alha Khand does not match the genealogy given in Chandela inscriptions. In Mahoba Khand, the father, grandfather and the great-grandfather of Parmal are given as Kirtibramha, Madanbrahma, and Rahilbramha. While
Madanavarman Madana-Varman (reigned c. 1128–1165 CE) was a king of the Chandela dynasty of India. He succeeded his father Prithvi-Varman as the ruler of the Jejakabhukti region (Bundelkhand in present-day Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh). He revived the ...
(1129-1163), Kirttivarman (1070-1098) and
Rahila Rahila (IAST: Rāhila, reigned c. 885-905 CE) was a king of the Chandela dynasty of India. He ruled in the Jejakabhukti region (Bundelkhand in present-day Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh). Rahila was the son of his predecessor Vijayashakti. R. ...
(9th century) were indeed ancestors of Paramardi (1166-1202), most names and the sequence do not match. The Alha Khand states the end of the Chandellas after Parmal. That is not supported by history. The Chandelas became very weak after the attack by Prithviraj, but the dynasty lingered on at least until 1308, i.e. another century. A Jain temple in Chhatarpur has an Adinath image installed in Samvat 1208 (1151 AD). According to one reading of the inscription, it mentions Alha, Udal and the entire group. However other scholars have read the inscription differently. During the Chandella rule,
Aharji Aharji is a historical pilgrimage site for Jainism in India. It is located in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, on the road from Tikamgarh to Chhatarpur. This place is famous for Jain Temple. Aharji Jain Teerth Aharji is a place full ...
was a flourishing Jain center in Bundelkhand. It was the site of a massive pratishta in samvat 1237 (1180 CE), many images bearing that date have been found, including a monumental image that mention Paramardideva as the ruling king. With the exception of a single samvat 1241 image, the activity ceased as a result of the Chandella defeat in samvat 1239.


In popular culture

* ''Sabse Bade Ladaiya'', a television series based on the ballad aired on
DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is a state-owned public entertainment television channel in India. It is the flagship channel of Doordarshan, India's public service broadcaster, and the oldest and most widely available terrestrial television channel ...
from 2012.


See also

* Veer Lorik


References


External links


आल्ह- ऊदल लोककथा A website on the Alha Khand
(in Hindi). * {{Cite book , last=Mishra , first=Pt. Lalita Prasad , title=Alhakhand , language=Hindi , edition=15 , year=2007 , publisher=Tejkumar Book Depot (Pvt) Ltd , location=
Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
(India) , pages=614 Hindi-language literature Indian legends Indian folklore Mahoba Bundelkhand Chahamanas of Shakambhari Medieval Indian literature Rajput culture Bundeli-language films Awadh Bhojpuri-language culture Maithili literature Kannauj Chandelas of Jejakabhukti Uttar Pradesh folklore Indian literature History of Madhya Pradesh