History of Hindi Literature

The development of Hindi language and literature had started even before the establishment of Muslim rule in India.

A.    Old Period

The poets of this period praised the bravery, beauty and charity of the patron kings and their ancestors. Besides, they were also influenced by religious beliefs.

1.      Siddha literature

Over time, Buddhism transformed into the practice of Tantra-Mantra. Vajra Yaan was a similar type of sadhana. The Siddhas were related to this Vajra Yaan. Their number is said to be 84. The first Siddha Sarhapa was from the 8th century. He strongly attacked the Vedic Varnashrama religion.

2.      Nath literature

The word Nath means one who grants liberation. There was a combination of ideas of Buddhist and Shaiva sects. There is mention of nine Naths in this sect. He established the Nivriti Marg against the Pravriti Marg of the Siddhas. Gorakhnath used to say

"nau laakh paatar aage naachen, peechhe sahaj akhara.

aise man le jogee khelen, tab antaree base bhandaara.

3.      Jain poet

The word Jain is derived from Jin, which means victory over worldly attractions. Jains enjoyed the patronage of kings and rich merchants. Among the major Jain poets, the prominent name is Hemchandra who belonged to the 11th century and his couplets are compiled in Prakrit Vyakaran. The main composition of Swayambhu is Paum Chariyam. It describes the character of Ram. Pushpadant, who was earlier a Shaivite, now became a Jain but his subject matter was Ram.

4.      Raso or heroic literature

Three types of texts were written in the Raso poetry stream – bravery-oriented, Love-oriented, and sermon-oriented.

The best example of a heroic composition is Chand Bardai's Prithvi Raj Raso. It has a beautiful description of the heroine, the army's march, war, seasons etc. Jagnik's Aalha Khand is also an important composition.

Whereas among the compositions based on Shringaar is Bisaldev Raso of Narapati Nalh. The first description of Barahamasa is found in it. Mulla Dawood's Chandayan is also a famous composition.

5.      Other poets

Amir Khusro

Khusro is considered the first poet of Khadi Boli Hindi and Urdu. His personality was multi-dimensional. Among his main texts, Paheliyan, Mukariyaan, Do Sukhne, Ghazal, Khalik Bari and Dhakosla are famous. Both the sentiment and the art aspect of Khusro's works are amazing.

Emotional Art

kaahe ko biyaahe parades, sun baabul mor,

bhaiya ko dihe baabul, mahala do mahala

hamako die paradesh, sun baabul mor

main to hoon baabul tore khoonte kee tarah,

haankee haankee jaoon pradesh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxOwoO40xJw

Art of Language

Use of Persian and Braj language

ze-haal-i-miskeen makun tagaaful durae nainaan baneen batiyaan

ki taab-i-hijaraan nadaram ai jaan na lehoo kaahe lagaye chhatariyaan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0bCsxJk3P8

Vidyapati

Vidyapati is a Maithil poet of medieval period. In these, both devotion and adornment have predominance. Padavali is his main creation. It describes the love of Radha Krishna.

sakhee he, ki pachchhee anubhav moye.

seh pariti anuraag bakhaani til-til nootan hoe.

janm abadhi ham roop nihaaral nayan na tirapit bhel.

 

B.  Bhakti Period

After the establishment of Delhi Sultanate in India, the influence of Islam started increasing. Among the many reasons for this, one of the main reasons was the evil practices prevalent in the Hindu society. Therefore, Hindu religious reformers started propagating the path of Bhakti to stop the influence of Islam and to end the rituals and external ostentation prevalent in Hindu religion, which led to the emergence of Bhakti movement.

The saints of this period adopted two forms of devotion, Nirguna and Saguna.

1.     Nirguna branch

The saints of this branch took shelter of knowledge and love, due to which, under the Nirguna branch, Gyanashrayi and Premashrayi sub-branches were born.

(a) Gyanashrayi Branch

Among the Gyanashrayi saints under Nirguna branch, the names of Kabir, Nanak, Raidas, Dadu Dayal, Malukdas etc. are prominent.

Kabir was born in Kashi in 1398 AD. He was brought up by a weaver named Ali or Neeru. Kabir was not educated, yet he provided valuable education to Hindus and Muslims. Kabir has accepted being a disciple of Swami Ramanand but at one place he also mentions taking initiation from Sufi saint Sheikh Taqi. His collection of speeches is famous by the name of Bijak in which it has been divided into three parts: Ramaini, Sabad and Sakhi.

Raidas was a contemporary of Kabir. He belonged to this caste of tanners. None of his texts are available. Only a few verses under the name of 'Bani' are found in the 'Santabani Series'. Forty of his verses are stored in 'Guru Granth Sahib'. The language of his posts is simple and easy.

Dadu Dayal was born in 1544 AD in Ahmedabad. He was a Kabir fan due to which Kabir's name has appeared at many places in his 'Bani'. His 'Bani' is mostly in couplets similar to Kabir's Sakhi. He has written verses in Punjabi and Gujarati. Their language is mixed western Hindi in which Arabic and Persian words are used at some places.

Malukdas was born in 1574 AD in a place called Kada in Allahabad. Arabic and Persian words are used in their language. Some of his verses are also in Khadi dialect. His two famous works are 'Ratlakhan' and 'Gyan Bodh'.

