''Harakeli Nataka'' is a

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 ...

drama written by the

Chahamana Chauhan, historically ''Chahamana'', is a clan name historically associated with the various ruling Rajput families during the Medieval India in Rajasthan. Subclans Khichi, Hada, Songara, Bhadauria, Devda etc. are the branches or subclan ...

(Chauhan) king

Vigraharaja IV Vigraharāja IV (r. c. 1150–1164 CE), also known as Visaladeva, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty in north-western India. He turned the Chahamana kingdom into an empire by subduing the neighbouring kingdoms of Chaulukya, Naddu ...

alias Visaladeva, who ruled from 1150 to 1164 CE. This drama is based on Kiratarjuniya of writer

Bharavi Bharavi () was a 6th century Indian poet known for his epic poem ''Kirātārjunīya'', one of the six ''mahakavyas'' in classical Sanskrit. Time and place As with most Sanskrit poets, very few concrete details are available about Bharavi's life, ...

.The play is also called ''Lalita Vigraharaja Nataka''. Adhai Din-ka-Jhonpra Column detail (6134514518)

The only extant parts of ''Harakeli Nataka'' were found inscribed in the ruined Sanskrit college and Sarasvati temple at

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 ...

, which was converted into the

Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra (literally "shed of 2½ days") is a historical mosque in the city of Ajmer in Rajasthan, India. It is one of the oldest mosques in India, and the oldest surviving monument in Ajmer. Commissioned by Qutb-ud-Din-Aibak in 1192 ...

mosque by

Qutb al-Din Aibak Qutb ud-Din Aibak ( fa, قطب‌الدین ایبک), (1150 – 14 November 1210) was a Turkic general of the Ghurid king Muhammad Ghori. He was in charge of the Ghurid territories in northern India, and after Muhammad Ghori's assassination in ...

, the first

sultan of Delhi The following list of Indian monarchs is one of several lists of incumbents. It includes those said to have ruled a portion of the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka. The Mahajanapada, earliest Indian rulers are known from epigraphica ...

.Text ed. by F. Keilhorn in Indian Antiquary, Vol. XX, 1891, pp. 203 and 210-212. It tells of his love with princess Desaldevi, and his war preparations against a Turushka (Turkic) king named Hammir.

Plot

The plot of ''Harkeli Nataka'' involves Vigraharaja's preparations against a Turushka ruler named Hammira (

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

). In the story, his minister Shridhara tells him not to risk a battle with a powerful adversary. Nevertheless, Vigraharaja is determined to fight the Turushka king. He sends a message to his lover Desaladevi, informing her that the upcoming battle would soon give him an opportunity to meet her. The play describes Desaladevi as the daughter of prince Vasantapala of Indrapura. The play is available only in fragments, so the details of the ensuing battle are not known.

Historicity

Historian

Dasharatha Sharma Dasharatha Sharma (1903–1976) was an Indologist with particular interest in the history of the Rajasthan region of India. Born in the Rajasthani city of Churu, he studied in the city of Bikaner and at the University of Delhi. He had degrees ...

identified Hammira with Khusrau Shah of Ghazna, and assumed that Vigraharaja repulsed his invasion. Historian R. B. Singh, on the other hand, theorizes that no actual battle place between Vigraharaja and Hammira. According to Singh's theory, the "Hammira" on the play might have been

Bahram Shah Al-Malik al-Amjad Bahramshah was the List of Ayyubid rulers#Emirs of Baalbek, Ayyubid emir of Baalbek between 1182–1230 (578–627 AH). Reign Bahramshah succeeded his father Farrukh Shah, Farrukhshah as ruler of the minor emirate of Baalbek and ...

, who fled to India after the

Ghurids The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; fa, دودمان غوریان, translit=Dudmân-e Ğurīyân; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a Persianate dynasty and a clan of presumably eastern Iranian Tajik origin, which ruled from the ...

defeated him at the

Battle of Ghazni (1151) The Battle of Ghazni was fought in 1151 between the Ghurid army of Ala al-Din Husayn and the army of the Ghaznavid Sultan Bahram-Shah of Ghazna.Jaques 2007, p. 392 The Ghurid ruler defeated Bahram-Shah, captured the city, and destroyed it as reve ...

. Bahram Shah invaded the Tomara territory of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

after coming to India. Vasantapala might have been a Tomara ruler, possibly Anangapala. Indrapura may refer to Indraprastha, that is, Delhi. Vigraharaja probably decided to send an army in support of the Tomara king. But before an actual battle could take place, Bahram Shah returned to Ghazna as the Ghurids had departed from that city.

References

Bibliography

* * {{cite book , author=Dasharatha Sharma , title=Early Chauhān Dynasties , publisher=S. Chand / Motilal Banarsidass , year=1959 , isbn=9780842606189 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4gcAAAAMAAJ Indian literature Sanskrit plays