Kalhana ( sa, कल्हण, translit=kalhaṇa) was the author of ''
Rajatarangini
''Rajatarangini'' ("The River of Kings") is a metrical legendary and historical chronicle of the north-western part of India, particularly the kings of Kashmir. It was written in Sanskrit by Kashmiri historian Kalhana in the 12th century CE. Th ...
'' (''River of Kings''), an account of the
history of Kashmir. He wrote the work in
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
between 1148 and 1149. All information regarding his life has to be deduced from his own writing, a major scholar of which is
Mark Aurel Stein
Sir Marc Aurel Stein,
( hu, Stein Márk Aurél; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at ...
. Robin Donkin has argued that with the exception of Kalhana, "there are no
ative Indianliterary works with a developed sense of chronology, or indeed much sense of place, before the thirteenth century".
Life
Kalhana was born in a
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...
family to a Kashmiri minister, Chanpaka, who probably served king Harsha of the
Lohara dynasty. It is possible that his birthplace was
Parihaspore and his birth would have been very early in the 12th century. The introductory verses to each of the eight Books in his ''Rajatarangini'' are prefaced with prayers to
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...
, a Hindu deity. In common with many Hindus in Kashmir at that time, he was also sympathetic to Buddhism, and Buddhists tended to reciprocate this feeling towards Hindus. Even in relatively modern times, Buddha's birthday has been a notable event for Kashmiri Brahmins and well before Kalhana's time Buddha had been accepted by Hindus as an
avatar
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appear ...
of
Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.
Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...
.
Kalhana was familiar with earlier epics such as the ''Vikramankadevacharita'' of
Bilhana, the ''
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...
'' and the ''
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...
'', to all of which he alludes in his own writings. However, his own writings did not employ what Stein has described as "the very redundant praise and flattery which by custom and literary tradition Indian authors feel obliged to bestow on their patrons". From this comes Stein's deduction that Kalhana was not a part of the circle surrounding Jayasimha, the ruling monarch at the time when he was writing the ''Rajatarangini''.
[Stein, Vol. 1, p. 17.]
See also
*
Dynasties of Ancient Kashmir
*
Historiography of India
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
*Dhar, K. N
''Kalhana - The Chronicler'' Retrieved on 15 November 2008.
{{Authority control
Historians of India
12th-century Indian historians
Kashmiri people
Kashmiri writers
12th-century Indian non-fiction writers
Indian male writers
Scholars from Jammu and Kashmir
Kashmiri Brahmins
Kashmiri Hindus