(b) Premashayi Branch

The romantic poets of Nirguna branch were mainly Sufis.

 

Qutuban was a disciple of Sufi Sheikh Burhan Chishtia. He composed a famous love poem named 'Mrigavati'. In this, there is a beautiful description of the love story of the prince of Ganpati Dev of Chandranagar and Mrigavati, the daughter of King Roopmurari of Kanchanpur. Its language is Awadhi.

The title of Manjhan's work is 'Madhumalati' which is in Awadhi language. In this, divine love is shown through the love of Prince Manohar of Kanesar and Princess Madhumalati of Maharas. In this, one couplet has been written after every five quatrains.

Jayasi's full name was Malik Mohammad Jayasi who was a resident of Jais located in Rae Bareli district of Uttar Pradesh. He composed three texts - 'Padmavat', 'Akhravat' and 'Aakhri Kangam'. 'Padmavat' is the most famous among these three books. Jayasi has tried to present the complete Sufist philosophy through love poetry. Their language is Awadhi. 'Padmavat' is counted among the high quality creations in Hindi literature.

2.     Saguna branch-

The poets of this branch composed in the likeness of their respective deities. Among these, some accepted Ram and some accepted Krishna as their favorite deity, due to which the Ram-bhakti sub-branch and Krishna-bhakti sub-branch emerged.

(a) Devotion to Ram

Swami Ramanand propagated Ram Bhakti but among the Ram devotee poets, the names of Goswami Tulsidas and Acharya Keshavdas are most prominent. Tulsidas was born in 1532 AD in Rajapur village of Banda. His Sagun Ram was the son of King Dasharatha. He laid special emphasis on devotion to Ram and called the world 'Siyarammay'. He accepted Ram as Brahma and Sita as nature. Among his works, 'Ramlala Nahchhu', 'Janaki Mangal', 'Vairagya Sandipani', 'Ramcharit Manas', 'Satsai', 'Barvai Ramayan', 'Vinaya Patrika', 'Geetavali' are very famous. Their language is mainly Awadhi.

Acharya Keshavdas Goswami was a contemporary of Tulsidas. He was born in 1555 AD in a Brahmin family. His famous work is 'Ramachandrika' which is in Braj language.

(b) Devotion to Krishna

Vallabhacharya's place is most prominent among the Krishna devotees of Saguna branch, in whose disciple tradition the name of Surdas is paramount. Apart from Surdas, the names of Meerabai, Raskhan, Nanddas, Krishnadas, Parmanand Das are notable among the poets of Krishna Bhakti sub-branch.

Surdas was born in 1483 AD in a village called Ruknata. He composed books like 'Soorasaravali', 'Sahitya Lahari' and 'Soorsagar' etc. His poetic language is Braj. Surdas has the best place among the poets who sing the praises of Krishna.

Meera was born in 1499 AD in a village named Kudki of Merta. His father was Ratan Singh Rathore. She was married to Bhojraj, the crown prince of Udaipur, but after some time of marriage, she became a widow. The language of most of Meera's verses is Rajasthani but some verses are in literary Braj language. According to Acharya Ramchandra Shukla, four texts written by Meera are said to be - 'Narsi Ka Myra', 'Geet Govind Tika', 'Raag Govind'.

Raskhan belonged to the Afghan dynasty of Delhi. It is said that he became a devotee of Krishna after seeing his picture. His famous works are 'Prem Vatika' and 'Sujan Raskhan'. Their language is pure Braj in which Arabic and Persian words are also used.

3.   Riti Period

The rise of Riti period in Hindi literature is believed to be from 1643 AD, which some scholars have termed as 'Shringaar period'. Sunder Das, Chintamani and Kavindra Acharya were prominent poets in the court of Shahjahan.

Sundar Das was a Brahmin of caste and was a resident of Gwalior. Shahjahan had honored him with the title of 'Maha Kavirai'. He wrote books named 'Sundar Shringaar', 'Simhasan Battisi' and 'Barhamasa'.

Chintamani was a resident of Kanpur. He was a high class poet of his time. Shahjahan patronized him. He wrote books named 'Chhand Vichar', 'Kavya Vivek', 'Kavikul Kalpataru' and 'Kavya Prakash'.

Kavindra Acharya was a resident of Banaras. He wrote 'Kavindra Kalpalata' in praise of Shahjahan and his sons.

King Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur was interested in Hindi language. He wrote a book named 'Bhasha Bhushan' in Braj language.

Bihari Lal was born in Govindpur near Gwalior. He was patronized by Mirza Raja Jai ​​Singh, who honored him with the title of Rajkavi. Seeing his patron immersed in luxury, he wrote the following couplet and sent it to him: -

nahin paar nahin madhur madhu nahin vikaasaatmak.

alee kaalee hee so bandhyo, aage kaun havaal.

Bihari has composed 'Satsai', in which couplets and verses have been used. Bihari has described Shringaar beautifully and has tried to show all the stages of union and separation skillfully.

Bhushan (1613-1715) was honored with the title of 'Kavi Bhushan' by Solanki king Rudra of Chitrakoot. Since then he is famous as Bhushan. His three famous books are - 'Shivraj Bhushan', 'Shiva Bavani' and 'Chhatrasal Dashak'. These books are influenced by Ritikaal.